Little to knock or praise about Nantz and Simms
That sound bite was the highlight for the CBS broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. Unfortunately for the Bears and their fans, that play was also one of the rare highlights on an otherwise damp and dreary night in Miami.
It's not that Nantz and Simms did a poor job. They were objective. They made all the salient points. It's just that their performance in the booth, like the performance of the Bears on the field, wasn't memorable. It was OK. OK isn't good enough in the Super Bowl.
''Against the Chicago Bears, you cannot get to the ground fast enough,'' Simms said midway through the first quarter after Marvin Harrison caught a short pass on third down before being walloped by Bears linebacker Lance Briggs.
Simms later acknowledged that the rain was having an impact on the game. Duh. That's not meant as a knock on Simms, by the way. It's a knock on all the pregame talking heads (Mike Ditka, please pick up a white courtesy phone) who said the weather would not affect the game.
Hello? Are you the same people who said the conditions wouldn't bother the Saints in the NFC Championship Game?
Of course it was a factor. The teams combined for six turnovers in the first half alone. The rain contributed to that.
''It's amazing how lopsided this game has been and how Chicago can still win the game,'' Nantz said early in the fourth quarter.
It was true for a few more minutes, anyway. Then Kelvin Hayden returned Rex Grossman's interception for a touchdown to provide the winning margin in the Colts' 29-17 triumph. The game wasn't as close as the score indicated.
It won't go down as one of the best Super Bowl broadcast, nor will it go down as one of the worst.
Nantz and Simms didn't tell us much we didn't know, but they didn't neglect to pass along pertinent information either.
It's just that their performance, much like the Bears' performance, lacked that, championship quality.
