Al Michaels didn't help the Saints' stupidity in the first half Thursday night.
Michaels sarcastically criticized the Saints for taking a timeout before a kneeling down to end the first 30 minutes of their 33-10 home loss to the Broncos on “Thursday Night Football.” .
This action was met with boos from the crowd and clearly disgusted by Michaels.
“Hey, take a timeout. That's the only timeout I've ever seen followed by a kneel,” Michaels said during the Amazon broadcast.
The Saints, who started 2-0 and have lost five in a row, received the ball at their own 30-yard line with 16 seconds left in the first half, trailing 16-3.
With New Orleans at its own 36-yard line with four seconds left, a 1-yard pass called a timeout and a 5-yard throw seemed like the first half should have ended.
However, it was at this time that the Saints elected to stop the clock, and head coach Dennis Allen later said he did not know who called the timeout.
“Maybe this is how the first half ends, but they're going to take another timeout, right?” Michaels said. “Okay. What's your actual purpose?”
“I don't know,” said partner Kirk Herbstreit.
“Even you are confused,” Mr. Michaels said, drawing a laugh from Mr. Herbstreit. “It's hard to trip you up.”
It was then that Herbstreit mentioned Michaels' future use in the halftime spread.
“We're looking forward to seeing what's on the other side of this wall at half-time, but are you hungry?” he said.
Michaels responded: Are you going Cajun or Creole? ”
The Saints came out of the timeout, but quarterback Spencer Rattler took a knee hit, rendering the timeout meaningless.
As boos filled the Caesars Superdome, Herbstreit made an indecipherable comment and Michaels expressed his displeasure.
“Yeah, whatever. I understand,” Michaels said. “Well, 16-3 is the halftime score.”
Allen admitted the team made a mistake.
“We shouldn't have taken a timeout,” Allen said. “There were two plays to see if we couldn’t come up with something. After a couple of checkdowns and some pressure on the quarterback, it felt like we were going to take a knee and get out of our own half and regroup. It was.”
The game did not improve for either Michaels or the Saints in the second half, and the Broncos escaped with a dominant victory.
Amazon halftime analyst Richard Sherman said the Saints played so badly in the first 30 minutes that it appeared they were going to fire coach Allen.
