The biggest question surrounding Super Bowl LVIII has nothing to do with the game and everything to do with the broadcast:
Which Tony Romo will we get? The insightful, knowledgeable and sharp Romo or the disjointed, blathering and unprepared Romo?
Not long ago, he was expected to be the next great NFL analyst, a la John Madden. But after seven seasons in the CBS booth, “Romostradamus” — TV partner Jim Nantz’s nickname for Romo because of his predictive powers — has lost his luster.
Bears fans heard that in the Week 18 game against the Packers. Romo mispronounced then-offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s name (Romo said Gets-key) and said left tackle Braxton Jones was Brenden Jones. With only an entire week to prepare for the broadcast, Romo clearly didn’t put in the work.
Surely, he’d get his act together in the postseason, when every game is in its own broadcast window and the audience dwarfs that of a regular-season game. The man reportedly makes $18 million per year on a 10-year contract. Surely, he’d sharpen up for the playoffs.
But Romo has had some embarrassing moments that should worry CBS.
In the Steelers-Bills wild-card game, Romo revealed his lack of preparation when he talked about Steelers running back Jaylen Warren in the third quarter.
“We know how good [Najee] Harris has been playing, but I didn’t realize they had this 1-2 punch,” Romo said. “We hadn’t seen them this year or done a game, but [Warren] consistently hits the hole. Quick, aggressive, has those instincts. This is an outstanding unit.”
Romo didn’t seem to know that Warren ranked third in the NFL with 5.3 yards per carry (149 carries for 784 yards). Fantasy football players likely knew more about him than Romo.
In the Chiefs-Bills divisional playoff, Romo got off to a lousy start when he confused the “Immaculate Reception” and the “Holy Roller.” Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs caught a pass but fumbled, and tight end Dalton Kincaid batted it out of bounds. After the Bills were penalized, Romo said, “That’s the old Franco Harris play, Jim, where you’re going down, it’s fourth down, let’s just bat it to get a first down. They don’t allow that.”
Harris made the “Immaculate Reception” on a deflected pass to win it for the Steelers in the 1972 playoffs. In 1978, Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler fumbled/threw the ball forward, and tight end Dave Casper fell on it in the end zone for the winning touchdown.
Nantz didn’t address it, likely in fear of embarrassing Romo further. He just moved the broadcast along.
Later, after Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman was ruled to have fumbled out of bounds through the end zone after initially being ruled down, Romo rambled:
“That was so close right there, I mean, I could’ve seen ’em going either way because the call on the field [pause] was that he was down. And [pause] I think it’s the right call, but I could’ve easily seen …”
Nantz saved him this time, interrupting with, “What a sequence: a fake punt and then a turnover to get it back.”
Finally, to cap an awful fourth quarter, Romo thought out loud about whether the Chiefs, who might need time to score, should call a timeout on the Bills’ drive before the two-minute warning:
“If I’m Kansas City, I might use a timeout right here. I’m not positive. You’re thinking about it, though.”
Quite the insight.
In the Chiefs-Ravens AFC title game, Romo delivered this gem going to break after Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson lost a fumble: “In games like this, the ball matters more than any other game.”
He probably just misspoke, scrambling his words in a rush to get to commercial. That might explain other foibles, too. But talking is part of broadcasting, and it isn’t as easy as some make it seem. It takes practice and repetition. And as a network’s No. 1 NFL analyst, Romo has to be better.
The quirks viewers found endearing before are annoying now. And as for his analysis, Romo no longer has recency in his favor. When he joined CBS, he was months removed from being with the Cowboys. Seven years later, he needs to better prepare for broadcasts.
When he walked off the field and right into the broadcast booth in 2017, Romo was a revelation. He still has the youthful enthusiasm he had then, and he’s still capable of providing quality commentary.
In the Chiefs-Bills game, he commented on the Bills’ injury-riddled defense, saying the more players a team loses, the smaller its blitz and sub packages get, forcing it to make safer calls. He noted that both defenses have a lot of checks at the line of scrimmage, so it’s best for both quarterbacks to get on the ball quickly to limit the defense’s adjustments. He also correctly predicted Bills QB Josh Allen’s TD run.
In the Chiefs-Ravens game, he warned that if the Chiefs were too aggressive on a fourth-and-one play, they could give up a touchdown. Jackson then burst into the open field for 21 yards. He said the Ravens’ core defense is zone, but Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes moves defenders out of their zones better than anyone. And he was ahead of everyone on the Ravens’ intentional offside late in the game.
But Romo’s needless comments often overshadow the worthy ones. His job isn’t in jeopardy, and his performance won’t affect viewership. But CBS can’t like seeing its “Romostradamus” get roasted after games. The Super Bowl offers him the chance to sway public opinion back in his favor.
