Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The NFL had an ugly night on Monday as its pair of Monday Night Football games between the Jets-Dolphins and Bengals-Broncos were marred by penalties. The penalties were so omnipresent in the Bengals vs. Broncos game, in fact, that announcer and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman called the broadcast “unwatchable.”
During the third quarter of the largely competitive game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos, Troy Aikman sounded off after a penalty flag was thrown for a blindside block on a Broncos offensive lineman, saying that while it was a technically “good” call, it was also an unnecessary one.
According to Aikman, “nothing” brings an NFL broadcast to a “screeching halt” like a parade of penalty flags, which is an assessment that longtime on-air partner Joe Buck vehemently agreed with.
Troy Aikman rips NFL’s product as “unwatchable” due to amount of penalty flags being thrown
“I’m not gonna keep my mouth shut. That’s a good call. Just not a necessary call,” Aikman complained. “Nothing brings a broadcast to a screeching halt more than these yellow flags. The product’s just not very good. I’m gonna be honest…I mean, this is ridiculous.”
“I’m not gonna keep my mouth shut. That’s a good call. Just not a necessary call.”
“Nothing brings a broadcast to a screeching halt more than these yellow flags.”
“The product’s just not very good. I’m gonna be honest…I mean, this is ridiculous.”
– Troy Aikman pic.twitter.com/8pErfB34T2
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 30, 2025
The amount of penalties the NFL is seeing is also being exacerbated by a general decrease is passing output, with many NFL fans and analysts believing the quality of quarterback play in the NFL has fallen off a cliff in the last decade.
We used to watch gods play quarterback https://t.co/7ClfNIFGti
— evin (@EvinKnowsBall) September 26, 2025
Look at what they took from us. pic.twitter.com/IKFRFb4UzU
— Jeff Bell (@4WhomJBellTolls) September 25, 2025
Luckily for Aikman and NFL fans across the globe, next week’s Monday Night Football game should be a bit more palatable as the Kansas City Chiefs will be traveling to Jacksonville to take on the 3-1 Jaguars, one of the early surprises of the 2025 NFL season.