Al Michaels puts Houston Astros on blast during Thursday Night Football broadcast

During the Cleveland Browns eventual Thursday Night Football win over the New York Jets, Al Michaels was clearly annoyed over what he perceived as fans banging on a trash can. Whether it be metal bleachers or, as Michaels suggested, a trash can, it's understandable why he would have a tough time concentrating on the game itself -- of which it is his job to call and relay the on-field product to viewers at home.

Michaels' co-commentator, Kirk Herbstreit, outlined a play made by Myles Garrett, who had a tremendous impact on Thursday's game. In doing so, Herbstreit gave Michaels an opening, and he took it.

“Somebody’s pounding on that trash can, I think the Astros must be in town,” Michaels said jokingly. “I’m sorry. … Don’t rip me” 

Why did Al Michaels reference the Houston Astros on Thursday Night Football?

By referencing the Astros, Michaels made light of the 2017 sign-stealing scandal, in which Houston used a series of complex measures to decipher which pitches were coming, and when. Evan Drellich of The Athletic discussed the Astros system in detail:

“I learned how the Astros used a camera in center field to zoom in on the signs the catcher flashed the pitcher before the pitch. How the Astros had set up a television monitor near their dugout, where the players sit during games, to be able to see that video feed, and how they brazenly banged on a garbage can with a baseball bat and other devices to communicate what they gleaned from that screen. It was an advantage, many players felt, to know what was coming, be it a straight fastball or a bending curveball. And to use technology to gain that knowledge was beyond the pale," Drellich wrote.

While Michaels was merely joking about the sound of (what we would assume) are Browns fans in the stands, rather than a complex system to steal signals. Cleveland is not the Michigan Wolverines, and Kevin Stefanski is not Jim Harbaugh.