One of the best traits of legendary play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels in the booth is he always calls the game for what it is—no matter how great or ugly it gets.

The officiating in the first half of Thursday's clash between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys gave Michaels plenty to talk about with Prime Video partner Kirk Herbstreit. There were 16 total penalties called in the first quarter, and 12 were accepted—nine on the Cowboys and three on the Giants.

"It looks like June 14th here, otherwise known as Flag Day, as you know," Michaels said to Herbstreit in the second quarter.

Those flags flew with just over two minutes to play in the first half. There somehow were seven more penalties called before the game went into halftime, including offsetting penalties on Dallas and New York with 28 seconds left.

"There are fouls by both teams on the play," the referee said.

"I'll bet," Michaels quipped in the broadcast booth.

After two quarters of play, the Cowboys led the Giants 14–9 at MetLife Stadium.

More of the Latest Around the NFL


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Al Michaels Dropped Clever One-Liner to Describe Officiating in Giants-Cowboys.

Test hyperlink for boilerplate