Brent Jones isn't a studio guy. He proved that two years ago, when CBS lured him away from Newt Gingrich's Republican-party clutches and plunked him down on its "NFL Today" crew. The network remodeled that bland desk and dispatched Jones, a former San Francisco 49ers tight end, to the broadcast booth.
Brent Jones is a color commentator. He proved that yesterday.
He also proved he had better judgment than Steelers coaches.
The onetime Steelers draftee -- he was cut long ago by Coach Chuck Noll, so it was nothing against this staff -- was perfect in his analysis of the Steelers' final, fatal possession. Even with a half-minute remaining in what became a debilitating 23-20 loss at Cleveland, the network color commentator was correctly criticizing the coaching calls.
Jones scratched his head along with the viewers at home, but he added some ball-and-clock control insight that seemed lost on Coach Bill Cowher afterward ("We were only going to get two plays, anyway"). But you have to remember the foundation of Jones' NFL knowledge: Genius Bill Walsh, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, the world-champion 49ers. The guy played on a veritable Mount Rushmore of offensive Hall of Famers. The guy played on a team that hardly lost in the final seconds, if ever.
The guy wondered: Why run on first-and-goal in the end? And, if you do that, why spike it on second down? That limits your passing chances at the end zone, from three to two to one. And before that last one, on third down, Jones said, "If they get tackled or sacked, it's over. ... No way in heck." Kent Graham got sacked, there was no way for a field-goal try, and time expired.
"You should just have thrown the fade."
"Some bad Steelers clock management at the end of the game."
"What a way to lose."
If Jones were the coach, he would have thrown the fade pattern to 6-foot-6 Plaxico Burress in the end zone on first down. On second down. Even on third down, maybe. If it's incomplete, the clock stops, anyway, so you should get three chances at scoring. If it's fade after fade after fade, you either get incompletions, intercepted, interference, a winning touchdown or the clock stopped enough to try a field goal in the end.
I don't know about him becoming a future Republican congressman or anything. But he sounds as if he possesses the smarts of a potential coach.
Jones proved yesterday that he's already a rather capable color commentator. He started on the opening drive, when he predicted Cleveland's touchdown play on first-and-goal. OK, so a tight end always wants to see a play-action pass to the tight end. But it fooled the Steelers.
A good announcer talks up a subject long before it turns into a subplot, and Jones hopped on the return of The Bus during the first quarter: "If you don't think Jerome Bettis can still gain some yards in this league, then you don't know football."
You kids at home, there came a nice tip from Jones in the first quarter about getting on television: Park your bottom on the bench by the fellow who just scored. "I used to go sit by Jerry Rice. That was a lock."
Jones on Cleveland's David Patten getting wrestled out of bounds on his long kickoff return: "[Place kicker] Kris Brown brought him down? You kiddin' me?"
Informative and entertaining. That was good TV.
This wasn't: CBS' sideline microphones were too loud. You could hear someone in the crowd singing "Who let the Dawgs out?" You could hear Cleveland fans chanting a vulgarity after Richard Huntley waved a disparaging finger at them after his second-quarter touchdown.
Still, there was plenty of good audio from the booth. Jones criticized the Steelers for not using Stewart enough in the Slash package coaches devised -- he made a shovel pass early but stayed on the sideline during an ill-advised Huntley draw on second-and-22. Jones criticized Burress for not running a route to the first-down marker and not churning upfield instead of circling back and losing yardage. Jones and play-by-play partner Gus Johnson criticized Jason Simmons for his NFL-illegal, throat-slash gesture after downing a punt.
And they were correctly critical in addressing the hand gesture and profanity that Cleveland punter Chris Gardocki addressed toward the Steelers' sideline after getting clouted, although Jones pulled a line from the Dandy Don Meredith book: "I think he said the Browns are No. 1 ..." If nothing else, give them props for responding. We all saw it. Announcers cannot merely neglect such things.
Jones, in particular, neglected nothing yesterday.
They should have just thrown the fade.
You can reach Chuck Finder at cfinder@post-gazette.com
The Big Picture: Jones' analysis won't fade away 
