In Al Michaels’ world, Joe Burrow is still quarterbacking the Cincinnati Bengals, and Arthur Smith was once head coach of the Tennessee Titans.
Burrow hasn’t thrown a pass for the Bengals since Week 2 of the NFL season, more than a month ago. But in the fourth quarter of Cincinnati’s electric 33-31 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football, Michaels briefly forgot Burrow was still sidelined for the foreseeable future after needing surgery to repair a turf toe injury.
Flacco has been so lights out Al Michaels just called him Burrowpic.twitter.com/ezQ0unXirM
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 17, 2025
“Burrow under pressure, they finally get to him!” Michaels said as late in the fourth quarter Pittsburgh closed in on Cincinnati’s current starting quarterback, Joe Flacco.
For everyone who tries to downplay the importance of production meetings as a way of excusing Tom Brady’s conflict of interest, Michaels just proved why they’re necessary. Without them, the announcers might not even know who the teams’ starting quarterbacks are.
We get how the mistake happened. When you think Bengals quarterback, you think Joe Burrow, even if he hasn’t played in over a month. But the mistake was still surprising because of how much Kirk Herbstreit was justly fawning over Joe Flacco Thursday night. Herbstreit didn’t exactly allow for many opportunities to forget that it was Flacco under center for the Bengals, not Burrow.
It was the second notable mistake from Al Michaels on the night. The first one coming at the start of the second quarter, when the broadcast put Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith on the screen.
Al Michaels: “Arthur Smith is the offensive coordinator. Not long ago, the head coach of the Tennessee Titans.” 🏈 🎙️ #NFL #TNF pic.twitter.com/5czclUrmNk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 17, 2025
“Arthur Smith is the offensive coordinator,” Michaels said. “Not long ago, the head coach of the Tennessee Titans.”
Smith was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, not the Titans. But the Tennessee native was a longtime assistant with the Titans and is now considered among the favorites to be their next head coach. Maybe Michaels knows something there.
At 80 years old, Michaels should continue calling primetime NFL games for as long as he can. Games still feel big when he’s behind the mic. Michaels had a very bad night earlier this season during the Thursday Night Football matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers. During that broadcast, Michaels was awkwardly confused by a penalty call and struggled to figure out why the ball was being advanced 15 yards. And later, he botched a goal line call, completely missing a fumble on the play.
Those are the calls that can’t be excused and make it seem like an announcer may have lost too much off his fastball. But more trivial mistakes, like saying “Burrow” instead of “Flacco” or “head coach” instead of “offensive coordinator,” they’re not big enough to warrant pushing him out of the booth, even if they’re blunders Michaels wouldn’t have made 10 years ago,