Super Bowl Night had the ballroom trading sequins for shoulder pads, and for a few minutes on Tuesday, October 13, Dancing With the Stars looked like it could deliver a championship routine.

Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas kicked off the football-themed night with a Rihanna-inspired tango. They nailed it. And I mean, they actually nailed it – 33 out of 40, including a 9 from guest judge Joe Buck, who said he was “proud to be Irish” while watching Higgins have her way with the routine.

That was the high point. The rest of the field had to chase it.

Football Night, Dance Night

The theme gave the show an obvious hook, and let’s be honest, football and ballroom don’t share a normal social universe. One involves enormous men crashing into each other over a ball. The other involves sequins, hand holds and somebody trying not to step on their partner’s feet.

But the production pushed the idea hard enough that it worked. Super Bowl imagery gave the night a bigger-than-life feel, and the routines had the kind of stadium-scale attack that regular episode themes sometimes lack. No offense to the couples who dance around a sofa or perform in some mysterious garden under colored lights. Fine. Pretty. Also, not quite the Lombardi Trophy.

Higgins and Ballas, though, brought a little danger to the whole affair.

Their tango was inspired by Rihanna’s 2023 halftime performance, a choice that immediately raised the stakes. Rihanna doesn’t suggest a gentle stroll to the center of the dance floor. She suggests expensive lighting, sharply timed choreography and a room full of people watching to see if anyone can keep up. Speaking of high-stakes performances under pressure, Travis Kelce Backs SNL's Most Divisive Joke shows the Chiefs star isn't afraid of controversy either.

Higgins had something else to overcome. She dealt with a “twinge” in her neck during rehearsals, according to the account of the night, and there was no pretending that was nothing. A neck injury could turn a tango into a physics problem. Every turn becomes a question: Is she protecting the move, or is she compensating for pain?

The answer was apparently no. Or at least not enough to hurt the performance. Higgins and Ballas finished with four 9s and a total of 33, which is the kind of score that makes everybody else’s choreography look a little too safe.

Joe Buck’s reaction was simple: he was proud to be Irish. And honestly, who can argue with that? A football commentator showing genuine delight during a tango is a good sign. If a routine can make the play-by-play voice sound like he just watched a 90-yard touchdown drive, it’s doing something right. Buck's not the only football legend opening up lately – Terry Bradshaw's Dark Secret: Why He Finally Spoke Up reveals what the four-time Super Bowl champion kept hidden for decades.

Who Actually Won the Night?

Here’s the annoying part: Higgins and Ballas didn’t take the top spot.