Tony Romo doesn’t like how the refs treated the Eagles, and more from the Birds-Broncos broadcast

The Eagles suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, blowing a two-score lead to fall, 21-17, to the Denver Broncos.

“The team of the Rocky Mountains has come to the team of Rocky and delivered a knockout blow,” CBS play-by-play man Jim Nantz said after the Broncos sealed it.

I wouldn’t blame you if you have no interest in reliving the brutal loss. But if you were down at the Linc and missed out, here are the best and worst moments from the broadcast:

There were a few controversial calls in this one. Color commentator Tony Romo had some thoughts on them. Let’s get into it.

Should Broncos quarterback Bo Nix have been flagged for intentional grounding on the Broncos’ final drive? Nix was nearly sacked for a huge loss late in the fourth quarter that would have forced third and (very) long.

After not calling it, then calling it, and then picking the flag up again without fanfare, the Broncos got a third-and-6 opportunity — rather than third-and-20-plus — and ultimately converted the first down.

Rules expert Gene Steratore and the rest of the CBS panel kept going back and forth on whether they felt the play should have been called intentional grounding — there was a receiver in the area, but Nix clearly was just throwing the ball away.

» READ MORE: Broncos hand Eagles their first loss with 18 unanswered points in the fourth quarter

Romo thought it was against the spirit of the rule and brought it up much later in the drive unprompted.

“I just think that intentional grounding, what happens if the quarterback is getting tackled?” Romo said, miming a heave gesture. “‘Oh, there happens to be a guy in the area. Let’s just throw it over our head and hope that someone’s in the area.’ Is that intentional grounding?

“He was trying to intentionally take the ball and not take a sack, and that’s why I felt like there’s a chance there should have been a penalty for intentional grounding.”

However, later on the drive, Romo said he agreed with another close call — Zack Baun’s unnecessary roughness penalty that gave the Broncos a first down instead of a fourth-and-1 — but again referred backed to the intentional grounding call that wasn’t saying he still disagreed with the decision to pick up the flag.

“I agree with Gene [now]; I did not agree with the intentional grounding earlier,“ Romo said after Steratore said Baun should’ve been call for the late hit. “I think it’s a bang-bang and it’s close, but if I called it, I probably would’ve stuck with it because I felt like the quarterback couldn’t see or even know someone was in the area.”

» READ MORE: Eagles diva A.J. Brown got his wish but still lost because Jalen Hurts isn’t consistently good enough | Marcus Hayes

On the Eagles’ final possession, the former Cowboys quarterback again seemed to question the officials on a potential pass interference call on a pass intended for Dallas Goedert that would’ve given the Eagles first-and-goal with a few seconds remaining.

“That’s close,” he said, as Nick Sirianni appeared livid on the sidelines.

Earlier in the game, after what would have been an amazing Jahan Dotson 32-yard catch on the sidelines was ruled out of bounds, CBS caught the two officials arguing with one another over whether Dotson was in or out through aggressive hand gestures.

Romo even provided commentary for their dispute.

If Romo has so many thoughts on the officiating, maybe he’s willing to do something about it?

After Romo correctly identified an illegal formation penalty, Nantz jokingly asked Romo if he’d ever thought about becoming an official, with how much he sees on the field.

“I’ll probably coach one day,” Romo said. “Official, no.”

Romo’s already in his second career, after leaving his playing days behind to go into broadcasting. That’s a pretty cushy job, so if I were Romo, I wouldn’t give that up so easily.

When Sean Payton officially took the head coaching job in Denver, he had one defensive coordinator candidate in mind — Vic Fangio. Fangio and Payton’s families are from the Scranton area. Fangio attended the same high school as Payton’s father, and one of Payton’s cousins was Fangio’s sixth-grade math teacher.

According to Nantz, Payton reached out to Fangio in 2023 after taking the job to ask the former Broncos head coach to return to the franchise as defensive coordinator, but he wasn’t interested.

“It was too soon,” Fangio told Nantz.

Instead, Fangio spent a year as defensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins, and the following year, made it home to Philadelphia. Eagles fans have to be thankful they don’t live in that alternate universe.

» READ MORE: Grading the Eagles' loss to the Denver Broncos

Romo obviously has plenty of experience under center and in the broadcast booth, but it can be hard to tell sometimes. Like the officials he critiqued, Romo wasn’t perfect on Sunday.

On the Eagles’ first red-zone possession, Hurts chose on second down not to take a shot toward Dotson in the end zone, instead holding onto the ball and run for the sideline for a 1-yard loss.

“DeVonta Smith is right here in the middle. Watch him, right now, Hurts could throw this ball when he extends out. It’s a decision — do you want to throw it or not?” Romo said, before correcting himself. “It’s actually Dotson coming across, but those are the decisions, it’s a little risky, do you do it or not, and I think Hurts is playing winning football with the decision-making there, whether it’s right or wrong.”

Is Romo complimenting Hurts for not throwing what could have been a red-zone pick? It seems like it? Why is he phrasing it so weirdly?

Romo also got a few wires crossed about Baun, saying the Broncos must regret ever letting him out of their facility.

The only problem? Baun never was a Bronco. Baun started his career with the Saints before signing with the Eagles in 2024 and broke out into a star at linebacker. Romo tried to save it by correcting himself and saying that Baun had visited Denver during free agency, but he clearly was lost. It’s possible Baun considered the Broncos during his free agency period, but if he did, it wasn’t reported by anyone.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is always working the phones, wheeling and dealing, and generally those moves work out for the Birds, so I guess whatever works for him works for him. But texting with the index fingers is absolutely crazy.

Philly native and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley joined the CBS broadcast before kickoff for an intro segment on NFL Today. Staley reps the Birds all the time on the sidelines while coaching — and is a lifelong Eagles fan — but she’s also been one of Jalen Hurts’ biggest supporters since he was drafted.

“Dawn welcomed me into this city the day I got here, even when I was not ‘the guy,’ but she knew what time it was and she knew it was only a matter of time,” Hurts said of their relationship. “Lot of love for her. She’s representing the right way.”