Let’s do our previews from the NFL TV partners for the upcoming week in The League Where They Play for Pay. We’ll begin with the NFL on CBS which has regional action this Sunday. All of its six games on Sunday will be aired in the early 1 p.m. ET window.
We have what lead announce team Jim Nantz and Phil Simms plus NFL Today analysts Bill Cowher and Bill Cowher along with new analyst Amy Trask from That Other Pregame Show said earlier this week during a media conference call previewing the new season.
THE NFL ON CBS: WEEK 1 (SUNDAY, SEPT. 8)
AUDIBLES WITH “NFL ON CBS” LEAD ANNOUNCE TEAM JIM NANTZ AND PHIL SIMMS; “THE NFL TODAY’s” BILL COWHER AND BOOMER ESIASON; AND “THAT OTHER PREGAME SHOW’s” AMY TRASK
The CBS Television Network begins its 54th year broadcasting the NFL with regional coverage as THE NFL ON CBS kicks off its 2013 NFL season broadcast schedule on Sunday, Sept. 8 (1:00-4:00 PM, ET) beginning with THE NFL TODAY, the Network’s one-hour studio show (12:00 NOON-1:00 PM, ET), and THAT OTHER PREGAME SHOW on CBS Sports Network (9:00 AM-1:00 PM, ET) 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 from the Cincinnati Bengals-Chicago Bears game live from Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill. Lance Barrow is the coordinating producer and lead game producer and Mike Arnold is the lead game director.
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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EXCERPTS FROM “THE NFL ON CBS” CONFERENCE CALL ON SEPT. 3
SEAN McMANUS, Chairman, CBS Sports and Executive Producer, THE NFL ON CBS
THAT OTHER PREGAME SHOW is going to be a different kind of pregame show…It’s going to be very freewheeling and very loose. I’m looking forward, since it is being shot in the studio right next to the main studio where THE NFL TODAY is being produced, to having Boomer, Coach Cowher, JB, Shannon and Dan Marino occasionally walking across to give their perspective on what is happening in the League and their perspective on anything they want to. So we’re looking forward to a lot of activity at CBS on a lot of different platforms this year. I also want to welcome Amy. Of all of us involved in televising the NFL, we’ve worked with Amy a lot during her tenure with the Oakland Raiders. I’m pleased to welcome Amy to give her perspective, which I think is going to be unique to have someone who has seen from the inside the workings of the team for so long. She will give her perspective that probably hasn’t been given on a lot of pregame shows in the past.
(On importance of home-field advantage)
AMY TRASK: I’m a huge, huge believer in the value of home-field advantage. I don’t think home-field advantage can be overstated enough. In general, if a team is really, really, really struggling, home-field advantage may not be enough to push it over the edge. But home-field advantage, on the field, it’s of pivotal importance. And I always viewed it as this, home-field advantage matters. Home-field advantage in a night game matters even more. Home-field advantage in a home opener matters even more. And home-field advantage in a rivalry or a revenge-type game matters even more…But I do think it bears mentioning that Baltimore having to go in to Denver this year, as opposed to hosting as it normally would under these circumstances is, in my view, a tremendous, tremendous advantage on-field for the Denver Broncos. If I were in the Baltimore organization, or when I was with Oakland, if we were in a similar situation I would be beside myself over losing that home-field advantage. All of that said, from an economic standpoint it’s going to help you on the margins. And it’s going to help you in the following regard; even a team that is struggling with sellouts is going to be able to sell out a very, very exciting opponent like that sort of a game for home-field. It does help you from a home-field advantage perspective with an exciting game with your suite sales and some merchandise sales. Certainly, even if it’s not the opening game, home-field advantage helps from an economic stand point. And of course, you don’t have all the travel-related costs.
(On Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler)
BILL COWHER: One of the elements of this that cannot be overlooked is the fact that you have a quarterback in Jay Cutler that is going into the final year of his contract…when a head coach or a quarterback goes into the final year of their contract it’s a story line. It was last year with Joe Flacco and we know how that unfolded. We’ve all seen Jay Cutler at times, and his mannerisms, and you just wonder if they (Chicago) don’t get off to a good start, how much of that will play into it. How they deal with it as the season unfolds? And what kind of pressure goes with that element of where he is? This is very much a career defining year for him. How he handles the questions and his performance week-in and week-out will be something to watch.
