Thursday Night Football Heads to Atlanta

Tonight’s Thursday Night Football game will be in Atlanta for an NFC South Division battle. When NFL Network got this game, it was hoping the New Orleans Saints-Atlanta Falcons game would be a game for first place in the division. The Saints came through with their part, but the Falcons have been extremely disappointing with a 2-8 record.

So this game becomes another run-of-the-mill game for NFL Network. No matter, Brad Nessler, Mike Mayock and Alex Flanagan will be on hand for the call of the game from the Georgia Dome.

Rich Eisen will bring his merry mates of analysts to Atlanta for live pregame, halftime and postgame shows.

We have the particulars of the game including the local stations in New Orleans and Atlanta airing tonight’s game.

Thursday Night FootballNEW ORLEANS SAINTS AT ATLANTA FALCONS
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21 AT 8:00 PM ET ON NFL NETWORK

Coverage from Atlanta Begins at 6:00 PM ET with ‘NFL Total Access Kickoff’ Pregame Show

The eighth season of NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football continues this week when quarterback Drew Brees and the first-place New Orleans Saints travel to take on quarterback Matt Ryan and the NFC South-rival Atlanta Falcons Thursday, November 21 at 8:00 PM ET.

Play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler and two-time Emmy-nominated analyst Mike Mayock call the game in their third season together, and Alex Flanagan provides reports from the sidelines.

NFL Network’s NFL Total Access Kickoff pregame show is live from the stadium starting at 6:00 PM ET. This week, host Rich Eisen is joined by Hall of Famers Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk and Michael Irvin, and former head coach Steve Mariucci live from the Georgia Dome. Reporters Alex Flanagan and Stacey Dales provide pregame news reports from the locker rooms and interviews with players and coaches, while NFL Media Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Silver are on-location with the latest news from around the NFL.

Featured on the pregame show this week:

  • Which team is a bigger threat to the New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl aspirations – the 7-3 Carolina Panthers or the 10-1 Seattle Seahawks?
  • Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders and Marshall Faulk demonstrate how Saints tight end Jimmy Graham and Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez are a matchup nightmare for defenses
  • How did the Atlanta Falcons go from the top of the NFC in 2012 to 2-8 this season?
  • NFL Total Access Kickoff discusses Saints head coach Sean Payton’s impact on quarterback Drew Brees, and how the Saints’ defense will attack Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan
  • Preview of the renewal of the Peyton Manning Tom Brady rivalry and the Dallas Cowboys – New York Giants matchup
  • Michael Irvin and Marshall Faulk debate which quarterback will bounce back, Robert Griffin III or Colin Kaepernick, and who deserves the credit for the Philadelphia Eagles’ ascent to the top of the NFC East, head coach Chip Kelly or quarterback Nick Foles
  • The Carolina Panthers have won six games in a row – what do they have left to prove?

Through 10 games of its 13-game schedule, Thursday Night Football is averaging a 4.77 US HH rating (+9% vs. 2012 average) and 7.64 million viewers (+10% vs. 2012 average) – on pace to be the highest-rated and most-watched Thursday Night Football season ever.

International award-winning actress and recording artist Priyanka Chopra’s track “In My City” is the new theme for Thursday Night Football. This is Chopra’s second year being featured on NFL Network as last season she kicked off the Thursday Night Football pregame show. For a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Thursday Night Football open “In My City,” visit http://on.nfl.com/15RxswV.

Eisen, Sanders, Faulk, Irvin, Mariucci, Rapoport and Silver provide additional analysis on the Halftime Show and the postgame show. Following the game, hosts Dan Hellie and Amber Theoharis, and NFL Network analysts Heath Evans and Willie McGinest will deliver a postgame edition of NFL Total Access live from NFL Network’s studios in Los Angeles.

As part of the NFL’s recently announced partnership with Twitter, in-game highlights will be accessible for Twitter users on PCs, tablets, and mobile devices from Thursday Night Football. The in-game highlights on Twitter are in addition to other game footage, news, analysis, fantasy football advice, and voting platforms from NFL Network and NFL.com that are part of a seven-day-a-week customized NFL video content programming schedule created specifically for the Twitter platform (twitter.com/NFL).

Thursday Night Football on NFL.com/NFL Mobile

Each week starting at 8:00 PM ET, NFL.com Live: Thursday Night Football returns as the true companion for NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football. New this season, the live look-ins on NFL.com Live: Thursday Night Football feature exclusive coaches’ angles, which include the “All-22,” “High End Zone” and Cable Cam angles. Additionally, the NFL Digital Media production will provide its own play-by-play and analysis for the first time, with Matt “Money” Smith on the call and Solomon Wilcots as analyst. Rebecca Haarlow will be live on-location providing sideline commentary to the broadcast.

From the NFL Network studios, Elliot Harrison is joined alongside analysts Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks to provide instant studio analysis to live game action. Dave Dameshek and Crystina Poncher will be NFL.com Live: Thursday Night Football’s social media correspondents, and various NFL Network analysts will join the broadcast throughout the season. To watch each NFL.com Live: Thursday Night Football broadcast, visit NFL.com.

As part of the recently redesigned NFL Mobile app, fans can follow Thursday Night Football on the go with TNF Xtra. TNF Xtra is a free, downloadable feature on the NFL Mobile app, which offers a comprehensive second-screen companion to NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football broadcast. TNF Xtra is live at 7:30 PM ET each Thursday during NFL Network’s 13-game broadcast schedule, and features live video updates from sideline reporter Rebecca Haarlow, social media integration, trivia and polls throughout the game, relevant historical facts, statistics and profiles, and instant photos live from the game. Visit NFL.com/xtra on your mobile device to download NFL Mobile.

Additionally, for Verizon subscribers the newly redesigned NFL Mobile app enables users with a premium subscription to watch a live feed of Thursday Night Football directly from their mobile device, in addition to NFL Network, NFL RedZone and live NFL game action Sunday and Monday night. All NFL Mobile from Verizon users, regardless of their wireless provider, can watch exclusive NFL highlights and video clips on their mobile device.

New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons

TEAMS: SAINTS (8-2) FALCONS (2-8)
ANNOUNCERS Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Mike Mayock (game analyst); Alex Flanagan (sideline)
PREGAME (6:00 PM ET) NFL Total Access Kickoff
In Atlanta: Rich Eisen, Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin, Marshall Faulk, Steve Mariucci, Stacey Dales, Alex Flanagan, Ian Rapoport, Mike Silver
PRE-KICK (8:00 PM ET) Prekick Show
Brad Nessler, Mike Mayock, Alex Flanagan, Rich Eisen, Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin, Marshall Faulk, Steve Mariucci, Stacey Dales
HALFTIME Halftime Show
Rich Eisen, Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin, Marshall Faulk, Steve Mariucci, Stacey Dales, Alex Flanagan, Ian Rapoport, Mike Silver
POSTGAME Postgame Show
Rich Eisen, Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin, Marshall Faulk, Steve Mariucci, Stacey Dales, Alex Flanagan NFL Total Access Postgame Show
In-studio: Dan Hellie, Amber Theoharis, Heath Evans, Willie McGinest
WHERE TO WATCH NFL Network
Check your local cable listings
NFL.com Live: Thursday Night Football
NFL Mobile
LOCAL OTA SIMULCAST* FOX Ch. 8 (WVUE) – New Orleans CW Ch. 69 (WUPA) – Atlanta

That is all.

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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