Al Michaels Roasted For 'Checking Out,' Says What We're All Thinking About Thursday Night Football

Al Michaels basically acknowledged what we've been saying all season about Thursday Night Football: the games stink!

OK, Al didn't exactly use that phrasing. But the 78-year-old also didn't use the typical PR jargon in a recent sit-down with "The Boston Globe."

"The schedule was a little leaky with the Carolina-Atlanta game and a couple of other games that we’ve had, but now we’re positioned for a nice run down the stretch,” said Michaels, who the Globe said also admitted he's been at times frustrated with the schedule.

Michaels also said the 1-on-1s with the teams leading up to TNF hasn't exactly been ham and eggs, either.

“When we go to see the teams, it’s not that they don’t want to be with us, but they’re condensed too, so there’s less time to give to us,” Michaels said. “And all the time I’ve been doing this, I’ve built some great relationships with coaches and players and GMs and owners and you name it, and I don’t get that much time to spend with them anymore.

"That’s a downside part of it for me. Some of the best stories you get come from those relationships.”

Al Michaels says TNF games haven't been great! (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Amazon)

Al Michaels says Thursday Night Football games have been 'leaky'

It's been a BRUTAL first season for Amazon's TNF package. And I mean brutal.

Don't forget, we went through a stretch back in September where teams literally just didn't score touchdowns.

At one point, we had back-to-back weeks of Eagles-Texans and Falcons-Panthers, and we also saw back-to-back weeks with final scores that read more like an MLB slugfest:

Colts 12, Broncos 9.

Commanders 12, Bears 7.

Good lord, I don't even remember that second game. I'm sure I watched it, so I guess I just blocked it out. I'm sure Al did, too. As for the first one, even fans in the stands left before overtime started.

Has Al Michaels checked out? (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)

Anyway, the stinky games haven't exactly led to the best performances out of Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit, and the two were TORCHED for their ... lackluster ... showing in Thursday's extremely exciting Bills-Patriots game.

At one point, Al was so checked out he said Nick Folk's field goal right before the half was good about three seconds before it doinked off the crossbar.

Not great!

Not to worry, though. Next up on the TNF docket is a compelling Raiders-Rams showdown. Can't wait.