BOOMER ESIASON: Jay Cutler has been one of the more frustrating players over the last four years. Yet again, another offensive coordinator, a coach who has been fired, another coach hired and of course the GM change over there. There has not been a lot of consistency in his career path there in Chicago. I kind of get some of the struggles he has had. But unfortunately in this league it is a quarterback-driven league right now, so I guess maybe he’s in the top 15. But Chicago is a mid- tier team in the NFC. The NFC is loaded. If things go right for them it means they have go to stay healthy and somehow they have to beat Green Bay and that’s not something they have been able to do with consistency since Jay’s got there. So I still think this is a second-rung team in the NFC. And this is a career defining year for Jay Cutler, as coach said.
(On Indianapolis and a stable quarterback situation)
COWHER: They have stability there (at quarterback). I love where they’re at. I think they have a quarterback that they feel really good about. They are going to challenge the Houston Texans. It’s a two team race in that division. Indianapolis is kind of flying under the radar a little bit. All these quarterbacks we were talking about last year with Kaepernick, Russell Wilson and RGIII, Andrew Luck quietly had one of the better years. You talk about comebacks at the end of the game? This guy led all the quarterbacks. He did it in the fourth quarter. He was as impressive as any young quarterback. I like the Colts.
PHIL SIMMS: When you look at Andrew Luck, what do they have going for them? Great faith in their quarterback. They made the right decisions in the front office. They did everything for Andrew Luck to have success and to be a star. And he is not going to let them down. Nobody (in that lockerroom) walks around talking about their quarterback because they know they have the man. That is a great security blanket for a football team.
(On expectations for Cincinnati)
SIMMS: When you look at the playoffs last year, the one common theme in the playoffs that we saw from all the good teams was that there were big plays on offense. And those big plays weren’t all designed. It wasn’t all about the talented receivers. Most of the time it was about the talent of the arm of the quarterback. The league still comes down to making big-time throws. You have to be able to hit the three-run homer. That’s it…Who did it better than the Baltimore Ravens last year? Every playoff game you saw Joe Flacco firing a pass down the field, multiple times a game. If I had to pick one thing, that’s the big missing ingredient for the Bengals. We’ll see this year if they have it in their offense now.
COWHER: They are playing in the toughest division in football with Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cleveland, which will be much improved. It’s not fair to say that everything rides on Andy Dalton, but there’s no question to go deep in the playoffs, at some point, that quarterback has to be a guy that can win you a game.
BOOMER: This is a focused and serious team this year on “Hard Knocks.” This is a team that you can see has expectations…Andy Dalton has the mental make-up, the physical tools to get it done…If the Bengals are to be taken seriously, which I think we all feel they are, he definitely has to go to the next level. He has to be a difference-maker if they want to make it to the Super Bowl.
(On Jets starting Geno Smith in Week 1)
BOOMER: They will certainly tailor it (game plan) to Geno’s strengths and that is down-the-field throws. He has a tremendous arm. He’s smooth. But the real question remains is whether he is legitimately ready to handle a West Coast offense. Given his performance against the Giants, I think it is pot luck at this point. And I don’t suspect we’re going to get a huge game out of him.
And we take a look at what you’ll see on the first-ever That Other Pregame Show and of course, the NFL Today.
“THE NFL TODAY” FEATURES DISCUSSIONS ON CHICAGO BEARS, READ OPTION AND WIDE OPEN AFC FOR WEEK 1 OF “THE NFL TODAY” ON SUNDAY, SEPT. 8
“THAT OTHER PREGAME SHOW” DEBUTS ON CBS SPORTS NETWORK
THE NFL ON CBS, broadcasting its 54th year of the NFL, kicks off its 2013 NFL season on Sunday, Sept. 8 (1:00-4:00 PM, ET) beginning with THE NFL TODAY (12:00 Noon-1:00 PM, ET) and THAT OTHER PREGAME SHOW on CBS Sports Network (9:00 AM-1:00 PM, ET) 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.
THE NFL TODAY features in-depth discussions on the Chicago Bears and their quarterback situation with Jay Cutler in the last year of his contract and the scrutiny he has received in past years; what kind of relationship he has with new head coach Marc Trestman, and the new coach’s impact and emphasis on the Bears’ offense. Other topics to be discussed include the wide open AFC, and the New England Patriots. Will they be able to stay on the winning course after a turbulent off-season? Coach Cowher breaks down how to defend the read-option offense. And, all make their Super Bowl predictions.
Drew Kaliski is producer and Bob Matina is director of THE NFL TODAY.
THAT OTHER PREGAME SHOW (TOPS), a new weekly Sunday football studio program debuts by breaking from the familiar pregame show format, presenting a unique fan-focused take on all the week’s NFL and college action, headlines and hot-button issues, giving viewers all the latest information as it happens. “TOPS” will be 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 the Executive Producer for THE NFL ON CBS. David Berson is President, CBS Sports. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.
And that will do it.
