There is no one predicting that Tony Romo is going to replace Troy Aikman as the new Monday Night Football analyst next season, but that sure did feel like an audition on ESPN2 during the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills game.
Romo, who mutually agreed to part ways from CBS as that network's top NFL game analyst following an OWI arrest and conviction earlier this year, made a surprise appearance on the Pat McAfee alternate telecast Monday evening.
Romo, appearing in a picture-in-picture setup from a remote location, was making his first appearance on any platform since his August arrest.
And he was, well, great.
More importantly, he was better than Aikman, who is ESPN's regular "Monday Night Football" analyst. (More on that in a minute).
First, Romo's ESPN2 appearance: It wasn't promoted. It simply just happened and it felt nostalgic, with Romo sharing from his deep reservoir of football knowledge and ability to explain it.
Romo, for example, chimed in when Bills linebacker Bradley Chubb anticipated and almost intercepted a Carson Wentz screen pass to Justin Jefferson and he made the point that offenses do safe things to win games, but that's no way to win a championship.
"It plays to the point that you're playing it safe," Romo noted. "It's almost like you're play-calling the game to make the game be safe, so it's close, because our defense can win it.
"I'm like, there are ways, there's always a way to win games. But we always got to see stuff a little better if you're gonna win the Super Bowl."
That is great insight and a major contrast to what ESPN typically get from Aikman, who often repeats what Joe Buck says – "massive call," he repeated on a Josh Allen tush push conversion – or what viewers already saw with their own eyes.
Aikman, also a former Dallas Cowboys quarterback like Romo, offered the ESPN audience that Jefferson moving before the snap was bad.
"You can't have pre-snap penalties," Aikman said, "but particularly not a wide receiver."
Deep.
We know that Aikman has had his disagreement with ESPN this year and is not signed beyond the network's Feb. 14, 2027 Super Bowl LXI broadcast.
The story he is unsigned but Buck did sign a new deal last month has led to speculation about what the Monday Night Football booth will look like next year.
So, Romo instead of Aikman?
At one point Aikman asked Buck if they should talk about Jefferson's necklace.
The ESPN cameras showed a slow motion view of Jefferson's necklaces bounding up and down in all their diamond-studded glory during pregame warmups.
"I'm guessing that's insured," Aikman said in his best jeweler's expertise. "I cannot imagine wearing that on a football field. Can't imagine wearing it period but I may try if somebody will loan me some money."
Was that a rip at Buck?
Romo, meanwhile, gave McAfee's viewers a great explanation of the troubles a quarterback faces when the Vikings defense, authored by defensive coordinator Brian Flores, is on the other side of the line of scrimmage and blitzing on almost every down.
"Josh Allen is right now in a hurricane, and you don't realize it until you go against it," Romo said. "Now, I do think that Minnesota, when they started doing all of this blitzing, they changed the game ...
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"They have seven guys up on the line there. But they're only going to rush five. Your job as a quarterback is to figure out the five that are gonna be blocked by your five offensive linemen.
"Then the sixth guy is your running back's. And then all of a sudden, you're gonna try and figure out, do I bring the tight end to block an extra guy? Are they coming or not coming? And then it's like, OK, whatever, everybody? And so all this stuff is chaotic.
"Your job as a quarterback is to say, 'What do they do most of the time?' Make the game simple."
That is a succinct explanation of what to do against a complex defense. It's what makes Romo outstanding. It's what suggests he'll be back in the booth in 2027 – maybe even on Monday Night Football.
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