Andrew Marchand: Tony Romo ‘doesn’t appear as if he does the homework’

Tony Romo opened Sunday’s Bills-Jaguars Wild Card broadcast with 90 seconds of incoherence.

The NFL on CBS analyst compared Jacksonville to the Carolina Panthers, who had played the day before as 10-point underdogs. He then rambled about how the game was simultaneously an upset and not an upset, calling the Bills both underdogs and “overdogs.” None of it made sense. In fact, it sounded like someone who hadn’t prepared.

Andrew Marchand thought the same thing.

“The problem for Romo is he doesn’t appear as if he does the homework,” Marchand said on his Marchand Sports Media podcast with Jon Meterparel. “After you get further away from playing — and you’ve been studying film — you have to keep studying film to know what’s going on in the league, and you have to take some time. I can’t tell you 100 percent that Romo isn’t studying, but that’s kind of the rumor on the street, No. 1. And No. 2, you’re watching the game and just not getting much insight.”

Marchand, who covers the sports media beat for The Athletic, has been at the forefront of Romo’s decline. He first reported in 2023 that CBS held an “intervention” with its $17.5 million-per-year analyst after his performances regressed following his massive contract extension. CBS executives told Romo he needed to improve his preparation and cut back on the catchphrases that had become predictable. Romo responded. For a stretch, his analysis improved, and he sounded more focused.

Sunday’s broadcast suggested that progress didn’t stick.

“This is an issue,” Marchand said. “They got two more games this year. They’re under the spotlight. You have people like Barstool and Dave Portnoy now getting involved in this. You start getting this critical mass, and that’s when you have an issue.”

Romo off to a hot start….This could be a major upset like Carolina yesterday even though they are favored…. pic.twitter.com/e8pX4K5v5D

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) January 11, 2026

Romo’s been declining for years, but the criticism mostly stayed within sports media circles. I wrote in September that Romo’s decline had become impossible to ignore. His analysis had become shallow. His predictions were increasingly wrong. But that kind of criticism doesn’t usually force networks to act. Dave Portnoy’s involvement brings this to Barstool’s massive audience. Millions of people who don’t follow sports media closely now have Romo’s mess in front of them. That’s when networks feel pressure.

Romo was ripped for multiple gaffes during the Bills-Jaguars broadcast, not just the incoherent opening. He botched basic game situations. His analysis didn’t match what was happening on the field. The entire broadcast felt unprepared, like Romo showed up hoping his charisma would carry him through. Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner called the performance “shaky” and noted it opened the door for Ian Eagle and J.J. Watt to potentially take over CBS’s top booth.

That possibility matters because of what Marchand said about Romo’s preparation — or lack thereof.

Romo retired after the 2016 season. It’s been over eight years. The NFL has changed significantly since then. Offensive schemes have evolved. New coaching philosophies have emerged. If Romo isn’t keeping up with those changes through film study, his analysis will sound dated. Sunday’s broadcast proved that. Romo’s insights felt surface-level. His explanations lacked depth. It was the kind of analysis you’d expect from someone who hasn’t watched much film.

CBS now faces a decision. Romo has two more games this season — the AFC Divisional Round and then the championship game. Both will be under massive scrutiny after Sunday. If Romo struggles again, the pressure to make a change will intensify. The network has invested heavily in Romo. When CBS signed him to his extension in 2020, they made him the highest-paid NFL analyst in television history. The bet was that Romo’s ability to predict plays before they happened would remain appointment viewing. That skill was always tied to his deep knowledge of offensive football. If he’s not putting in the work to maintain that knowledge, the skill disappears.

The 2023 intervention was supposed to fix this. CBS told Romo to prepare better. Romo did, at least temporarily. But Sunday suggested he’s back to the same bad habits, except now it’s worse because he’s further removed from playing, the game has continued to evolve, and so has the criticism around him.