Phil Simms is quickly becoming one of my favorite NFL talking heads. When he appears on CBS NFL Today, he often has to play the role of antagonist; bubble burster, guy who takes the punch bowl away once the party has started.
And with Simms, writing up an interview often includes the phrase “Phil Simms noted with extreme sarcasm.” He’s very entertaining, in addition to being extremely knowledgeable. He teams with Jim Nantz to form CBS’ top announce pairing; and they’ll call the Cincinnati Bengals at Chicago Bears this Sunday.
Here’s what Phil Simms had to say about Jay Cutler and the Bears in week one.
“The big story to me, not that you care,” Simms said.
Well, I do care, I really do but go on…
“It’s Andy Dalton. They’ve done it all. They’ve lined it up. We got you a good line, we got you some tight ends, one of the best wide receivers, we’ve drafted another running back, they got a good defense,” he said.
“If Andy Dalton, who’s a young quarterback, was really young, they would have beaten Houston last year, but he wasn’t on, which happens. They’ve put the team in place now they need him to make those four or five throws that you need to make a game. Most guys can complete the same passes, back ups and third stringers can complete 80% of the passes, but those four or five throws are what separates everybody,” Phil Simms said.
So the Bears need to watch out for the Bengals in week one, a dark horse Super Bowl pick. They’re my SB Champion pick for 2013. Some of the biggest NFL pundits are getting on board with this idea too. Simms believes Cincy has everything in place; it just comes down to whether or not Dalton develops.
What about the other side of the ball? The Bears?
“I do know this I saw his team play quite a few times in Montreal and he was running a NFL offense in the Canadian Football League- that’s pretty hard to do. And it worked. I saw him a run a play the 49ers used to run with Joe Montana. He can think like a quarterback and he can teach the quarterback,” Phil Simms said.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan, he also writes on Chicago sports media for Chicago Now. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)