Amazon Prime Video handed huge NFL boost despite Al Michaels criticism

Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football coverage of the Buffalo Bills' road win against the Miami Dolphins was a resounding viewership success .

Thursday's game attracted a peak audience of 18.09 million viewers - a Thursday Night Football record - and had an average of 14.96 million viewers, making it the third most-watched TNF game. The rating hit comes despite criticism leveled at Al Michaels for his unenthusiastic calls.

The Bills ran out 31-10 winners over the Dolphins in Florida as Tua Tagovailoa suffered yet another scary concussion and had to be withdrawn from action. But it was Michaels' call for the first touchdown of the game, a James Cook receiving touchdown , that drew attention.

Cook scored on an incredible play call, and Michaels gave underwhelming commentary, according to TNF viewers. "Al Michaels sounds like it’s past his bedtime," one viewer said. Another added: "Al Michaels it’s time to become a family man."

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He was also ripped to shreds after a comment was deemed insensitive over Tua's concussion. The man on the opposite side of the hit happened to be Damar Hamlin, whose comeback story to the NFL following a cardiac arrest is well documented. On the broadcast, Michaels said: "A little irony there, he got hit by Damar Hamlin . You know that history."

"I felt Michael’s comment unnecessary," a viewer said on social media. "Did Al Michaels just say Hamlin making the tackle on Tua was ironic?" another added. Tagovailoa has since faced calls to retire due to his extensive history of suffering concussions in recent seasons. The 26-year-old, who signed a contract worth north of $200 million earlier this year, is out of action for the foreseeable future, and reports suggest that Miami could sit Tua for the remainder of the season.

According to The Daily Mail , the Dolphins are willing to shut down their season and sit out Tagovailoa . However, the source also stated that the NFL star is determined to return to football. "It is going to be a long road for people to convince him to retire, he doesn't want to retire at all," the source reportedly said.

Skylar Thompson will fill in the void left by Tua unless Miami seeks out an available veteran. Jimmy Garoppolo and former Dolphins starter Ryan Tannehill are both available. However, head coach Mike McDaniels has expressed confidence in his backup.

The team and the organization are very confident in Skylar," he said. Up next is the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 22. "I have no idea and I'm not going to all of a sudden start making decisions that I don't even see myself involved in the most important parts of," McDaniel added on Tua.

"All I'm telling Tua is everyone is counting on you to be a dad and be a dad this weekend. And then we'll move from there. There won't be any talk about where we're going in that regard ... none of that will happen without doctors' expertise and the actual player."