Tony Romo deserves all the praise he's received during his rookie season in the CBS broadcast booth. But seriously, what game was he watching Sunday as the Jaguars and Bills put viewers to sleep with a 10-3 wild-card snoozer?
I know it was the rookie broadcaster's first playoff telecast. Still, the best sportscasters are honest with TV viewers. They don't serve as cheerleaders for networks or leagues. This was a boring game due to horrendous quarterback play and Romo knew it. Yet he seemed reluctant to rip Blake Bortles and Tyrod Taylor, and that's a flaw he needs to improve.
There's something to be said for well-played, low-scoring struggles -- both the Jags and Bills have strong defenses -- but this was not that game. This was bad quarterbacking, period.
All game long, Bortles and Taylor wildly missed wide open receivers. They misfired on screen passes, swing passes, seam passes.
Bortles completed 12 of 23 passes for 87 yards. He gained more yards with his legs (88 yards) than shaky right arm. Before unfortunately suffering a concussion, Taylor was 17-38 for 134 yards with two interceptions. With fewer than 250 yards between them, Bortles and Taylor managed to set NFL passing games back 100 years, tweeted ESPN analyst Louis Riddick.
Setting the passing game back 100 years today.
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) January 7, 2018
Mike Golic Jr. called the game "godawful" on Monday's "Golic and Wingo."
As Trey Wingo put it: "I’m not sure you can call what we saw yesterday a passing game. There were balls in the air that were supposed to be passes. But I’m not sure they actually could be considered passes."
Romo, however, never harshly ripped the QBs' poor play.
With the Bills selling out to stop the run, Romo pleaded with Bortles and the Jags to open it up and throw downfield. On this day, Bortles couldn't even dink and dunk effectively.
At the end of the first half, Jim Nantz noted the Jags had posted only two first downs and 40 total yards of offense. All Romo said was, "They have to get something going here. Bortles has to play better than he's played so far." Another time he admitted Bortles was missing "simple," easy throws.
Unfortunately, Romo seems to have been brainwashed by the league's replay suits into looking for the slightest bobble of the ball that can overturn a call. When the Jags finally sealed the win with an interception that came awfully close to being one of those bobbles, an ebullient Romo summed it up as an "unbelievable game."
Really? Unbelievable? C'mon Tony.
If Romo wants to see how it's done, he should check out colleague Boomer Esiason's scathing halftime review of Bortles' "brutal" performance.
Also on the CBS payroll, Esiason noted the 3-3 game was "hard" to watch.
"Blake Bortles has just absolutely been awful," he said. "I know Tony Romo is trying to be nice. He's trying to be as nice as he possibly can. He’s doing the game. He’s there [in Jacksonville]. He met with [Bortles] last night. I would tell you Leonard Fournette doesn't help matters right there dropping the ball. But look at the inaccuracy, look at the nervousness of the feet [by Bortles]. He’s trying to aim the ball, he's gun-shy. At the end of the first half, he’s trying to run. There are guys open. He is missing guys. He's missing screen passes. I mean it is brutal."
That said, Romo is such a smart, enthusiastic broadcaster that he still had plenty of good moments during an otherwise dull telecast.
I liked it when he and Nantz joked about either team finally scoring in the first half when Buffalo kicked a field goal for a 3-0 lead. It felt right, it felt real.
When a running Bortles ran over a panicked CBS cameraman on the sidelines, Romo had fun with the replay. (Bonus points to the CBS director who smartly switched the camera feed to the view of the steamrolled cameraman, who, thankfully, was not injured). It was great TV.
AHHHHHHHHHHH pic.twitter.com/xGktGn9wGt
— Danny (@recordsANDradio) January 7, 2018
Romo smartly diagnosed how the wind direction was causing Bortles' passes to either sail or dive. He even diagnosed how the struggling Jags QB could throw the ball differently to compensate for the wind in Jacksonville. Tom Brady's ability to cut through the wind is part of what makes him so great, noted Romo.
If I'm Bortles and Jags coach Doug Marrone, I'd rewind the tape to hear Romo's throwing advice before they take on the Steelers in the cold winds of Pittsburgh this weekend.
Romo really impressed me when he presciently predicted the "deep in-cut" pass route that Bills replacement QB Nathan Peterman would throw with 33 seconds left in the game. Jags cornerback Jalen Ramsay saw it coming too and picked off Peterman with a game-sealing interception. Rather than patting himself on the back, Romo told viewers the 23-year old Ramsay could be the league's next great defensive back.
Meanwhile, CBS producers delivered some great shots, including Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander stuffing a leaping Leonard Fournette on the goal line and LeSean McCoy faking out a Jags defender with a Chuck Foreman-like spin move.
But again, I didn't get the feeling Romo nailed it with his critique of Bortles, Taylor and the game itself. He was too nice.
Next time Romo should feel fee to admit what viewers are watching is a turkey. You don't have to sell viewers, Tony. They know good football when they see it.
