Week 16 NFL Television Coverage
Week 16 NFL Television Coverage
FOX and CBS list seven pairs of announcers for their NFL games, and often do not have to use that many due to bye weeks. Due to having the rare Sunday in which they had eight games last Sunday, FOX had to bring in Justin Kutcher and Charles Davis to broadcast a game. This week CBS, who has the doubleheader for week 16, is in the same situation; they will trot out Andrew Catalon and Adam Archuleta in order to fill up the inventory of games on their slate. Catalon was a sports anchor for a CBS station in Albany for ten years before joining the fledgling CBS Sport Network six months ago; Archuleta is a former NFL safety who was a rookie for the Rams when they played the Patriots in Super Bowl 36 and did college football games this year for CBSSN. Don Criqui filled in two week for CBS when bad weather prevented Bill Macatee from announcing the Pats game; I presume he was passed over due to commitments for his regular job announcing college basketball games.
Sports television networks are loathe to change, as evidenced by announcers that we have seen stick around way past their expiration date over the years, from Howard Cosell to John Madden to Frank Gifford to Dan Dierdorf. The hierarchy of their announcing crews is nearly set in stone, and almost never changes - especially at the top. That is why it was a surprise to see that FOX announce that Kevin Burkhardt and John Lynch, who were listed fourth on the network's press release back four months ago, will be working the divisional round of playoffs in January. Last year FOX leapfrgooged their number three crew (Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick) over Kenny Albert and daryl Johnston, and Billick made one mistake after another. Considering that gaffe it would have been understandable it FOX made no changes to their announcing hierarchy, but they went ahead and have given Burkhardt and Lynch a vote of confidence with the playoff gig. Although I seem to recall Burkhardt making a few mistakes when he did the Pats-Bucs game earlier this year, but other times I have seen him on other NFC he has been fine, and Lynch impresses me as an intelligent analyst.
Here is a look at what games are available for those of you without the Sunday Ticket. The listed entries were decided by the two corporate networks and individual local stations do have the option of requesting a change over the upcoming week, so don't consider all of these listings to be absolutes that are set in stone. Most of the nation will get to see the Patriots game late Sunday, with the Pats listed early as 2½ point underdogs at Baltimore this week; Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will be the announcers. The primary early games is Denver at Houston on CBS, with Chicago at Philadelphia Sunday night on NBC, and then Atlanta at San Francisco Monday on ESPN; there is no Thursday night football this week or next.
 The Patriots hope to have Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins back on the field Sunday at Baltimore (USA TODAY Images) |
If you're looking for a good game to watch before the Pats kickoff, check out New Orleans at Carolina; that will be broadcast in much of New England the southeast.
Early Games on CBS
Denver Broncos at Houston Texans
Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts
- Broncos favored by 10½ with a point total of 51½
Available everywhere except as noted below
Indianapolis Colts at Kansas City Chiefs
Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf
- Colts favored by 6½ with a point total of 44
Hawaii, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri (except St. Louis), Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky (except Bowling Green), North Carolina (except Charlotte), eastern Virginia (Richmond, Norfolk), San Francisco CA, Fort Smith AR
Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills
Spero Dedes and Steve Beuerlein
- Dolphins favored by 2½ with a point total of 43
Florida (except Jacksonville and Gainesville), Valdosta GA, western New York (Buffalo, Carthage, Elmira, Rochester, Syracuse)
Cleveland Browns at New York Jets
Marv Albert and Rich Gannon
- Jets favored by 2½ with a point total of 40½
Ohio (except Cincinnati), eastern New York (Albany, Binghamton, NYC), Connecticut, northern New Jersey, northeastern Pennsylvania (Erie, Scranton)
Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars
Andrew Catalon and Adam Archuleta
- Titans favored by 5½ with a point total of 44
Tennessee, Columbus MS, Huntsville AL, Valdosta GA, Jacksonville FL, Gainesville FL
No early game on CBS due to NFL broadcast rules in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Charlotte and Washington DC
