Al Michaels did very little to hide his disgust with the officiating crew during Thursday night’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.
There were a total of 15 accepted penalties during the Cowboys’ 20-15 win over the Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Of those 15, 12 came in the first half. Several other flags were also picked up and some penalties were declined.
Many viewers were frustrated with how all the flags disrupted the flow of the game, but no one seemed more annoyed than Michaels. Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” play-by-play announcer made numerous quips about all the penalties, including when he said the game looked like “Flag Day.”
"It looks like June 14th here, otherwise known as Flag Day, as you know." – Al Michaels, as there are flags left and right throughout Thursday Night Football. #NFL #TNF pic.twitter.com/Fn1YuiYmgp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 27, 2024
As flags continued to fly toward the end of the first half, Michaels became more and more open with his aggravation. When an official announced with 28 seconds left that there were fouls by both teams, Michaels sarcastically remarked, “I’ll bet.”
"We've got another flag. You have two more flags in the backfield. No more laundry left… And any number of calls coming your way." – Al Michaels
"There are fouls by both teams on the play." – Ref
"I'll bet." – Al #NFL #TNF pic.twitter.com/RHf7RDo63l
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 27, 2024
Michaels then said the officials were “going to need some new flags to throw in the second half.” During halftime, the legendary broadcaster said the first 30 minutes were “completely rhythmless” because of all the penalties that were called.
"Beside the fact that the game was completely rhythmless because of what's been going in with the flags, what do you make of the first half?" – Al Michaels #NFL #TNF pic.twitter.com/tqDVtkj8sg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 27, 2024
There were only three accepted penalties in the second half. The first flag of the second half came with roughly 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Michaels joked that the flag was “amazingly, the first of the quarter.”
"Flag is down. Amazingly, the first of the quarter." – Al Michaels #NFL #TNF pic.twitter.com/jd6XzjnkN4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 27, 2024
Some people feel Michaels is getting a bit salty in his old age. The 79-year-old has openly thrown zingers about the poor quality of some “Thursday Night Football” games, but it is rare to hear him get so hung up on something the way he was with the penalties in the Cowboys-Giants game.
