Maria Taylor puts her NBC colleagues in their place with no-nonsense approach

Maria Taylor and her 'Football Night In America' colleagues had a bit of fun to kick off the new NFL season, recreating a scene from an iconic Denzel Washington movie

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Maria Taylor set the tone for the new NFL season by channeling her inner Denzel Washington to whip her 'Football Night In America' colleagues into shape.

Taylor and the NBC crew were on the broadcast on Thursday to kick off the new campaign with coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles' 24-20 victory over NFC East rivals, the Dallas Cowboys. Taylor was joined by Jason Garrett, Devin McCourty, Chris Simms and Mike Florio for pregame coverage at Lincoln Financial Field.

The NBC team was evidently delighted to be back on assignment for an NFL game after a long offseason, although the occasion was somewhat sullied after just six seconds of the game when Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter was ejected for spitting on Dak Prescott.

But the FNIA crew was in high spirits before kickoff, lining up on the field to recreate a scene from Washington's iconic film "Remember The Titans."

Taylor played the role of Coach Herman Boone, going down the line one by one and giving a rousing speech. She started with Garrett, pointing furiously at him as she mouthed the words of Coach Boone, which were dubbed over the video.

McCourty, Simms, and Florio also received both barrels in the video, which was captioned: "New season, same standards."

Taylor and her team of analysts had plenty to comb over before and after the game, from the Cowboys' shock trade of Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers to the bizarre opening to the game, with tempers flaring between Carter and Prescott.

Once the nonsense was put aside and Carter was ejected, the Cowboys and defending Super Bowl champion Eagles produced a thrilling matchup in Philly.

Rookie head coach Brian Schottenheimer's team exceeded expectations and had plenty of chances to snatch an upset victory, only for sloppiness down the stretch to come back to bite them.

Notably, star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was guilty of a series of late drops. Had he been able to hold on, the Cowboys would have been in position to take the lead.

Instead, it was Eagles QB Jalen Hurts who held his nerve, mustering a highly efficient performance. Hurts converted 19 of 23 passes for 152 yards, but it was on the ground where he shone, racking up 62 yards and two scores to get his team over the line.

Taylor and team will be swiftly back to work, traveling to Orchard Park to provide coverage of the blockbuster 'Sunday Night Football' clash between the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens, with superstar quarterbacks Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson going head to head.