AQB Reviews TV's Coverage of Super Bowl Sunday

Super-Duper Finish
After Slow Start, ABC Comes Up Big In Wildest Super Bowl Ending

NEW YORK (AQB)--ABC, which spent much of Super Bowl Sunday promoting its list of dramas, fittingly televised the most dramatic ending in Super Bowl history when Rams linebacker Mike Jones stopped Titan receiver Kevin Dyson on the one yard line to preserve a 23-16 victory.

"Can he get in? No, he cannot!," play-by-play man Al Michaels bellowed over that final play. It might not have been as emotional as Michaels' "Do you believe in miracles?" in the 1980 Olympics, but it was certainly good enough.

Overall, ABC had a rough beginning to Super Bowl XXXIV but came up strong in a "breathless fourth quarter," as Michaels called it.

As the drama increased on Tennessee's final drive, Michaels and analyst Boomer Esiason rose with it. The two even argued about Tennessee's use of timeouts, no doubt echoing a debate that was going on in many living rooms around the country.

Esiason said he would have used the Titans' final timeout with about 40 seconds left. Michaels disagreed, saying he would keep it as long as he could. The veteran play-by-play guy, handling his fourth Super Bowl, proved to be right, as St. Louis needed it to stop the clock and set up that final, fateful play.

"Way to go, Al," Esiason said after the Titans used that final timeout.

Esiason, though, had done a prophetic job on the previous Rams possession when he said, after Tennessee tied the game at 16, that getting the ball with about two minutes left in tie Super Bowl game is every quarterback's dream and that it was time for St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner to step up.

"You couldn't have written a better script for the league's MVP," Esiason said. The second-year analyst did show a moment of inexperience when he referred to the game-winning touchdown pass to receiver Isaac Bruce as "a huge play."

Before St. Louis recaptured the lead, Esiason had done a nice job capturing the mood of the two teams. He made a good point when he talked about how battle-tested Tennessee was because of its tight wins, while St. Louis - except for last week's NFC Championship - wasn't accustomed to these close endings.

It took a while for the game to build to its dramatic ending. Before the fourth quarter, the biggest story was the injury to Tennessee safety Blaine Bishop, who had to be carted off with a neck injury. Sideline reporter Lynn Swann, who was covering the Tennessee sideline, reported that Bishop only had a sprained neck, soon after the defensive back left the field.

This followed news from Rams sideline reporter Lesley Visser, who reported - while Bishop was still on the field - that Rams receiver Ricky Proehl said Bishop had feeling in all extremities.

Throughout the telecast, ABC had problems with replays - either by not showing them quickly or by not getting back to live action soon enough. The network, televising its fifth Super Bowl, made its biggest mistake of the day in the third quarter when it missed a play because it was showing a replay.

Early in the game, ABC missed showing a couple key replays in order to show the starting lineups and the fancy new graphics with it.

Later, ABC came up short on the first half's biggest play when it took too long to show a replay on Torry Holt's dropped pass late in the second quarter. If completed, the play would have been a touchdown.

The network showed only one replay, which was right before the next play started. ABC later showed a second replay, but only after it was too late to review. The first replay looked like an incomplete pass, but the second one suggested it might have been complete.

Either way, ABC should have had a replay up sooner because no doubt Rams coaches were waiting to see it before deciding whether or not to challenge the on-field ruling. The network also should have shown more replays of the play, even after it was too late to review, because the ruling was questionable and the first two replays hadn't settled the debate.

In the end, ABC proved that it wasn't the only one to drop the ball on that play.

As for the announcers, Michaels and Esiason settled down after a hectic start. Michaels is the best play-by-play guy in the NFL and proved it with his smooth handling of Super Bowl XXXIV. Michaels' strength is adding that extra nugget of information - whether it be background, a rule explanation or something he saw on the field - at exactly the right time.

Esiason also had one of his better games in his two-year broadcasting career, although he did pull up lame late in the first half when he credited a heavy Tennessee pass rush to the effect that Titan linebacker Jevon Kearse creates. Kearse wasn't even in the game on that play.

Esiason's biggest problem is describing the game more than analyzing it, and he continued to do that often on Sunday.

Nonetheless, like the often-dull first 2 1/2 quarters by the Titans and Rams, much of ABC's mistakes will be forgotten because of the dramatic fourth quarter and the network's solid coverage of that final 15 minutes.

"The St. Louis Rams are Super Bowl champions. How does that sound? Unbelievable," Michaels said afterward.

"Al," Esiason said, "every Super Bowl should have an ending like this."

Other thoughts and notes on the ABC's telecast of the Super Bowl:

Good jobs:
1. ABC showed late in the second quarter how the Rams offensive line, in particular right tackle Fred Miller, was handling Titan stud linebacker Jevon Kearse. However, the critic in me thinks it took too long for the network to show it. Plus, I would have like to have seen a similar analysis in the second half.
2. ABC's replay from the sideline that clearly showed Tennessee running back Eddie George's knee touching the ground.
3. Michaels later wondered what Tennessee head coach Jeff Fisher told his team after safety Blaine Bishop hurt his neck and the Titans were down 9-0 with the Rams driving. St. Louis got a touchdown on that possession, but Tennessee then began their comeback that eventually tied the game with about two minutes left.
4. Esiason broke down how the Rams' Todd Lyght was able to get by Tennessee tight end Jackie Harris and block Tennessee's field goal attempt in the third quarter.
5. Tennessee head coach Jeff Fisher told Swann at halftime that his team would need 24 points to win. That's exactly what Tennessee would have needed.

Good lines:
1. "It's one of those stories too good for the movies but perfect for real life," Michaels said about St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner. Later, after Warner threw the game-winning touchdown, Esiason referred to Michaels' earlier comment by saying, "That movie continues."
2. "[Tennessee kicker] Al Del Greco, who is a scratched golfer, pulled one in the rough on his first attempt," Michaels said.

Glitch:
1. In the fourth quarter, ABC seemed confused on whether it was going to a commercial or staying at the game. In the end, it went to a commercial but only after the board for the upcoming Budweiser commercial.
2. ABC kept a frozen picture on the screen for a few seconds early in the first quarter.

Top stats:
1. Eddie George was the toughest running back in the league to tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
2. The Rams were the first team in Super Bowl history that failed to score a touchdown on five straight trips into the red zone. Of course, St. Louis scored a touchdown on the very next play after ABC displayed this fact.
3. St. Louis' last 19 plays of the first half were passes.

Hmm...:
Where was Boomer Esiason when host Chris Berman threw it back to Al Michaels to close the telecast? Why didn't we get a goodbye from Boomer?

Overhype Award:
1. Sideline reporter Lesley Visser calling St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner's rise "one of the sweetest stories in the history of sports."

For what it's worth...:
...I'm so happy that ABC had archival footage to show viewers of the Bud blimp, which couldn't fly Sunday because of bad weather in Atlanta. The telecast would not have been complete without it.
...my wife wasn't all that impressed with the halftime show. Neither was I.
...Despite the strong performance by Esiason, it probably won't be enough to prevent a three-man booth next season. And that's a good thing. While it's easy to make things interesting in big or exciting games, Michaels and Esiason had problems keeping viewers on those dull or worthless contests - and that's where a Mike Ditka could really help.

Grade: B. Michaels was superb and Esiason had his moments, but the production surprisingly wasn't ABC's sharpest.