The Miami Dolphins seemed content to let the seconds ticks off while trailing by three scores late in the first half on Thursday Night Football, and Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit wasted no time calling them out
The Dolphins trailed the Buffalo Bills by 17 points coming out of the two-minute warning, and ran the ball on the first play. But rather than hurry to line up for another play, Miami let almost 40 seconds tick off the clock, and the home crowd began grumbling in displeasure.
“The crowd’s getting a little restless with the lack of urgency here,” Michaels observed. “It’s almost as if they’re waiting to get into the locker room and just regroup and try something different.”
After a couple of short passes and a run, the crowd got noticeably more annoyed.
“They’re letting the clock run, everything is short,” Michaels said.
“Surprised these timeouts are not being used,” Herbstreit said.
Al Michaels (especially) and Kirk Herbstreit were perplexed by the Dolphins’ clock management late in the first half, trailing the Bills 24-7.
“It’s almost as if they’re waiting to get into the locker room and just regroup and try something different.” – Al 🏈🎙️ #TNF #NFL pic.twitter.com/tg9krCccEi
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2024
After a commercial break, Michaels asked Herbstreit to explain the situation.
“Kirk, you tell me — this is the kind of drive where you look like you’re running out the clock,” he said.
“The lack of urgency, not using the timeouts, I think everybody’s kind of surprised,” Herbstreit said.
“It’s like they’re playing defense … like they’re afraid something bad is gonna happen,” Michaels said.
After a break:
“This is the kind of drive where you look like you’re running out the clock.” – Al Michaels
“I think everybody’s kind of surprised.” – Kirk Herbstreit
“It’s like they’re playing defense… like they’re afraid something bad is gonna happen.” – Al 🏈🎙️ #TNF #NFL pic.twitter.com/R0H131KGv8
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2024
To be fair, the Bills defense might have had something to do with the Dolphins dialing up so many short passes, as Buffalo completely shut down their passing game Thursday night. But their lack of urgency late in the first half was baffling.
[Thursday Night Football]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.