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By MIKE STEPHENSON and ANTHONY PEREZ
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 10, 2001
Observations on the Bucs broadcast:
Strongest comment: Steve Young talking about the acquisition of Brad Johnson on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown: "A defense like this only has a couple years. I just hope it's not too late now."
Flip flop: Fox cut to President Bush too late. He already had started his remarks leading into the coin toss.
Analyst Bill Maas did a nice job explaining why a first-quarter fumble was Quincy Carter's fault, but he or Sam Rosen should have mentioned that the regular officials might have had better luck getting the ensuing shoving match under control.
Had enough of the "You ready for a cold one" beer commercials?
Nice sequence: With the play clock running down on a third-and-1 play and movement by a Bucs receiver, Maas observed: "They don't have time to motion. That's a penalty." As officials marked off the delay of game, Rosen asked who was at fault and Maas blamed Johnson.
Maas was consistently well informed. Late in the second quarter he assessed linebacker Nate Webster: "The thing they don't like is he's just a little bit mouthy." After the next play, Webster was jawing at the Cowboys.
In the NFL's "This is what it's all about" promos, don't fans come off as losers living through reflected glory?
In the third quarter, Fox had a nice replay of Keyshawn Johnson's disallowed catch on the sideline. Maas explained that officials judge footwork first, then look for possession.
When the Cowboys' Jason Bell downed a fourth-quarter punt to trap the Bucs at their 1-yard line, he seemed to tiptoe against the goal line. The only replay was when Fox was going to commercial and the network's scoreboard on the bottom of the screen blocked the view of Bell's feet. Where was the replay out of commercial?
On point: As the Cowboys started their last drive, Maas assessed Carter: "The anxiety and emotion have taken over, and his (throws) have been pretty bad for the most part." On fourth down, Carter fired high and John Lynch intercepted to seal it.
Parting shot: On Fox's postgame, Cris Collinsworth said: "I'm sure everybody in Tampa is disappointed."