Sunday night’s game was supposed to be Indianapolis at New England. In any other season, that would be a stellar matchup. But with Peyton Manning hurt, the Colts have gone winless and are in the Suck For Luck sweepstakes. So the NFL and NBC flexed Colts-Pats out of primetime. And with a whole bunch of moves effecting three networks, we now have the Detroit-New Orleans game on NBC’s Sunday Night Football in Week 13.
We have NBC’s preview of the game.
LIONS MAKE FIRST NBC “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” APPEARANCE VS. SAINTS AT MERCEDES-BENZ SUPERDOME
COVERAGE BEGINS WITH FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA AT 7 PM ET
NEW YORK – November 30, 2011 – The Detroit Lions (7-4), in search of their first playoff appearance since 1999, make their first NBC Sunday Night Football appearance when they travel to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La., to take on Drew Brees and the NFC South division-leading New Orleans Saints (8-3).
Calling Lions-Saints will be six-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his 26th season as the voice of the NFL’s premier primetime package; 12-time Emmy Award-winner Collinsworth, who won the Emmy for outstanding event analyst in both of his seasons in the Sunday Night Football booth; and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, in her first season on SNF.
Coverage begins Sunday with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET with 22-time Emmy Award-winner Bob Costas hosting the program live from inside Arrowhead Stadium. Costas is joined on site by Michaels and Collinsworth for reaction to the afternoon games.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios and is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com. Alex Flanagan will report from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on the Packers-Giants game.
The NFL flexed into Lions-Saints in place of the originally-scheduled Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots game. The NFL utilizes “flexible scheduling” on Sundays in Weeks 10-15, 17. Flexible scheduling ensures quality matchups in all NFL Sunday time slots in those weeks and give teams a chance to play their way onto primetime and into late-afternoon games.
HARRISON LIONS DT NDAMUKONG SUH’S SUSPENSION: “The suspension was definitely justified. The NFL made the right call. Two games will definitely get his attention. I believe in him and he will come back as a better player and person because of it. When I was first suspended I was devastated because I felt that I was letting my teammates down, as well as the fans. I learned my lesson watching my team play while I was sitting at home. You realize how much you love the game, your teammates, and simply the opportunity to play football. I came back a better player and channeled my aggression in a more controlled way.”
HARRISON ON LIONS DEFENSE: “The Lions strength is their ability to put pressure on the quarterback from both the outside and inside, rushing four instead of blitzing. You must get inside pressure on Drew Brees. But now, with Suh out, that puts more pressure on the other defensive lineman to step up.”
And I’ll post a couple of more press releases before shutting things down for the night.
