Now to the NFL on CBS which has a very long preview of this weekend’s games. It will have both of the late games on Saturday and Sunday. It will show the Indianapolis Colts at the New England Patriots in primetime on Saturday. Then on Sunday afternoon, CBS airs the AFC West battle between the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos.
Here’s what CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus and NFL on CBS analysts Phil Simms and Dan Dierdorf are saying about the games.
“THE NFL ON CBS” CONTINUES AFC PLAYOFF COVERAGE WITH DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS GAMES – INDIANAPOLIS AT NEW ENGLAND ON SATURDAY, JAN. 11; AND SAN DIEGO-DENVER ON SUNDAY, JAN. 12
EXCERPTS FROM DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS CONFERENCE CALL WITH CBS SPORTS CHAIRMAN SEAN McMANUS, LEAD ANALYST PHIL SIMMS AND DAN DIERDORF
THE NFL ON CBS continues its 54th year broadcasting the NFL with coverage of the 2014 American Football Conference Playoffs with the national broadcast of Divisional Playoff games on Saturday, Jan. 11 (8:00 PM, ET) and Sunday, Jan. 12 (4:30 PM, ET) live on the CBS Television Network. The AFC South Champions and No. 4-seeded Indianapolis Colts (12-5) travel to play the AFC East Champions and No. 2-seeded New England Patriots (12-4) on Saturday in prime time, while the No. 6-seeded San Diego Chargers (10-7) visit their divisional rival, AFC West Champions and No. 1-seeded Denver Broncos (13-3) on Sunday afternoon.
THE NFL ON CBS’s Divisional Playoff coverage begins with THE NFL TODAY, the Network’s studio show, at 7:30 PM, ET on Saturday, and 4:00 PM, ET on Sunday, live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City.
THE NFL ON CBS lead announce team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms call the action, along with Tracy Wolfson reporting, live from Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo. Lance Barrow is the coordinating producer and lead game producer and Mike Arnold is the lead game director. Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf call the action, along with Allie LaForce reporting, live from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Mark Wolff produces and Bob Fishman directs. After 43 consecutive years in the National Football League as a Hall of Fame player and Hall of Fame broadcaster, Dierdorf will call the final game of his broadcasting career in New England on Saturday night.
Sean McManus is Chairman, CBS Sports, and serves as executive producer of CBS Sports’ coverage of THE NFL ON CBS. David Berson is President, CBS Sports. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.
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And for the first time ever, CBS Sports will continue streaming its coverage of the American Football Conference Playoffs on CBSSports.com. Streaming coverage includes the national broadcasts of the AFC Wild Card Playoff Game on Sunday, Jan. 5, the AFC Divisional Playoff Games on Saturday, Jan. 11 and Sunday, Jan. 12, and the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, Jan. 19. Live streams of CBS Sports’ AFC playoff games will be available to fans on laptops, desktops and tablets at CBSSports.com here: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/postseason/bracket
Following are excerpts from THE NFL ON CBS’s Divisional Playoffs conference call on Tuesday, Jan. 7
(On two AFC Divisional Playoff games)
McMANUS: To have the young gun (Andrew Luck) go into Foxborough against the senior gun (Tom Brady), I won’t say old gun, but senior gun, and to have Peyton Manning continue to follow his quest to win another Super Bowl, you couldn’t write a better script. To have two of the biggest, if not the biggest, quarterbacks in a generation on CBS on the same weekend is a dream come true.
(On Patriots)
DIERDORF: I don’t know if Bill Belichick has done a better job of coaching. And I’m not sure I’ve seen a player, through strength of will, put his teammates on his back quite the way Tom Brady has done…If you love anything about a team sport, you can’t look at the Patriots without a great deal of admiration.
SIMMS: Even the Bill Belichick haters in the media have given up…Why would you bet against the Patriots? How much more information do we have to know? It’s been there for many, many years. It’s an incredible job but I don’t think any of us are surprised.
DIERDORF: Are they the most talented team in this playoff tournament? Absolutely not. But I think Phil said it best, ‘Would you bet against them?’ Well, only with your money.
(On importance of a quarterback in the playoffs)
SIMMS: I say this about organizations. It’s not always just the quarterback. You have to build your organization to support him. Have a plan and make it work. We are seeing that with most of these teams that are still in the playoffs…I give organizations and coaches a lot of credit, they build these guys…These big-armed quarterbacks, we saw it last year and we are already seeing it this year. It’s a big deal in the NFL and people overlook that and keep looking for all these magical things. ‘Oh, he’s just got IT,’ and, ‘He’s a winner.’ I’m looking for a big guy who can physically get it done. And we are seeing that in the NFL right now.
(On San Diego Chargers)
SIMMS: They got healthy. It kind of gelled for them late in the year. They’re at their best right now. They’re a better team now than the team that beat Denver. They’re a better team that won that beautiful game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Kansas City.
