It’s been the theme of Week 13 of the NFL season so far: botched endings.
After Thursday’s complete breakdown by the Chicago Bears during the final 30-odd seconds of their game against the Detroit Lions resulted in head coach Matt Eberflus being relieved of his duties, the Las Vegas Raiders did their best to shift the nation’s attention to another incompetent finish.
Faced with a 3rd and three from the Kansas City Chiefs 30-yard line with 15 seconds to go, down two points, Raiders’ center Jackson Powers-Johnson sent an erroneous snap back towards quarterback Aidan O’Connell.
Another NFL game ends in an absolute debacle, and the Chiefs escape again. Here’s the complete sequence as called by Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit on Amazon Prime Video ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Tq2kmgpYz0
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 29, 2024
Then, chaos ensued. Simultaneous with the snap, a flag came out. But the play was not blown dead until a Chiefs player recovered the loose ball. The next 90 seconds would be mass confusion between Amazon play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and his partner Kirk Herbstreit.
“Four seconds went off the clock, but what is the call?” Michaels questioned.
“The center, just, he’s a rookie, he snapped the football,” Herbstreit replied. “I don’t know what he thought he heard. The Raiders weren’t even lined up. It’s gotta be on the Raiders for not even having a chance to get lined up.”
Then, about 30 seconds passed where not much was said as both Michaels and Herbstreit waited for the officials to sort through the play and penalty.
“It was a 2nd and three,” Michaels then mistakenly said, forgetting the Raiders had spiked the ball on second down.
“The clock had stopped by firing it, so there will not be a ten-second runoff,” Herbstreit replied, indicating that neither announcer had any idea that there was a possibility that the Chiefs would be awarded the ball.
The official then broke the news. “Illegal shift, on the offense. That penalty is declined. The Chiefs did recover the backwards pass and take over, first down.”
“Woah! On top of it!” Michaels reacted.
“Wow,” an exasperated Herbstreit said.
The two announcers were just as shocked as the rest of America when it became clear the Chiefs had just secured the win.
This type of victory has become the Chiefs’ modus operandi in 2024. The defending champs have escaped defeat on numerous occasions throughout the year, but this might be the luckiest of them all.
[Awful Announcing on X]
