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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

📺 The Romo Experience. It was another strange weekend for CBS analyst Tony Romo in the booth. While Romo had some high highs, including predicting a Denver touchdown to end the first half, he misnamed the biggest star in the game and again had multiple sequences that likely left viewers confused. As far as we know, Romo wasn’t sick this time…

🤨 Trump’s plan for America’s Game. The president posted on his social media platform over the weekend that he plans to sign an executive order to keep the second Saturday in December exclusive to Army-Navy. The announcement came as reports suggested an expanded College Football Playoff could play games that day — and infringe on CBS’ turf as the rightsholders for “America’s Game.”

🏈 Brady’s ‘big role.’ While Tom Brady got a stinker of a game on Saturday with 49ers-Seahawks, he appears to be plenty busy with the Las Vegas Raiders. ESPN reporter Peter Schrager recently stated that Brady is “running” the team’s coaching search. Last year, many went public with concerns about Brady’s advantage in the coaching market while traveling the country with Fox. Now, not so much.

🔴 No Corso. Despite living just a short flight away from the Orange Bowl and being an alumni of Indiana University, beloved ESPN commentator Lee Corso will not be in attendance for the national championship game on Monday night. Corso retired from College GameDay earlier this season.

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

NFL media still doesn't know what a catch is

Fifteen years ago last September, a Week 1 game between Detroit and Chicago changed everything.

The overturned game-winning reception by Lions star Calvin Johnson that day is informally known as the last time we ever could be certain that a catch was, in fact, a catch.

Johnson leapt over a Bears corner and landed in-bounds with the ball, then placed it on the ground to celebrate. By releasing the ball by choice, Johnson gave the officials an opening to take the reception away and deliver the Lions a loss.

The lead referee that day? Gene Steratore.

On Saturday evening in Denver, Steratore once again appeared. The officials had just awarded the Broncos an interception on a throw to Brandin Cooks that would have set Buffalo up to win the game in overtime.

Despite Cooks coming to the ground with the ball and appearing to be touched down by Denver DB Ja’Quan McMillian, the referees credited McMillian with a pick for wresting the ball out of Cook’s arms while he laid upon the grass.

“I just don’t think Cooks really has firm possession of the football when both players hit the ground,” said Steratore, now the rules analyst for CBS.

But even Steratore could not avoid the bigger issue at play.

The officials did not pause the game to conduct a full review of the turnover, despite it being an enormous moment in the game and an incredibly close call.

Postgame, Bills head coach Sean McDermott explained that he called a timeout just to allow the referees to go more in-depth on the review. And in his mind, they still breezed past their decision.

Steratore ultimately agreed.

The broader conversation that followed online was not unlike the one on Sept. 12, 2010, when Johnson got screwed. What is a catch? Especially when the game-winner from Denver’s Melvin Mims Jr. also appeared to bobble as he hit the ground.

Perhaps it just feels especially delicate coming off the latest round of federal indictments related to bet-fixing, but the fact that this endless debate is a fixed feature of NFL football is damning. Officiating every sport has gotten perilously difficult as athleticism continues to improve across generations and players and coaches learn how to game the rules. Still, these are precisely the decisions that feel most ripe for scrutiny — and for good reason.

A referee can indeed control the outcome of a game with a call like this, as well as the two pass interference penalties against Buffalo that came later. And clearly, sports media has not gotten any better at determining, in real time or after the fact, what constitutes a catch. We are all on different wavelengths here, and the final call appears to be incredibly subjective.

When even the people who played the sport and/or are paid millions of dollars to cover it cannot credibly explain why decisions are being made on the field, it spells trouble for a league (and media industry) that is simultaneously embracing legal sports gambling.

🎺📱 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 🌟

In case you missed it, Kevin Harlan’s call of the Caleb Williams’ fourth-down miracle for Westwood One

Another strange goal-line sequence for Tony Romo, Jim Nantz and the CBS crew. You can’t mess this stuff up!

NBC went a little too hard trying to bleep an S-bomb from the Rams’ kicker

A very strange halftime for Ryan Clark, who was hellbent on defending C.J. Stroud after an awful first half at Foxborough

👏 INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 🗣️

• NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero appears to be the first insider to try AI-generated graphics in their breaking news posts on social media. And the results — and reaction — are exactly what you’d expect.

• Bill Belichick will join ACC Network coverage of the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday night at the Orange Bowl, appearing on the network’s pregame show as well as its Field Pass alt-cast.

• Starting Tuesday, college basketball analysts Seth Davis and Andy Katz will host a new show for Fubo TV called The Hoops HQ Show, after Davis’ recently launched website.

• Journeyman QB Ben DiNucci joined the Denver Broncos’ practice squad on Sunday, shortly after he appeared on CBS to preview their appearance in the AFC divisional round against Buffalo.

📣 NOTABLE QUOTABLES 🗣️

“We all thought we were being clever/loved the HOU D and no one wanted to just pick favorites across the board. Sadly we do not discuss beforehand.” - ESPN’s Mina Kimes, offering an explanation of the entire NFL Live panel incorrectly picking Houston over New England this weekend.

“It will be a cute story, and it will get some attention on Tuesday morning, Matt, but it really won’t get that much. It’s all about what’s next in the NFC, AFC Championship games.” - Paul Finebaum, either taking a shot at Indiana or expressing the unfortunate reality for college football and all other sports in the shadow of the NFL.

“As these negotiations have gone on, it feels like some of (the fan support) is waning. And I think some of it has just been the language and the verbiage and that sort of the thing that we’ve heard from the players’ association.” - ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo, opining on WNBA players’ decision to call the league’s proposal to more than quadruple salaries a “slap in the face.”

“What I would express to anybody who doubts whether a sports journalist loves sports is … I would say it’s not only childish but it’s a contradiction.” - Pablo Torre, responding to Pat McAfee’s recent (elaborate) criticisms of sports journalists.

️‍🔥 THE CLOSER 🔥

Michael Jordan’s NBA on NBC tenure has been a massive letdown

We may end up with just one interview from NBA on NBC “special contributor” Michael Jordan.

Last week, lead announcer Mike Tirico confirmed that there are no additional MJ sitdowns so far, which would be a massive letdown for hoops fans. While the first conversation centered largely on predictable topics, Jordan’s allure burst through the screen and created a clear historical through-line for NBC as it took back over airing pro basketball.

But given the hype NBC created around Jordan joining its roster, it’s fair to wonder whether they were duped — or intentionally oversold Jordan’s role.

Click to read more from Awful Announcing's Matt Yoder on NBC’s MJ saga and why it is a cautionary tale for working with celebrity talent.