Al Michaels shows Chargers no mercy during blowout loss

The Los Angeles Chargers were completely demolished by the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night, and Al Michaels showed the losing team no mercy.

The Chargers lost to the Raiders 63-21 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev. They trailed 42-0 at halftime and looked like a high school squad trying to take on an NFL team. The only difference, as Michaels said, is that a Pop Warner game probably would have been stopped via the mercy rule.

"If this were Pop Warner, they'd stop the game, right?" — Al Michaels #TNF pic.twitter.com/h1JwQQ2A8z

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 15, 2023

“If this were Pop Warner, they’d stop the game, right?” Michaels asked his Amazon broadcast partner Kirk Herbstreit just before halftime.

When the Chargers were trailing 35-0 earlier in the second quarter, Michaels joked that the “silver lining” for Brandon Staley’s team is that “the flight home is only 45 minutes.”

“If there’s a silver lining, the flight home is only 45 minutes.”

-AL MICHAELS on the #Chargers

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(Prime Video) pic.twitter.com/WWGBBrfA3X

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 15, 2023

Michaels made those comments in the first half, so there would have technically been plenty of time for the Chargers to get back in the game. Anyone who watched knew that was not going to happen, as L.A. looked completely flat and unmotivated.

Staley entered the season on the hot seat, and the Chargers’ performance on Thursday night could seal his fate. He was asked about his job status immediately after the game and gave a stern response.