Tony Romo Addresses Critics and Why He Didn't Sound Great During Bills-Jaguars Game

Tony Romo had a rough wild-card weekend on CBS. The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback was on the call for last Sunday's thrilling Bills-Jaguars game and during the action lots of fans sounded off on his dreadful performance.

It all started with a mind-boggling take before kickoff when he explained that the Jaguars might be able to pull off a "major upset" even though they were the favorites to win the game.

"It is wide open," said Romo. "I don't think we've ever seen it where you're like hmm... who is gonna win? I don't know. Do you? You know, I'm pretty good at football knowledge and I'm like I don't know. Today's gonna be very telling though 'cause Jacksonville is a complete football team. They can surprise a lot of people. Carolina did that yesterday. They earned the respect of everyone. Almost won, but they didn't. Jacksonville's in that same situation. They can do it. This could be a major upset even though it's not an upset because the Bills are actually the underdog. But they're the overdogs. We'll see today."

Did Tony Romo actually call the Bills the “over dog” for an open he had all week to prepare for? pic.twitter.com/OV2oKUQvR2
— Damon Amendolara (@DamonAmendo) January 12, 2026

It then continued with Romo making weird noises during big plays and saying odd things during critical moments.

We have our first weird Tony Romo noise of the afternoon ✅ pic.twitter.com/lsMvj6eVyP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 11, 2026

On Wednesday, Romo appeared on Adam Schein's SiriusXM radio show and shared that he was battling an illness leading up to, and during, the game.

"We had a bunch of guys sick but yeah we were just grinding through it," Romo said. "But you’re not going to miss a playoff game. It’s too much fun."

Schein then asked Romo: "Do you pay attention to the highs when things are going well or pay attention to people online during the postseason or during any conversation about Tony Romo as a broadcaster?"

Romo danced around that a little bit, saying:

"I think anytime you’re in a position like we are—we’re on the air for for three and half hours. You’re always trying to do the best you can and everything and there’s always going to moments where there are great stuff and other stuff. It’s just part of being in your position. You just go back to work and do a great job. That’s the fun part about this - it’s sports and it makes it fun. We’re just trying to make everyone enjoy the show, and learn a little bit and have a great time. To me that’s what makes sports amazing—it’s fun.

Here's that conversation:

In an interview this morning with SiriusXM’s Adam Schein, Tony Romo sort of responds to the negative response to his call of Bills-Jaguars. It was also revealed that Romo was sick on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/Guw2UzFpDe
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) January 14, 2026

Romo's broadcasting career got off to an electric start in 2017 when he would often correctly predict plays before the snap. He quickly became a star and got a boatload of money from CBS to remain in the No. 1 booth with Jim Nantz.

In recent years, however, he has struggled quite a bit and has often been ripped by fans during the games he is calling.

This week Romo will be in Denver for Saturday's Bills-Broncos divisional round showdown. Hopefully Romo is feeling better, and hopefully he's ready to step up and call a good game. If not, the critics will only continue to voice their displeasure with him.

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