Tony Romo gets a lot of publicity for his ability to predict plays before the snap, but as Andrew Catalon demonstrated today, that’s not a skill reserved solely for color analysts.
Calling the Baltimore Ravens-Washington Football Team contest today, Catalon noted that the Ravens are known to be willing to fake punts. It was an appropriate time to point that out, given that Baltimore was set to punt on 4th and 9 from Washington’s 42. And then this happened:
🚨 FAKE PUNT ALERT 🚨
Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/ksCoINOB5h
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) October 4, 2020
“Watch the Ravens with potential fake punts, especially in this area of the field…there it is! Koch throwing!”Â
Give credit to Catalon, because while the field position and game situation would seem to make a fake plausible, Washington was somehow absolutely and completely fooled by the action. Baltimore capitalized on that conversion, with Lamar Jackson throwing a touchdown pass a few plays later to push their lead to 21-7. (The final minutes of the first half also included Washington punting again, Jackson throwing an interception, and then Washington kicking a field goal. Fun few minutes!)
Considering the Ravens are going to win comfortably, the fake might not have mattered much for the outcome. But it was a great example of a broadcaster understanding what was possibly coming. Maybe the WFT should be taking notes.
