So it’s over?
Well, the regular season will be after tonight. Once Sunday Night Football is over, it’ll be the playoffs starting next Saturday with the Wild Card round.
Are there any blackouts this week?
Yes, in Buffalo where Western New York won’t see the New York Jets-Bills game. That is the only blackout for this week. Even San Diego which hadn’t seen a home game since November managed to get its game between the Chargers and the Oakland Raiders sold in time to lift the local blackout.
What’s with the double doubleheaders this week?
With the last week of the regular season upon us, the NFL allows both CBS and Fox to have a doubleheader. And this allows fans to see games with playoff implications. It also gives CBS and Fox an equal amount of doubleheaders for the season. Week 17 is the only week that has both networks airing games in the 4:25 p.m. ET window.
So this means we get more than 2 or 3 games late?
Yes. There will be six games in the late windows distributed to CBS and Fox. That’s the most late games played this season.
Was there a flex for Sunday Night this week?
Yes, Week 17 is always kept open for a potential elimination game and that is the case with Dallas-Washington in primetime. This game is for the NFC East title. Washington can still get into the postseason if it loses and depending on the games earlier in the day. Dallas goes home if it loses and can only get into the playoffs if it beats Washington. Got it?
Anything interesting on the NFL pregame shows?
Well, Erin Andrews has an interview with MVP candidate Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings on Fox NFL Sunday. Former NFL Today host Greg Gumbel returns to his old stomping grounds on Sunday with an interview with Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano as he returns to the job after being out since Week 3 due to his leukemia diagnosis.
So just one blackout. Nice. What are the Games of the Week?With so many with playoff implications, I’ll do my best to limit the number. For CBS, I’ll choose Baltimore at Cincinnati (Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots) for the AFC Central and Houston at Indy (Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf) for the return of Chuck Pagano to the Colts sidelines and to see if the Texans can find a way to not look like it’s on cruise control going into the playoffs.
On Fox, I’ll go with Chicago at Detroit (Kenny Albert/Daryl Johnston/Tony Siragusa) as the Bears try to avoid missing the playoffs. They need a lot of help, however.
And there’s the Sunday night game on NBC between Dallas and the DC NFL team (Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth/Michele Tafoya).
Anything else we should know?
Not that I can think of. Enjoy your last full set of games in the NFL until next year.
