"The more angles I see, the more confused I get."

-- Phil Simms, Super Bowl XLVII

On Jan. 25, 1987, Phil Simms authored the greatest performance (22-of-25, 268 yards, three TD passes, a postseason record passer rating of 150.9) by a quarterback in Super Bowl history. 

On Feb. 3, 2013, Phil Simms was the author of the worst performance by a color analyst in Super Bowl history. Full disclosure, I didn't go back and watch the other 46 games to arrive that this conclusion, but it's simply not possible to be as consistently off-target, confused, wishy-washy and at times incomprehensible as Simms was during a terrifically entertaining Super Bowl.

Want specifics? Seems fair. We'll start with two: The very first play from scrimmage in the game was a Colin Kaepernick 20-yard pass to Vernon Davis that was washed out by an illegal formation penalty. As CBS showed the replay, Simms -- in front of the entire world, essentially -- casually mentions to Jim Nantz that he had noticed the penalty before the ball was snapped. The problem, of course, is that he forgot to tell us, which is kind of his job. And on the very last play from scrimmage that truly mattered, the incomplete pass from Kaepernick to Michael Crabtree at the Baltimore 5-yard line with 1:50 left, Simms told us he saw what defense the Ravens were showing the 49ers after the play was over but elected not to tell us. Again. 

Simms -- who, according to the Twitter account "Phil Simms Quotes" used his trademark phrase "talked about" 28 times in the first 56 minutes of the game -- has a couple of fatal flaws as an analyst, and they were on display on a gigantic stage Sunday night, but the worst is this: He will not be critical. The truly great analysts in sports today -- think John McEnroe, Johnny Miller, Cris Collinsworth -- aren't afraid to take a stand or offer disagreement with a player or coach. Simms is allergic to that kind of stuff.

This was never better demonstrated than with just over three minutes left in the first half, as the Ravens failed to convert on a fake field goal attempt on fourth-and-9. Agree or disagree with the call, it's candy for a good analyst, and it would be fair to assume that the analyst of a Super Bowl would qualify as a good one. Here's what we got from Simms: "I'm not going to second-guess the call." And that was it. Really.

Second-guessing is your job, Phil. Well, first-guessing would be swell, too, but that's asking for the moon and stars with you. (It should be noted that the halftime group at CBS -- led by Boomer Esiason, who had a tremendous Super Bowl in the pregame, calling out Ray Lewis and questioning his role in Atlanta, halftime and radio call -- offered actual analysis on the call, with Esiason and Bill Cowher agreeing with the aggressive action taken by John Harbaugh.)

Simms told us he didn't think the 34-minute power outage would be a factor for the Ravens, a perfectly legitimate stand to take (he reasoned that the Ravens were "professional athletes" and should always be ready for this kind of event) and one he tried to stick with even in the face of a furious 49ers rally, which again would be OK if he didn't eventually do a Simms half-waffle, wondering aloud if waiting all that time with a big lead might've played into a potential Baltimore collapse.

The final drive was Simms at his worst, seemingly a couple of seconds behind Nantz (who I thought had a solid game and at times seemed annoyed with the failure of Simms to offer anything of substance) and astonishingly passive, given the game and the circumstances. He never suggested any potential adjustments for either the defense or offense, never questioned the 49ers' clock management, never, ever told us what might be coming from either side of the ball, just dead weight in a spot where a sharp analyst wasn't a luxury but a viewing necessity. 

And in a Super Bowl full of low points Simms ran into rock bottom at 150 mph on the Kapernick-to-Crabtree incomplete pass on the final play of the drive. First was Simms failing to mention that maybe the 49ers should've taken advantage of Kapernick's legs or the presence of Vernon Davis on the last two plays. I didn't think the contact from Jimmy Smith on Crabtree was worthy of flag, and neither did Simms ... at first. But after a couple of replays, we got this beauty -- "The more angles I see, the more confused I get." At the end, Simms was OK with the no-call, but he was hardly definitive about it. 

Forgetting the background of the two men for a moment, when you are watching the broadcast does it ever strike you that Phil Simms knows more about football than Jim Nantz? I just assume he does, which could be a mistake. When Nantz suggested the possibility of the Ravens taking that safety with 12 seconds left, it was obvious the idea had never crossed the brain of Phil Simms, a brain that was perhaps diluted of power during the outage. 

Every house in America had someone raising the idea of a safety in that situation -- the Ravens had a five-point lead, if executed correctly they would have a three-point lead with five, six seconds left and a free kick -- but Simms didn't grasp the logic. This is a guy who is supposed to be the very best at what he does and he was absolutely lost when confronted with a basic question about strategy. He then had his John Kerry moment, saying he wouldn't take the safety until he said he would.  

I'm not sure Ravens 34, 49ers 31 was the greatest Super Bowl ever played, but it has to be in the top three or four. Wherever you rank it, we can all agree that it deserved better than Phil Simms, right?

Even Simms might agree with that, until he doesn't.