Fox Experiment Fizzles, but Was Worth a Try

Sorry, Fox. Nice try, but it didn’t work.

The graphic with the score and time remaining in the left-hand corner is a good idea.

Doing an NFL telecast, in this case Saturday’s game between the San Diego Chargers and Arizona Cardinals, without a traditional play-by-play announcer was simply an idea.

Maybe it’s because we’re all too accustomed to hearing play by play before and after each play. Whatever, we yearned for it.

What NBC did on the early game Saturday, Cleveland and Minnesota, was a more subtle change. Announcers Charlie Jones and Randy Cross mostly played it straight but at times used a more conversational style.

Terry Bradshaw and Jimmy Johnson, on the later telecast, struggled from the start and often seemed lost, unsure what they were supposed to do. But that was to be expected. They were novices at this.

“It was exciting and I had a great time,” Johnson said after the telecast. “Sure, we had some glitches, but maybe we’ll get better after we do more games.”

One glitch came early in the fourth quarter when Johnson, signing off for a commercial break, said, “The score is 17 to 28 with the Chargers leading.” After the break, he did it correctly, saying the Chargers were leading, 28-17.

Bradshaw got confused on the Cardinals’ late touchdown, saying the Chargers’ Mark Seay, No. 82, had scored when he meant Stevie Anderson, the Cardinals’ No. 82.

Johnson quickly corrected Bradshaw.

It wasn’t really a bad telecast. It just wasn’t a particularly good one, and certainly wasn’t revolutionary.