Chiefs-Bengals: Which Tony Romo will be calling the game for CBS?

The road to the Super Bowl will go through Kansas City on Sunday afternoon, with the Chiefs taking on the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium in the AFC championship.

Calling the game will be play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and analyst Tony Romo, who are coming off one of the best games in NFL history — the Chiefs’ overtime win against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills last week in the divisional round.

Romo, in his fifth year broadcasting NFL games for CBS, was every bit as enthusiastic as you’d expect for such an exciting game. “Wow, this is going to be really difficult now,” Romo said as the Bills faced a long fourth down with just two minutes remaining. When Allen threw a touchdown strike on the very next play to Gabriel Davis, a shocked Romo said, “This is… it’s just impossible.”

“Romo’s giddiness can be corny,” wrote The Ringer’s Brian Curtis. “Giddiness is also Romo’s superpower. It allows him to erase the distance between the announcer and the fan. It lets him get one over on the Professor Football model of announcer that became standard over the last decade.”

But Romo was also uncharacteristically sloppy, was stingy with his trademark insight, and struggled at times to complete his own thoughts as the game neared its conclusion. As Curtis pointed out, Romo offered little analysis on how and why Buffalo’s defense imploded, allowing a 64-yard touchdown strike to Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill with just one minute remaining in the game. Romo also whiffed on the game-winning touchdown from Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce, which was obviously a catch to everyone in America except Romo.

“I don’t think it’s over, Jim!” Romo screamed, as CBS showed replays making it clear the game was over.

“Romo’s best quality is his enthusiasm, but he was nearly incoherent at times on Sunday, just all over the place,” wrote New York Post media columnist Andrew Marchand. “Some Sundays this works — on this one it did not.”

Compare that Romo to the one fans heard the previous week, when he did an exceptional job explaining why Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott wasn’t able to spike the football with so little time remaining on the clock during their first-round playoff loss to the 49ers.

“The umpire has to touch the ball!” Romo said. “Dak doesn’t realize, these guys don’t realize he has to touch the ball!”

Expect more enthusiasm from Romo during Sunday afternoon’s game, with Mahomes facing off against young Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. The last time the Bengals won in Kansas City was 2012, thought they did defeat the Chiefs 34-31 back in Week 17 in a game called by … Tony Romo.

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Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream Bengals-Chiefs on CBS Sunday:

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