Of all the things NFL fans could have seen Thursday night, who would have thought Thursday Night Football would be so low on the list?
Viewers hoping for an entertaining game between the Broncos and Colts in Denver were treated to a rather quiet first half and plenty of slow play from both teams.
So, how bad was it? The Broncos went into halftime leading 6-3 after collecting two field goals over five drives, with Wilson logging just 69 yards. Ryan, meanwhile, took four sacks and registered 140 yards as the Colts kicked on their first four runs, finishing their last two with an interception and a 52-yard Chase McLaughlin FG.
For what it’s worth, expectations coming into TNF were a bit dampened due to the sadly timed injuries of star Colts backtracking to Jonathan Taylor and rising Broncos star Javonte Williams. Taylor was ruled out with an ankle injury earlier in the week, while Williams’ season ended in Week 4 after sustaining a torn ACL against the Raiders.
Still, the potential for a good game remained, given the profile of the match’s veteran quarterbacks (Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan) and a host of talented receivers on both sides (Michael Pittman, Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy). But that clearly didn’t happen.
The brutal first half led to a number of reactions on social media from viewers who were tired of the lack of action. Legendary play-by-play man Al Michaels may have summed up the evening in one fell swoop when he said on the air that the game is “the kind of game you’d have as a fifth regional on CBS on Sunday.” ouch.
Needless to say, Michaels certainly wasn’t alone. Check out some of the best reactions to the TNF snoozefest below:
