Sunday’s AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens was perhaps the most highly anticipated game of the season for many NFL fans. However, some viewers didn’t love the commentary from CBS analyst Tony Romo.
There was one play in particular during the second quarter that a lot of viewers zeroed in on. On the play, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage by Chiefs safety Eric Reid. Miraculously, Jackson was able to beat everyone to the batted pass, catch it, and gain 13 yards on the play.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1751712150597571012
On the call of the play, Romo proclaimed that it was “one of the greatest plays” he had ever seen and that it was the kind of pass that was “intercepted a hundred percent” even though it was ultimately a completed catch by Jackson to himself.
“That’s one of the greatest plays I’ve ever seen!” said Romo. “This is intercepted a hundred percent by the Chiefs (Eric) Reid. And Lamar uses their instincts, the god-given gifts, the awareness, to beat him to the punt. And makes one of the greatest plays you’ll ever see in a championship game.”
"Ball batted up into the air… and CAUGHT BY JACKSON! HE CAUGHT HIS OWN PASS!" – Jim Nantz
"THAT'S ONE OF THE GREATEST PLAYS I'VE EVER SEEN! THIS IS INTERCEPTED A HUNDRED PERCENT…" – Tony Romo pic.twitter.com/Cahzy0cYtI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 28, 2024
Referring to the play as an interception when it was literally not an interception is certainly an odd choice from him. He then follows that up by calling the batted pass a punt, which has absolutely no correlation to the play at hand.
Any viewer who looked away for a second during Romo’s call would have been completely lost on what even happened during the play. Unsurprisingly, fans voiced their ongoing frustrations with the CBS analyst on social media.
Nice play by Lamar Jackson to catch his own tipped pass, but Romo going a little overboard calling that one of the greatest plays he's ever seen.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) January 28, 2024
CBS has a massive Tony Romo problem. He makes no sense and it doesn’t even sound like he wants to be there. It’s unbelievably embarrassing.
— Jeff Parles (@jeffparles) January 28, 2024
“That’s an interception 100% of the time” – Tony Romo
Except it wasn’t
— Anthony Russo (@Anthony_Russo97) January 28, 2024
Like so many other things that Romo says, there’s truth behind it. There was a very real chance the pass could have been intercepted if not for Jackson’s incredible effort to get to the ball before Eric Reid. However, the way that he delivered that information, and the way it confused so many people watching, was the problem.
[Awful Announcing on Twitter/X]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.