Black Screen in Second Quarter Leaves NBC Viewers with a Blank

If you noticed about eight seconds of dead air after Stephen Gostkowski's second-quarter 45-yard field goal for the Patriots, you were not alone.

No, it was not a problem with your television set. The screen turned black for several seconds.

Commercials cost a little more than $5 million on average for a 30-second spot, per Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated, and those commenting on Twitter were left scratching their heads as an explanation was not immediately available.

An NBC spokesperson later said the blackout was due to an equipment failure and that no commercial time was missed, per Ad Age.