It was a great Divisional Round game in Buffalo last weekend. The Bills and the Chiefs went back and forth before Kansas City escaped with a win to head to yet another AFC Championship game. The Buffalo fan base was once again bitten by a field goal that went “wide right”, which could have tied the game. Tyler Bass’ 44-yard attempt sailed well wide and Jim Nantz in the CBS booth was all over it, nailing the significance of the miss.
“Wide right. The two most dreaded words in Buffalo.” The miss reopened a wound, with memories of the first “wide right” suffered on Jan. 27, 1991, when Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard kick, “wide right”, in the closing seconds of Super Bowl XXV. The miss allowed the Giants to win the game 20-19.
Nantz was up to the task the entire game, proving once again why he is one of the best to ever call NFL games. Then there was his partner, Tony Romo. I know I wrote about him a couple of weeks ago, lamenting how ill prepared he is for games, but I watched the game and found myself shaking my head time and time again. I’m not sure why he feels the need to cover all the down time in between plays with senseless ramblings about nothing. This isn’t Seinfeld, it’s the NFL and it’s a game to determine who heads to the championship game. It was a game between two of the best quarterbacks, who have developed a friendship along with a rivalry. In other words, the game had meaning. Romo wasn’t up to it.
CBS executives have to be scratching their heads at this point. They are financially invested in a big way. Romo burst on the scene in 2017 as the bright new analyst with the ability to predict plays before they happened. But something has changed in the last few years and not for the better.
There is a simple solution to this. Ok maybe not simple, because it would involve lots of cash being paid out, but a change is needed. If I’m CBS, I am on the phone with Greg Olsen’s agent YESTERDAY, about joining the number one booth on the network. Olsen is likely to be squeezed out when FOX brings in the unproven, big name, Tom Brady next season. Olsen is very good and getting better. Kevin Burkhardt and Olsen have each proven their worth to FOX, but the higher ups at the network have fallen in love with a name (Brady) and show no signs of turning back.
Olsen deserves a chance to stay in a high-profile spot. His analysis is excellent, you can tell he’s prepared for every broadcast and he understands the job. Tell people in terms they can understand what is going on during a game. He’s not polished by any stretch, but that’s good. Olsen isn’t trying to be somebody else, what you see is what you get. That’s refreshing. He’s approaching the future in a practical manner.
“I was confident in myself that I could take advantage of this opportunity for as long as it lasted.” Olsen told Waddle and Silvy on ESPN 1000 earlier in the week. “We went in to it thinking it would be one year, ended up being two years. I got twice as much and we will see if there is a third. We will see what happens.” Olsen is no stranger to the competitive nature of the NFL, having been a player he understands the nature of the beast.
Olsen is exactly what CBS needs alongside Nantz. He doesn’t try too hard to be funny, or interesting or any of that. He understands the importance of the job his play-by-play partner and exists in the booth, knowing he’ll have his time to make a point. Forcing it doesn’t do anybody a lick of good. Viewers know when an analyst extends himself/herself. Most of the time those results reach the point of the viewer saying “what are they talking about?”
It’s hard to question Romo’s credentials as I stated a couple of weeks ago. The man knows the game of football. He can point out things as a former QB that most of us don’t see. Pulling guards, cover two, cover zero and check downs. But its seemingly what happens in between plays that gets him in trouble on CBS. There were several blunders in last Sunday’s game alone.
To start the game, CBS cameras had a shot of Patrick Mahomes on the screen, Nantz says, “Tonight there are 70-thousand plus, rooting against him.” Very salient point, since it was the QB’s first road playoff game. What followed should have tipped everyone off it was going to be a long night. Romo exclaimed, “Well, that’s how many fans I play in front of, normally at my house, they pretend like they’re all there, but there’s zero.” Huh?
Late in the game with the Bills driving, Josh Allen faced a 3rd and 9 with around 2 minutes to go. Allen missed an open man over the middle and a throw to the endzone was well off the mark. It was hard to tell live if something affected the throw. After seeing the replay, Allen was pressured but not hit. Somehow even after watching that same replay, Romo gave Allen a free pass on the play, “He gets hit right when he throws it. It’s not a missed throw.” He didn’t get touched.
NFL history was a problem too. In the opening minute of the game, Buffalo tight end Dalton Kincaid batted a fumbled Bills ball out of bounds to prevent a recovery from Kansas City.
But Kincaid’s batted ball traveled forward and out of bounds, earning the Bills an illegal batting penalty. Romo said, “That’s the old Franco Harris play.” Wrong. Harris was involved in the “Immaculate Reception”, it was Dave Casper, the former Raiders tight end that caused that rule to come into effect with the “Holy Roller.”
Even pop culture eluded Romo again. When Taylor Swift was shown on camera, Travis Kelce’s brother Jason was in the shot, without a shirt, drinking a beer. Directing commentary to Swift, “There’s your brother-in-law, right behind you,” Romo said. Nope. Taylor and Travis still aren’t married.
His enthusiasm gets away from him and often it sounds like he loses his way as he’s trying to make a point. I’m not against an analyst being exuberant in the booth when appropriate, but Romo is using that emotion to hide underlying issues, like getting things right. It’s not clear to me whether or not Romo is still having fun, or cashing a paycheck? A hefty one at that after signing a reported 10-year deal worth 170-million dollars.
I know the job isn’t an easy one. You open yourself up for criticism, fair or unfair. Fans are never going to be completely satisfied and that’s ok. That’s not the issue. Fans deserve an analyst that’s prepped and ready for every game and has a good grasp on the game and its history.
Romo doesn’t need the job, he did very well for himself as a quarterback for the Cowboys. The only things in question, is he enjoying it? Is he evolving? Does he still want to do this? The network is going to have to take a long hard look at the future. Olsen is just that. He may not be as ‘personable’ or ‘excitable’ as Romo, but the work he’s done to this point speaks for itself.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
Greg Olsen is to dull on his commentary no excitement ,Romo brings excitement to the game,just like Madden,them two together would of been Awesome ????
Romo is only second to Aikman. The rest are all pretty dull. Nantz should retire. It’s all the guys that have never played football calling Romo out on irrelevant mistakes. He knows his stuff and loves the game!
Romo needs to go. He demontrates bias and favoritism in his comments. Please replace him with someone…Rich Gannon, Tony Gonzalez, Olsen from Fox, any of the former coaches from the CBS desk could easily replace Romo. ROMO SHOULD BE A NO GO!!!