Being a first-team network NFL broadcaster is equal parts terrific and terrifying. Social media has turned anyone with a mobile device into a critic. One man who knows both sides of broadcast fame is CBS lead NFL analyst Tony Romo.
After a solid career as a Cowboys quarterback, Romo burst onto the TV scene in 2017 to rave reviews. He was insightful, incisive, and intrepid alongside Jim Nantz in CBS’s top-tier booth. Romo took to television like Michael Phelps to water. He had cadence, rhythm, humor, and deep knowledge.
Recently, however, Romo has come under fire from critics, professional and otherwise. In fact, many feel that he has actually gotten worse at his job with each passing season.
In my view, Romo is still quite capable at what he does.
He remains top-notch in describing schemes and play designs, as well as commenting on the quarterback game specifically. When you start out not so great in TV (see Tom Brady on FOX), it’s easy to gain fans as you improve. When you are great from the beginning, people tend to expect that every single year, and if you fall off even a little bit, you get destroyed.
I wanted to see for myself where exactly Romo is, and what better game than last Saturday’s Divisional matchup featuring Buffalo at Denver?
In the on-air pregame chit-chat with Nantz, Romo made a nice point about the Broncos trying to improve their run defense to go further in the playoffs. The Broncos lost to the run-heavy Bills 31-7 in last year’s Wild Card round.
On Denver’s first drive of the game, quarterback Bo Nix had some solid passes, mostly to rookie wideout Pat Bryant. There was ample opportunity for Romo to jump in and give us a technical explanation of what was happening on the drive. Instead, he was just vague and surface-level in his analysis, saying only that it was a good start for Denver.
Romo somewhat redeemed himself on the telestrator during replays. He still does a good job isolating which positions on the field made the right moves to make a play work. He definitely pays attention and looks away from the ball while Nantz is calling the play.
Still, on a couple of replays, Romo was oddly silent. It was Nantz who made a technical comment that normally falls into the color analyst’s realm. I have no problem with effectively used silence in a televised game. However, at key times Romo needs to step in and make those insightful explanations that only an ex-player can provide.
Romo and Nantz do have a tremendous rapport. Nantz sets up Romo expertly, and Romo returns the favor, giving Nantz humorous credit when the veteran play-by-play announcer makes a good point.
When Denver fumbled in the first quarter and the ball was recovered by Buffalo, Romo was right on it, saying the flag on the play was an offside call against the Bills. His ability to see the entire field and make that kind of call is definitely his stock-in-trade. Romo also remains strong in detailing some of the finer points of the game, such as spacing by wide receivers. There are times, however, when he glosses over important facts.
Throughout the game, you could tell Josh Allen was having trouble hearing the play call through his helmet because of the decibel level of the Denver crowd. Instead of giving some experiential thoughts on that, Romo uttered rather useless words like, “This is a great environment.” Romo did provide some level of insight on how Denver head coach Sean Payton was trying to take advantage of the Buffalo defensive backfield. This included analysis on the creative play designs from Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
There are times when it seems Romo is not focused on a particular play. At other times, his explanations of plays just don’t measure up to his past standards.
Late in the second quarter, Nix had a tremendous first-down run from scrimmage on 3rd and 3. Romo’s commentary on the play was, “He’s hyped right now. This is my game, my stadium.”
How about a description of how the play broke down? Or possibly commentary on how Nix was nimble enough to turn it into a first-down run? We know Nix is hyped and that it’s his game and his stadium. Romo did redeem himself somewhat with 29 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Denver had a 2nd-and-10 on Buffalo’s 30-yard line. Romo stated this was a good moment to take a shot at the end zone.
Sure enough, Nix hit WR Lil’ Jordan Humphrey on a touchdown pass, giving Denver a 17-10 lead.
There were other good moments. On a nice run by James Cook in the third quarter, Romo offered a solid explanation of the offensive line scheme and said it was the formation he would like to see Buffalo in more often.
When the Bills scored a touchdown on a Dawson Knox reception to go ahead in the fourth quarter, Romo revealed he had in his notes that in critical situations, Josh Allen always goes to DK, meaning Knox. I like that stuff—the inside look at his preparation for the game.
The Bills got a first down with a little over eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter on one of those Josh Allen pseudo-tush push plays. Romo then made the point that the Bills adjusted and ran Allen to the right. Since Denver had fewer defensive linemen on the left side of their line.
He was also solid as the game wound down in regulation. As the Bills were driving for a tying score, Romo was all over it. Giving quick and concise explanations of each fast-moving play.
On the flip side, Romo was not at his best during the game’s frenetic overtime. In fact, it seemed he was overrun by the moment. He did not give nearly enough criticism or questioning to the officials on some very controversial calls and non-calls.
Similarly, he could have been more argumentative with CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore, who continues to most often be just a mouthpiece and apologist for the current officials.
Overall, I still give Romo his props as a football analyst, but there is no doubt that his performance has dipped.
The Internet was abuzz when, at one point in the game, it sounded like Romo called Allen “Mahomes.” Pitted against the other major network color analysts, he trails Cris Collinsworth, Troy Aikman, and Dan Orlovsky, with Louis Riddick and the vastly improved Tom Brady hot on his tail.
I don’t know if it’s comfort or just a change in style, but there’s definitely a difference in the breadth of Romo’s analysis. He’s not telling us things we don’t know or predicting plays and strategy as often. Much of his replay analysis has become casual and surface-level, as opposed to concise and specific.
There is no question Romo knows football, but even ex-QB studio and guest analysts like Matt Hasselbeck, Alex Smith, and Matt Ryan have surpassed him. I am not going to be ignorant and say Romo is untalented, but just watching and listening, he needs to hone, refine, and bring more gravity to his analysis.
Romo will be back in Denver on Sunday calling the AFC Title game. The city is the same, but the question is: will his performance rise above the altitude?
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John Molori is a weekly columnist for Barrett Sports Media. He has previously contributed to ESPNW, Patriots Football Weekly, Golf Content Network, Methuen Life Magazine, and wrote a syndicated Media Blitz column in the New England region, which was published by numerous outlets including The Boston Metro, Providence Journal, Lowell Sun, and the Eagle-Tribune. His career also includes fourteen years in television as a News and Sports Reporter, Host, Producer working for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T. He can be reached on Twitter @MoloriMedia.
