“Thursday Night Football” truly has had a little bit of everything this week.
During the Ravens’ 34-20 win over the Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium in a battle between AFC North rivals, the game was twice delayed because of a drone flying over the field.
In the first instance, with 5:04 left in the second quarter, a drone flew over the stadium and halted play as the Bengals worried about the health of star quarterback Joe Burrow, who injured his right wrist during the quarter and eventually was ruled out of the game.
“Apparently, there was a drone inside the stadium so they have stopped play,” Al Michaels said on the Prime Video broadcast before cameras showed the craft with red and green lights. “So there you go, and we’ll take a commercial break.”
After a brief delay, play resumed, and all seemed well — at least for the game being played as scheduled — until the fourth quarter when a drone apparently hovered over the field again for a second time.
Before play even began in the final frame, officials took what Michaels called an “administrative” timeout as they awaited for the drone to exit the area.
Stream the game live on Thursday night on Amazon Prime Video
After another brief stoppage in play, things again picked up again.
To say this Thursday’s game had plenty of action and storylines is truly an understatement.
On the first drive, Ravens tight end Mark Andrews was tackled awkwardly after a catch and was eventually ruled out for the rest of the night with what the team believes is a season-ending ankle injury.
Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson also was tackled awkwardly near the sideline later in the quarter, but after getting his ankle checked out in the medical tent, he remained in the game.
Burrow, however, did not have the same luck as his fellow quarterback as he injured his right wrist in the first half and had trouble gripping the ball.
He was officially ruled out at the start of the second half and was replaced by backup signal-caller Jake Browning, and head coach Zac Taylor said after the game that Burrow likely sprained his wrist.