NBC Previews Sunday Night Football for Week 3 of the 2013 NFL Season

And with the Chicago Bears taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers, NBC has its preview of the premier primetime game of the week.

Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya will be at Heinz Field for the game. Bob Costas will be at the game to host Football Night in America and he’ll be joined by former Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward.

Dan Patrick, Rodney Harrison and Tony Dungy handle the highlights for FNIA from NBC’s studios in New York. And they’ll be accompanied by insiders Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike “The Spike” Florio of Pro Football Talk as well as former New England and Kansas City executive Scott Pioli.

Here are the particulars from NBC for Sunday Night.

Sunday Night FootballJAY CUTLER AND THE CHICAGO BEARS TRAVEL TO PITTSBURGH TO TAKE ON BEN ROETHLISBERGER AND THE STEELERS ON SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Coverage Begins with Football Night In America at 7 p.m. ET on NBC
NBC Sports Live Extra to Live Stream Bears–Steelers on NBCSports.com/liveextra

STAMFORD, Conn. – September 18, 2013 – Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears (2-0) travel to Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa., to take on Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers (0-2) on Sunday Night Football. Coverage begins with Football Night In America at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.

Calling Bears-Steelers is seven-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his 28th season as the voice of the NFL’s premier primetime package; 14-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth, who has won the Emmy for Outstanding Event Analyst in each of his four seasons in the Sunday Night Football booth; and Emmy Award-winning sideline reporter Michele Tafoya.

NBC’s coverage of Sunday Night Football is led by Emmy Award-winning coordinating producer Fred Gaudelli and Emmy Award-winning director Drew EsocoffSunday Night Football has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series for five consecutive years.

Football Night in America, the most-watched pre-game show in sports, is hosted by 25-time Emmy Award-winner Bob Costas, who will report from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa. Costas will be joined on site by Michaels, Collinsworth, and two-time Super Bowl winner Hines Ward.

Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from NBC’s famed Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Patrick will be joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney HarrisonPeter King of Sports Illustrated, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk on NBCSN and NBCSports.com, and longtime NFL front office veteran and former NFL Executive of the Year Scott Pioli. Alex Flanagan will report from Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Calif. on the Colts-49ers game.

In addition to Sunday Night Football and Football Night in America, NBC Sports Group’s NFL coverage also includes digital content and social media extensions that are available online, as well as NFL-related shoulder programming on NBCSN.

BEARS-STEELERS PREVIEW VIDEO:

Dan Patrick, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison preview Bears–Steelers: http://www.nbcsports.com/football/nfl/can-older-steelers-keep-bears

Dungy on the Bears – “The big improvement I have seen is their offense is getting some plays out of their tight end. Martellus Bennett has helped take some pressure off of Brandon Marshall and make some big plays.”

Dungy on the Steelers – “They are going to have to be an offensive team. Ben Roethlisberger is going to have to win games for them. They have got to play differently than they have in the past. They need to get rid of the ball faster, run the ball and take some pressure off of Ben.”

Harrison on the Steelers – “They have to run the ball. Big Ben holds the ball too long. When you hold the ball too long, and you don’t have great offensive linemen, bad things happen.”

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL CELEBRATES HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH

As part of the NFL’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, NBC Sports Group will incorporate a series of special elements into the Sunday Night Football broadcast and marketing campaign. The winner of Season 1 of Telemundo’s La Voz Kids,  Paola Guanche, will sing the national anthem live from Pittsburgh, Pa. In addition, NBC’s Sunday Night Football on-air, print and digital-marketing elements will feature Hispanic Heritage Month logos and branding.

NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA

For the sixth consecutive season, the entire Sunday Night Football schedule will be streamed live online. NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops and tablets, will stream all SNF games televised on NBC. The video stream will come directly from NBC’s broadcast of SNF, and will include additional camera angles and interactive features.

NBC Sports Live Extra employs a full HD-quality player, which includes a draggable picture-in-picture feature for any of the online-only cameras, plus full DVR functionality allowing the user to pause, scroll back-and-forth, and review plays in slo-motion.

In addition, online coverage features in-game analysis from the  Sunday Night Football and Football Night in America teams as well as fantasy tips from Rotoworld fantasy experts.

For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app for tablets is available at the App Store for iPad and iPod touch, and on select tablet devices within Google Play.

That will do it for the Sunday NFL previews. Back later this morning.

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the three Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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