Difficult call must be made

Sports Media

Santos, Cappelletti not on their game

December 23, 2011|By Chad Finn, Globe Staff

(Page 3 of 3)

Santos and Cappelletti do still have their very good days. Last Sunday was one. The Patriots, as Brady put it, played their most complete game of the season in a 41-23 victory at Denver, and coincidentally, it was Santos and Cappelletti’s best broadcast of the season. While there were occasional delayed identifications of pass receivers and the down and distance didn’t always agree with what the television screen showed, mistakes were not egregious. And Santos’s call of Chad Ochocinco’s long-awaited first touchdown as a Patriot was outstanding. “Guess who?’’ he boomed. “Chad … Ocho … CINCO!’’ expertly drawing out the syllables to match the magnitude of the moment.

It was a pleasant flashback. It was also the exception.

It won’t be the same when Santos is no longer authoritatively intoning that the Patriots “are going left to right on your radio dial … Brady operating out of the shotgun, two receivers to his left, Welker in the slot … ’’ or when Cappelletti is gamely rattling through the rest of the scores around the NFL in the seconds between plays.

But then, it’s not the same now. They’ve seen Plunkett and Grogan and Bledsoe and so many more pass through. They know how it goes. The game slows down for no one. Not even Gil and Gino.

Chad Finn can be reached at finn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globechadfinn.