Let’s go over what’s coming up on the next NFL Sunday.
Our NFL Week actually began on Thursday? — Yup. First of 13 Thursday Night Football games on NFL Network this season.
So I won’t hear a disclaimer for “60 Minutes” on CBS at 7 p.m.? — Not when the Tiffany Network has the NFL doubleheader. With the late games now starting at 4:25 p.m. ET, both CBS and Fox have to make adjustments. When CBS has the doubleheader, primetime will start at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT. In the Mountain and Pacific time zones, the Sunday primetime lineup won’t change. The entire CBS lineup will be pushed back a half-hour and there won’t be any shows that will be preempted.
What’s with Fox showing this soccer documentary? — On five Sundays, Fox will run programming either before or after its single NFL game depending on when your contest will air in your region. This week, Fox airs the premiere of its Fox Soccer documentary series called “Being: Liverpool”. On three other Sundays, Fox will air tape delayed coverage of English Premier League action. And on the other Sunday being programmed by Fox, it will have a UFC special previewing that weekend’s MMA card on the network.
Blackouts? Tell me about the blackouts? — None this week. The San Diego Chargers narrowly avoided embarrassment by having its home opener and tribute to the late Junior Seau blacked out. An extension to sell the last remaining tickets worked. The Dolphins did not sell out their home opener, but the team bought all of the remaining tickets and the game against the Raiders on Sunday will be seen in South Florida. Finally, the Cincinnati Bengals sold out their home opener after problems selling out last season.
What are your Games of the Week, compadre? — On CBS, I’ll choose Baltimore at Philadelphia (Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf). Ravens look really good. Philadelphia has to show something after barely defeating my Browns last week. The other for CBS is Tennessee at San Diego (Ian Eagle/Dan Fouts). It should be a rather emotional scene as the Chargers pay tribute to the late Junior Seau before the game.
For Fox, I choose New Orleans at Carolina (Ron Pitts/Mike Martz/Kristina Pink) as both teams have to show something after lackluster performances last week. And Dallas at Seattle (Kenny Albert/Daryl Johnston/Tony Siragusa) as we need to know if both teams were really what we saw in Week 1. Was Dallas really as good as it showed in the NFL Kickoff Game against the New York Giants? And what about Seattle? Questions abound after its loss to Arizona.
Anything else? — Sunday Night Football with a decent game as the Detroit Lions take on the San Francisco 49ers (Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth/Michele Tafoya). I wonder what “Get Off My Lawn” commentary Bob Costas will make on Sunday.
That concludes the Viewing Guide for Week 2 in the League Where They Play for Pay.