(On Philip Rivers)
SIMMS: He is now one of those guys that I am talking about that can make that unbelievable throw that we see from quarterbacks in the league. But his charisma, his leadership, his energy is second to none. He and Peyton Manning are almost the same guy. And this offense fits him perfectly. He’s the orchestrator. He loves it. Last year with Norv Turner, the last five games of the year, he changed as a quarterback. And that change he made has continued and it’s even gotten better. He just knows how to play his part in the game. And what greater example do you need than last week.
(On passing the torch to Andrew Luck if he outperforms Tom Brady)
DIERDORF: Regardless of what happens this weekend I don’t know about the passing of the torch. Are we looking at a bright, young star in Andrew Luck? Let me just say this, I can’t imagine if you polled all 32 teams and said, ‘You have to start your franchise today with a quarterback. Who would it be?’ I’m hard pressed to imagine that even one of those 32 teams would choose someone other than Andrew Luck. That’s taking into consideration Tom Brady’s age and Peyton Manning’s age. But I don’t think there’s any question that Andrew Luck is the guy. He is the man in terms of where the quarterback position is headed for the next decade or so.
SIMMS: At the quarterback position, if you are looking for Andrew Luck I wouldn’t wait up because there aren’t going to be many of those guys coming out. He’s a unique talent…I watch all of their games. He is the strongest. Now this is saying something in my eyes because there are some strong quarterbacks, he is the strongest quarterback in the NFL.
(On quarterbacks in this year’s draft)
SIMMS: I watch a lot of college football. I try to keep track of all these guys. I don’t see an arm like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck. I just don’t see that big-time NFL arm that can drive and make those throws that you need…If I was looking for a quarterback high in the draft, I would be nervous.
(On Matthew Stafford)
SIMMS: Matt Stafford is as talented throwing the football as anybody in the NFL. But now you have to accept the responsibility that you are the man. I think we all know what that means. Take control of the dang football team and make it yours. When you lose it’s your fault. And when you win it’s everybody else that helped you get it done.
And here’s what The NFL Today will air today and tomorrow on CBS.
“THE NFL TODAY” PREVIEWS DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAMES ON SATURDAY, JAN. 11 AND SUNDAY, JAN. 12 ON CBS
Bill Cowher Sits Down with New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick on Saturday; And Jim Nantz Visits with Denver Broncos Head Coach John Fox on Sunday
THE NFL ON CBS continues its 54th year broadcasting the NFL with coverage of the 2014 American Football Conference Playoffs with the national broadcast of Divisional Playoff games on Saturday, Jan. 11 (8:00 PM, ET) and Sunday, Jan. 12 (4:30 PM, ET) live on the CBS Television Network. The AFC South Champions and No. 4-seeded Indianapolis Colts (12-5) travel to play the AFC East Champions and No. 2-seeded New England Patriots (12-4) on Saturday in prime time, while the No. 6-seeded San Diego Chargers (10-7) visit their divisional rival, AFC West Champions and No. 1-seeded Denver Broncos (13-3) on Sunday afternoon.
THE NFL ON CBS’s Divisional Playoff coverage begins with THE NFL TODAY, the Network’s studio show, at 7:30 PM, ET on Saturday, and 4:00 PM, ET on Sunday, live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. James Brown hosts THE NFL TODAY along with analysts Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher, NFL TODAY Insider Jason La Canfora, as well as Lesley Visser reporting.
On Saturday night, THE NFL TODAY’s Cowher previews New England’s AFC Divisional Playoff game against Indianapolis in an interview with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick as his team prepares for the Colts. Deb Gelman is the producer.
Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf, who call the Indianapolis-New England game, along with Allie LaForce reporting, report live from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. And THE NFL ON CBS lead announce team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, who call the San Diego-Denver game, along with Tracy Wolfson reporting, preview their game from Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo.
On Sunday, Nantz previews Denver’s game against San Diego in a visit with Broncos head coach John Fox as his team prepares for the Chargers. Charlie Bloom produces. And Nantz and Simms report live from Denver. Drew Kaliski is producer and Bob Matina is director of THE NFL TODAY.
THAT OTHER PREGAME SHOW (TOPS) continues its unique fan-focused take on all of the week’s NFL and college action, headlines and hot-button issues, giving viewers all the latest information as it happens. “TOPS” is hosted by Adam Schein along with 11-year NFL veteran Bart Scott, long-time Oakland Raiders executive Amy Trask, CBS Sports Radio’s Brandon Tierney, CBSSports.com fantasy analyst Nathan Zegura and LEAD OFF’s Allie LaForce reporting. Shawn Robbins and Andrew Finger produce and Jay Kincaid directs THAT OTHER PREGAME SHOW.
Sean McManus is Chairman, CBS Sports, and serves as executive producer of CBS Sports’ coverage of THE NFL ON CBS. David Berson is President, CBS Sports. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.
And ESPN’s preview is next.