Late Games on CBS
New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens
Jim Nantz and Phil Simms
- Ravens favored by 2½ with a point total of 45
Available everywhere except as noted below
Pittsburgh Steelers at Green Bay Packers
Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots
- no early line pending status of Aaron Rodgers
North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Michigan (except Detroit), Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania
Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers
Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker
- Chargers favored by 10 with a point total of 50½
California, Reno NV, Yuma AZ
No late game on CBS due to NFL broadcast rules in Seattle or Detroit
Early Games on FOX
New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman
- Panthers favored by 3 with a point total of 47
Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Wisconsin (except Eau Claire and La Crosse), North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana
Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins
Kevin Burkhardt and John Lynch
- Cowboys favored by 3 with a point total of 53½
Hawaii, southern California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, DC, southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania (except Pittsburgh and Erie)
Minnesota Vikings at Cincinnati Bengals
Dick Stockton and Ronde Barber
- Bengals favored by 7 with a point total of 48
North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, western Wisconsin (Eau Claire and La Crosse), Kentucky, Ohio, western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh and Erie)
Tampa Bay Bucs at St. Louis Rams
announcers TBA
- Rams favored by 5½ with a point total of 42½
Missouri (except Kansas City and St. Joseph) and Florida (except Jacksonville, Miami and West Palm Beach)
Late Games on FOX
New York Giants at Detroit Lions
Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston
- Lions favored by 9 with a point total of 49
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Miami and West Palm Beach FL, New York, Connecticut, Providence RI, Vermont
Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks
announcers TBA
- Seahawks favored by 10½ with a point total of 44
Alaska, Washington, Oregon, northern California (Bakersfield, Eureka, Fresno, Monterey, Oakland, Sacramento), Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Houston TX, Nashville TN, Jacksonville FL
Night Games
Sunday Night Football on NBC
Chicago Bears at Philadelphia Eagles
Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth
- Eagles favored by 3 with a point total of 56
Monday Night Football on ESPN
Atlanta Falcons at San Francisco 49ers
Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden
- Niners favored by 12 with a point total of 45
Other Football Related Broadcasts Of Interest
Tuesday Dec 17, 2:00-3:30 pm ET on NFLN
NFL Replay - Chicago Bears at Cleveland Browns
Tuesday Dec 17, 3:30-5:00 pm ET on NFLN
NFL Replay - New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins
Tuesday Dec 17, 9:00-10:00 pm ET on NFLN
A Football Life - Marty Schottenheimer (repeats at 4:00 Wednesday and 10:00 Saturday)
Wednesday Dec 18, 9:00-10:00 pm ET on NFLN
NFL Replay - Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys (repeats at 3:00 Thursday)
Thursday Dec 19, 9:00-10:00 pm ET on NFLN
A Football Life - LaDainian Tomlinson (will Mr. Classy whine about the Pats?)
Thursday Dec 19, 10:00-11:00 pm ET on NFLN
A Football Life - Derrick Thomas
Friday Dec 20, 9:00-10:00 pm ET on NFLN
Playbook NFC - Film breakdown and preview; repeats twice on Saturday
Friday Dec 20, 10:00-11:00 pm ET on NFLN
Playbook AFC - Film breakdown and preview; repeats twice on Saturday
Saturday Dec 21, 2:00-5:30 pm ET on ESPN
College Football - Washington St vs Colorado St, New Mexico Bowl
Saturday Dec 21, 3:30-7:00 pm ET on ABC
College Football - #20 Fresno St vs #25 Southern Cal, Las Vegas Bowl
Saturday Dec 21, 5:30-9:00 pm ET on ESPN
College Football - Buffalo vs San Diego St, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Saturday Dec 21, 9:00-12:30 on ESPN
College Football - Tulane vs Louisiana-Lafayette, New Orleans Bowl
Sunday Dec 22, 6:30-7:00 am ET on ESPN
NFL Matchup - X's and O's show produced by Greg Cosell
Sunday Dec 22, 7:00-9:00 am ET on NFLN
NFL Game Day First - much better than their later pre-game show
Sunday Dec 22, 9:00-1:00 ET on CBSSN
That Other Pregame Show - a decent pre-game show alternative
Sunday Dec 22, 10:00-1:00 ET on WEEI
Patriots Pregame Show - great pregame analysis from Matt Chatham, Chris Price and Dale Arnold
Follow on Twitter @AllThingsPats
