The Baltimore Sun’s Dan Zurawik had a tough time coping with CBS’ coverage of yesterday’s Ravens/Chargers tilt, not simply because the former Tiffany Network missed the opening kickoff, but mostly due to the commentary analyst Dan Fouts, described by Zurawik as “a gasbag who often makes predictions only hoping he’s right because they are not based on insight or knowledge” Of Fouts’ insights during Baltimore’s 16-13 OT victory, Zurawki notes, “he proved to be a worse analyst than Dan Dierdorf, something I thought I would never live to see. And if I did live to see it, would not survive.”
With five minutes and 48 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Flacco hit Torrey Smith for what looked like a key first down. But there was a flag on the play.
As the referees discussed it, Fouts first told viewers, “Not good for this San Diego team. It looks like it’s going to be on San Diego.”
Then, the folks in the production truck must have said something, because a few seconds later, he said, “They may call pass interference on the Ravens.”
As the delay continued, the fans started to boo.“The fans are booing now, but they’re going to be clapping real soon.” And then after a brief pause, he added, “I hope.”
The actual call: unnecessary roughness on Boldin.So, let’s see, he was wrong on the Chargers being penalized, and he was wrong on the nature of the penalty on the Ravens. This is how you fail a multiple-guess test.