Simms' divisional Jets-Patriots game didn't start promisingly when footage he had brought up to show examples of good offensive blocking apparently showed a Jets lineman managing to miss all of his blocking assignments on the play. Thankfully, the great Awful Announcing site spotted it too, before I imagined I was going mad.
There were other sporadic incidents throughout. After viewers had clearly seen Logan Mankins pushing a Jets player to the ground following a play and the network cameras trailed the guilty party before the referee made his penalty call, Simms stated: 'We don't know who this is on'.
Late in the game, Vince Wilfork shoved Mark Sanchez to the ground towards the end of a play. Simms defended Wilfork, not by expressing the clear frustration the Patriots player was exhibiting, but by arguing that the offence had occurred in lineman territory: 'Well Vince Wilfork says: 'this is our area here big boy.''
After the Patriots had decided to go for the two point conversion in the third quarter, Simms stressed his familiar position that he felt it too early to go for the play. 'If it was me making the decision, I would say no.'
When the Pats converted with ease with a well-designed direct snap to running back Sammy Morris, Simms snapped: 'Well they had a play ready for that situation', as if this somehow negated his earlier viewpoint, when in reality most teams would have a designed or preferred two-point conversion play.
Simms also manages to throw acts of petulance into the mix. Having played up to this on Inside the NFL where fellow panelists Cris Collinsworth and Warren Sapp frequently try to wind the former Giants quarterback up, I had assumed it was merely an act.
But during the third quarter when play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz insisted that Tom Brady was not guilty of intentional grounding because receiver Danny Woodhead, obscured by bodies, was within distance of the ball, Simms snapped back. His voice barely disguised the sarcasm:
'Yeah? Well Woodhead is on the ground. Good call, I did not see him laying down there. You're right, I'm looking for the guy he's trying to throw the screen to. I was about to really tell (referee) Bill Leavy, 'Hey, you're wrong.''
Nantz shot back, only semi-jokingly:
'Hey, Woodhead's sometimes a hard guy to find out there on the field, partner. I'll cut you some slack.'
This slight awkwardness between the two was neatly summarised when the Jets scored the decisive touchdown. Nantz came over all-Joe Buck and immediately criticised the Jets for over-celebrating:
'I've never understood the absurdity of all this self-aggrandising. Now you're gonna cost yourselves fifteen yards on the kick. You're gonna give Brady and his unit a chance to do a little something here with one timeout to go.'
This is nothing new for the announcer. During the CBS broadcast of Jets-Steelers in December, Nantz commented on pictures from the incredible DeSean Jackson punt return touchdown to close out the Eagles win in New York in which he ran across the field to ensure he ran out the clock. Nantz, commentating on a different game and with only those pictures to glance at, announced:
'And he couldn't resist to showboat again. With the game on the line, just straddling the goal line. That's pretty sad.'
But conquering the Patriots was a huge win for the Jets, their second in the space of a week and both on the road at the two conference superpowers. They were due a little celebrating in other words, and Phil Simms agreed: 'Well you just cover the kick like you didn't get a 15 yard penalty. I got to say this: There's a time to celebrate, Jim that was it.'
And with that, Simms went some way to winning me back around.
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