And let’s move to the Tiffany Network and CBS’ previews of this weekend’s games. CBS has games at 8 p.m. ET Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Of course, we all know it’s the Denver Tebows taking on the New England Bradys in primetime on Saturday. And it’ll be Houston at Baltimore on Sunday.
CBS has two editions of The NFL Today, one in early prime at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and a one hour edition at its regular time of noon on Sunday.
We have a preview of what will be aired on The NFL Today tonight and tomorrow below. Check out the CBS Sports press release below.
“THE NFL TODAY” PREVIEWS DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAMES ON SATURDAY, JAN. 14 AND SUNDAY, JAN. 15 ON CBS
James Brown Visits with Tim Tebow Revealing a Different Side of Denver Quarterback on Saturday;
On Sunday, Detroit Lions’ Ndamukong Suh, joins THE NFL TODAY live in Studio; CBS Sports’ Golf Analyst David Feherty Contributes with Special Essay on “The Lighter Side of Rushing” in NFLTHE NFL ON CBS, continues its 52nd year broadcasting the NFL with coverage of the 2012 American Football Conference Playoffs with the national broadcasts of AFC Divisional Playoff games on Saturday, Jan. 14 (8:00 PM, ET) and Sunday, Jan. 15 (1:00 PM, ET) live on the CBS Television Network. The AFC West Champions and No. 4-seeded DENVER BRONCOS (9-8) travel to play the AFC East Champions and No. 1-seeded NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (13-3) on Saturday night, while the AFC South Champions and No. 3-seeded HOUSTON TEXANS (11-6) visit the AFC North Champions and No. 2-seeded BALTIMORE RAVENS (12-4) on Sunday afternoon.
THE NFL ON CBS’s coverage begins with THE NFL TODAY, the Network’s studio show (7:30 PM, ET) and (12:00 Noon, ET), respectively, live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City.
On Saturday, James Brown visits with Tim Tebow and Baily Knaub revealing a different side of Tebow. Tebow has attracted millions of fans, but none was more excited last Sunday night than 16-year-old Bailey Knaub, who was a personal guest of the Denver quarterback at the Broncos AFC Wild Card playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Each week, Tebow invites a young person with a serious medical condition to be his special guest at every Broncos game.
Bailey suffers from Wegener’s Granulomatosis, a rare vascular disorder that has caused her to undergo 73 surgeries over 10 years, including the removal of her left lung. A fan since Tebow’s Florida days, Bailey, along with her sister and parents, got to meet her long-time hero on the field prior to the game, which ended in dramatic fashion on Tebow’s 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas in overtime. She was in the stands and witnessed first hand the “Tebow Magic,” a day she will never forget. Tebow also met with her after the game and even mentioned her in his post-game press conference. Deb Gelman is the producer.
In addition, Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will report live from Foxborough with a preview of the Denver-New England AFC Divisional Playoff match-up. Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf in Baltimore will look ahead to Sunday afternoon’s Houston-Baltimore AFC Divisional Playoff showdown. And, Lesley Visser will be live at Lambeau Field with the latest on Sunday’s N.Y. Giants-Green Bay NFC Divisional Playoff contest. Kris Jenkins in San Francisco will provide post-game interviews from the New Orleans-San Francisco NFC Divisional Playoff game.
On Sunday’s NFL TODAY (12:00 Noon-1:00 PM, ET), Coach Bill Cowher sits down with Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning as they get set to travel to Lambeau Field in hopes of replicating their 2008 achievements, when they upset the Packers, 23-20, in overtime en route to a Super Bowl victory over the 18-0 New England Patriots. Can the Giants do it again or is Green Bay on its way to winning back-to-back Super Bowls? The New York Giants have won four of their last five games since their disappointing 38-35 loss to Green Bay last month. This Sunday, Big Blue gets a second chance at the 15-1 Packers with a trip to the NFC Championship Game on the line. Joe Zappulla is the producer.
CBS Sports previews the Houston-Baltimore match-up. Last week, the AFC South champion Houston Texans appeared in their first-ever playoff game and defeated Cincinnati, 31-10. This Sunday, they head to Baltimore in hopes of accomplishing yet another franchise first, beating the Ravens who have won all five previous meetings. At stake this time, a spot in the AFC Championship Game. Baltimore is looking to advance to the AFC Championship for the third time in team history and for the first time in three years.
And in a special essay by CBS Sports’ David Feherty, the golf analyst applies his unique off-beat, witty approach to a look at whatever happened to the running game in the NFL.
Ndamukong Suh, the Detroit Lions’ All-Pro defensive tackle, will be live in the studio for the pre-game and post-game shows.
In addition, there will be live reports from Gumbel and Dierdorf in Baltimore and Visser in Green Bay, with previews of the day’s playoff games.
Brown hosts THE NFL TODAY, along with analysts Dan Marino, Esiason, Shannon Sharpe and Cowher, NFL TODAY “General Manager” Charley Casserly, as well as Visser.
