Last Thursday night, Al Michaels said was all of us were thinking, as we collectively suffered through the misery of a very bad game between the Colts and Broncos. Al, one of the very best to ever call a game in any sport, has no interest in doing it again tonight, when the Commanders visit the Bears,
“If we don’t have a better game than we had last Thursday then I may retire,” Michaels said in an appearance on Waddle & Silvy on ESPN Chicago, via BarrettSportsMedia.com. “I’ve done pretty close to 800 NFL games, and with all due respect, guys are trying I understand and we all know that, but that was grim.”
Indeed it was. And it has all of us bracing for another stinker tonight at Soldier Field. Still, we assume Al is joking about returning if Week Six ends up being as bad as Week Five.
“It was a terrible performance and a bad game,” Michaels said. “Hopefully that’s a one-off.”
At one point in the second half last Thursday, Michaels said that, sometimes, a game can be so bad that it’s good. Although Kirk Herbstreit disagreed, Al was right. It became compelling to see something that bad continue to stay bad.
And there was a payoff, eventually. We got to see an exciting moment in overtime, when the Broncos’ offense had a chance to win the game but, characteristic of the entire contest, failed to deliver.
Hopefully, tonight’s game will deliver. With nearly one third of the season over, keep in mind that, come February, we’ll be wishing for an NFL game to watch on a Thursday night. Even if it’s a bad one.