Al Michaels has not been shy about calling out the bad matchups on Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football the past couple of seasons, once claiming that announcing some games was akin to selling a “used car.”
He’s been singing a different tune since the NFL released the 2024 schedule Wednesday. The veteran play-by-play announcer told NFL Network’s Rich Eisen he’s “really excited” about the TNF slate.
“I think the [NFL] really did Prime Video a solid when I take a look at this [TNF schedule] week after week … Right off the bat, I can give you a great storyline for every one of these games.”
Al Michaels to Rich Eisen on NFL Network: “I think the [NFL] really did Prime Video a solid when I take a look at this [TNF schedule] week after week… Right off the bat, I can give you a great storyline for every one of these games.” 🏈📺🎙️🗓️pic.twitter.com/YPFJQxbVMc
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 16, 2024
If Michaels’ comments sound familiar, it’s because he made some eerily similar remarks right after the 2023 schedule came out, saying the “league did us a solid,” and he was “already thinking of storylines for each game, of which there is no shortage.”
You can’t blame Michaels for being enthused about this year’s TNF schedule; it’s his job to promote the network’s games, even when they’re subpar matchups. But this year’s Amazon Prime schedule is, in fact, much improved. Mike North, NFL vice president, broadcast planning, told reporters Thursday, “For this year, it felt like we were able to deliver the strongest Thursday night schedule top to bottom.”
In the past, Michaels dropped that “used car” reference (he actually cited a “20-year-old Mazda”) and said that Amazon’s schedule of games “was a little leaky,” and he’d called a “farcical” game or two. Those matchups led some critics to question Michaels’ enthusiasm in the booth.
But Michaels, 79, seems genuinely excited about the upcoming season.
“Over the past two years as we were kind of ramping up, the schedule was OK, we had a couple of fine games, a lot of games that weren’t particularly good in terms of the matchups themselves,” Michaels said. “I used to look at the schedule and say, ‘How many of these games could possibly wind up in the late national window on CBS or Fox, and I would come up with two, maybe three.
“I’m looking at the schedule right now, and I can come up with six, seven, maybe eight, which is half our schedule.”
Some of those TNF games that really stand out heading into the season include Buffalo at Miami (Week 2), Sean Payton and Denver at New Orleans (Week 7), Houston at the New York Jets and Cincinnati at Baltimore in weeks 9-10, Pittsburgh at Cleveland (Week 12) and Green Bay at Detroit (Week 14).
Of course, things can change. Teams can fade, players get injured; two of the TNF games on the 2023 schedule involving the Jets would have been far more interesting with Aaron Rodgers playing.
But for now, Michaels appears to be right — the NFL really “did Amazon Prime a solid.”
[NFL Network; Photo Credit: NFL Network]