Sean McManus is Chairman, CBS Sports, and serves as the executive producer for the Network’s coverage of the NFL. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.
Eric Mann is senior producer and Bob Matina is director of THE NFL TODAY.
And we have preview quotage from NFL on CBS analysts Phil Simms and Dan Dierdorf on the playoff games this weekend.
“THE NFL ON CBS” CONTINUES AFC PLAYOFF COVERAGE WITH DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAMES – DENVER vs. NEW ENGLAND ON SATURDAY, JAN. 14; AND HOUSTON vs. BALTIMORE ON SUNDAY, JAN. 15
AUDIBLES WITH “NFL ON CBS” LEAD ANALYST PHIL SIMMS AND DAN DIERDORF
THE NFL ON CBS, continues its 52nd year broadcasting the NFL with coverage of the 2012 American Football Conference Playoffs with the national broadcasts of AFC Divisional Playoff games on Saturday, Jan. 14 (8:00 PM, ET) and Sunday, Jan. 15 (1:00 PM, ET) live on the CBS Television Network. The AFC West Champions and No. 4-seeded DENVER BRONCOS (9-8) travel to play the AFC East Champions and No. 1-seeded NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (13-3) on Saturday night, while the AFC South Champions and No. 3-seeded HOUSTON TEXANS (11-6) visit the AFC North Champions and No. 2-seeded BALTIMORE RAVENS (12-4) on Sunday afternoon.
THE NFL ON CBS’s coverage begins with THE NFL TODAY, the Network’s studio show (7:30 PM, ET) and (12:00 Noon, ET), respectively, 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 live from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. on Saturday night. 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 live from M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. on Sunday. Mark Wolff is the producer and Bob Fishman is the director.
Sean McManus is Chairman, CBS Sports, and serves as executive producer of CBS Sports’ coverage of THE NFL ON CBS. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.
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PHIL SIMMS
(On Denver-New England): Rematches that happen in the NFL always intrigue me, especially when talking about good football teams that played each other not long ago. I saw a lot of plays the Denver Broncos run every single week, but they gave them a little twist this past weekend against the Steelers. When you see it in a game, you know that the other team is prepared for the original play. When you give it that twist, you see what it does. Can the other team adjust or does it turn into something big?
There were probably three plays in the Broncos-Steelers game that turned out to be big. So the Broncos’ preparation, new thinking, and a new twist to an old play were the difference in the game. We are going to see new twists with two staffs that come up with a lot of different ideas on both sides of the ball. I am spending most of my week watching their last game so that when it does happen, I will know why they did a certain thing. That intrigues me more than anything.
The Broncos and Patriots defenses could play much better than we think, because they will be able to stop the bread-and-butter plays from the other team’s offense. There is something to the one less day for the Denver Broncos, traveling, and the Patriots get the extra time and preparation and rest. Also, the Patriots have lost their last two playoff home games. I am not going to under-sell that fact at all. How much do you think that has been talked about in New England between the organization, players and staff? To me, those are big things. Their emotional level has to be incredibly high because of the previous two years, and the fact that all anybody talks about is their bad defense. They don’t even talk about Tom Brady. Then you have the Broncos and Tim Tebow, and we have some storm brewing.
DAN DIERDORF
(On Baltimore): The last several times that Baltimore has been in the playoffs they’ve been eliminated by either Pittsburgh or Indianapolis. They are gone. Baltimore has a confidence that with who remains really sets up well for them. They are the team that can win this game and go into New England and beat the Patriots, if that is what has to be done.
(On Houston): Congratulations to the Texans for making the playoffs for the first time ever and winning a playoff game, but they are in for a rude awakening. It is one thing to beat Cincinnati at home, and quite another to go to Baltimore and play a rested, extremely balanced football team.
(On playing in Baltimore): M&T Stadium in Baltimore is becoming like Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City – an unbelievably loud outdoor stadium. Arrowhead was the only outdoor stadium that I thought could really rival a dome in terms of the sheer ferocity of the crowd with the noise almost becoming a physical thing. But M&T is really joining Arrowhead in that regard.
(On Houston-Baltimore): The quarterbacks are always the starting point in a playoff game like this. Joe Flacco has more playoff starts than T.J. Yates has total starts. That is a big deal and is a huge, huge advantage for Baltimore. T.J. Yates has been impressive. He’s done well. But this is going to be unlike anything he’s ever seen before. He didn’t experience anything at North Carolina that is quite going to prepare him for what he’s about to see Sunday afternoon in Baltimore. Houston has a puncher’s chance because of their ability to run the football and play defense. But running the ball against Cincinnati is different than running the ball against Baltimore in Baltimore. If they’re able to run the ball against Baltimore, they will have a chance.
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AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME #1 – Saturday, Jan. 14
8:00 PM, ET start:
- Denver @ New England — Jim Nantz/Phil Simms
AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME #2 – Sunday, Jan. 15
1:00 PM, ET start:
- Houston @ Baltimore — Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf
That will do it.
