ARLINGTON - Is Al Michaels "losing it''? And if so, did the Dallas Cowboys just help him "find it''?
As the legendary Michaels is joined by partner Kirk Herbstreit tonight here at AT&T Stadium to telecast the Dallas Cowboys vs. the Seattle Seahawks, they find themselves defending their work against criticism that Michaels, age 79, in particular performs as if he's less than enthusiastic about the often subpar games he's assigned to work on Thursday Night Football games for Prime Video.
And Herbstreit is fighting back, as on Pardon My Take Al, he is blaming not Michaels but rather the qualify of games the duo has been assigned.
Herbstreit said critics are claiming that Michaels has "lost it" ... and he's firing back.
"When he would do Sunday Night Football or Monday Night Football, those games were massive. You're doing big games, and your voice projects based on the setting that you're in," Herbstreit said. ... "I think your voice always matches with what you're doing."
"I've noticed that Al Michaels is very much like me. When the game warrants excitement, he brings excitement."
Well, Dallas just allowed some excitement, as after an impressive opening drive netted the home team just a field goal, Seattle's DK Metcalf answered with a thriller - a 73-yard catch-and-run to beat Cowboys star DaRon Bland to give the visitors a 7-3 lead.
Herbstreit and Michaels have in the past come right out and said this game or that game "sucked.'' ... a view that their employers might not appreciate. Nevertheless ...
"It's where the NFL is right now," Herbstreit said. "There's about 10 teams that get you on the edge of your seat, and there's about 20-22 teams that are just kind of trying to find an identity."
Happily for the pair, then, the Cowboys - who enter tonight's game with a chance to move to 9-3, which would give them the second-best record in the NFL - do not "suck'' and are capable of "getting you on the edge of your seat.''
But otherwise?
"He hears the noise," Herbstreit said. "He has much more of a (bleep you) attitude ... So he thinks it's a bunch of (bleep). I think it's a bunch of (bleep) and I think it's a narrative that social media is kind of running with."
Social media, at this moment, is "running with'' the Cowboys and Seahawks providing some early thrills. .... and we assume that Al and Kirk are enjoying themselves.
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