![daron bland](https://uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bland-top.jpg?w=1024&h=436&crop=1)
The first two games of Thursday’s Thanksgiving NFL slate weren’t the most competitive, as the Packers rather surprisingly jumped on the Lions early and cruised to a win, while the Cowboys steadily pulled away from the Commanders for a blowout win.
That meant coming down the stretch there didn’t figure to be any high drama for Jim Nantz and Tony Romo to deal with, but they suddenly found themselves on the call for an NFL record-breaking moment when Sam Howell threw an ill-advised out route to the left sideline. DaRon Bland, who came into Thursday with four pick-sixes on the season (tied for the most in a single season in NFL history), jumped the throw and took off down the sideline, eliciting an incredible reaction from Nantz, who could see the open turf in front of him as he caught the ball and immediately shouted “this is history!”
BLAND DID IT AGAIN!!! HISTORY!!!
: #WASvsDAL on CBS
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/N5H8Nc0xKc pic.twitter.com/tImqViPSlg
— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2023
As Bland weaved his way through Howell and other would-be tacklers, the call continued to build and it’s some of Nantz’s best work on an NFL call in his career. It would’ve been really easy for Nantz to not be ready to bring the energy for that moment given it was a 38-10 game, but he immediately picked it up and made the moment feel as big as it should for a record-breaking moment. Romo was buzzing from Nantz’s call and had to shout out his colleague’s work, which helped give Bland’s incredible fifth pick-six of the season the soundtrack it deserved.