Watt, who is the NFL’s number one top-paid defensive player. The Steelers match-up will reveal if Smith is ready for prime time after spending the last three years as a backup for Wilson.Ī particular test for Wilson will be avoiding Steeler’s star linebacker T.J. This will be Smith’s third time starting a game since 2014, making it a seven-year career total of 32 starts, including his time with the New York Jets. In Wilson’s place, Seattle will start backup quarterback Geno Smith, 31. Russell Wilson will be sitting out for at least a month, after starting in every regular-season game during his 10 years with the team. On the Seahawks side, an injury in last week’s game will cost the team its quarterback. Standout receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is now sidelined, recovering from shoulder surgery after an injury in last week’s game.
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Translation: Do what you say and say what you mean NBC.With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, 39, leading the team for his final season, 2021 has had a rocky start that could get rougher. It is up to NBC to determine who the talent is for both nights based on those parameters." CBS and NFL Network will televise the first half of the ‘Thursday Night Football’ schedule with NBC and NFL Network televising the second half. Our contract with NBC requires that the Sunday Night team also do Thursday Night. We came to a contractual agreement with NBC on those terms. In fact, when the NFL, CBS and NBC jointly announced the expansion of ‘Thursday Night Football’ last February, we said: ‘Both CBS and NBC will produce ‘Thursday Night Football’ with their lead broadcasters and production teams, and both will contribute to the production of ‘Thursday Night Football’ exclusively on NFL Network.
“When we bid out the Thursday Night Games, NBC came to us with an impressive pitch to bring the magic of ‘Sunday Night Football’ - specifically Al and Cris and their production team - to Thursday Night. That was very attractive to us as we look to continue to build on the success of ‘Thursday Night Football,’ and is similar to the deal we have with CBS for their lead broadcast and production team. Notice McCarthy's emphasis on the network production teams here too: NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy noted the clear contractual promises made by NBC in a statement. 1 show for the past four years. Why wouldn't the NFL want to try to replicate the Michaels/Collinsworth "SNF" magic on Thursday night?Īfter all, that night is still a wasteland for the NFL compared to SNF, MNF and the league's hugely popular Sunday afternoon games. Remember Sunday Night Football wasn't exactly a juggernaut when it aired on ESPN and TNT. NBC's SNF has been one of the biggest success stories in TV, ranking as the No. When NBC and CBS promised their top announcers, they were effectively promising their entire first-string production teams of announcers, producers, directors, etc. Look, we're not just talking about announcers. But I also don't blame the NFL for turning them down.
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I don't blame NBC for trying to give a newcomer like Tirico a high-profile gig like "TNF." That's what they hired him for. All of the NBC/CBS games will also be simulcast on NFL Network. The league's own NFL Network gets the remaining eight games. NBC will broadcast five late-season games from Nov. This season's 18-game "TNF" schedule will be broken up this way: CBS' lead announce team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will call five early-season games from Sep. Well, if NBC promised Michaels and Collinsworth, it should deliver Michaels and Collinsworth - and not finagle around. MORE: Sorry ESPN, Skip Bayless 'dominates' sports debates
![pop snf game pop snf game](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ts9tSVGZbjs/maxresdefault.jpg)
Up front. They knew the Michaels-Collinsworth tandem would have to call five "TNF" games on top of their normal "SNF" schedule in 2016-2017. The NBC bosses, as well as Michaels and Collinsworth, knew and accepted this arrangement. To win the bidding for half of the 10-game broadcast "TNF" package, NBC promised the league it would throw its first-string "SNF" announce team of Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya at the games. Yes, this is a clear case of muscle-flexing by the league, which owns the most valuable beachfront property in all of entertainment, not just sports: live NFL games. Not to mention 64-year old Bob Costas' long-time role as prime-time host of Olympics coverage. He did it with a constantly revolving cast of analysts, including Tony Kornheiser, Ron Jaworski and finally Jon Gruden.Īfter j umping to NBC from ESPN, Tirico is poised to inherit both the "TNF" and "Sunday Night Football" play-by-play chairs when and if Michaels, 71, hangs up his microphone. Over the last decade on ESPN's "Monday Night Football," he proved he's just as good as the legendary Michaels at calling NFL games.