How did J.J. Watt do in his first game replacing Tony Romo in CBS’s lead NFL announcing booth on Sunday?
Watt was on the call of Sunday’s Vikings vs. Packers game, working alongside Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson. The legendary NFL pass rusher was promoted to No. 1 team duties, as Romo has stepped away following his offseason arrest.
Romo and Watt are different types of broadcasters. Romo is a bit more energetic and lively, while Watt is more deadpanned and dry with his sense of humor.
NFL fans, though, agree that while they miss Romo, Watt was solid in the broadcasting booth on Sunday.
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“JJ Watt is terrific no matter who he’s paired with,” one fan wrote.
“JJ Watt is solid. I like him as the lead analyst,” one fan added.
“I still miss Romo, but Watt was pretty good in the booth in replacement of him on Sunday,” one fan added.
Awful Announcing praises Watt’s performance, too
Awful Announcing graded Watt’s No. 1 team debut as solid and steady.
While it was just their first real game together, both Nantz and Watt didn’t have many issues to work through.
“Watt and Nantz didn’t sound like a crew working through those kinks, though,” they wrote on Monday.
“If anything, Watt was overprepared. When Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell challenged a first-half call that ruled a Packers receiver had caught a four-yard pass he hadn’t actually caught — a challenge that succeeded — Watt had a stat ready in his back pocket: O’Connell entered the day converting 58 percent of his career challenges. Maybe that number got fed to him through his headset. Maybe he dug it up himself. Either way, it matched the rest of his afternoon, four quarters that sounded like the work of someone who’d been buried in Packers-Vikings film since CBS’s first media day back in August.”
It’ll be interesting to see just how long CBS chooses to stick with Watt with Romo sidelined.
