This being the final year of the NFL TV contract before the new one kicks in before the next season, NBC will air its final Wild Card Saturday doubleheader. NBC has two good games on Saturday, Kansas City at Indianapolis in the 4:30 p.m. ET slot followed by New Orleans at Philadelphia in the 8 p.m. ET window.
Dan Hicks, Mike Mayock and Alex Flanagan will be in the climate-controlled Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy for Chiefs-Colts.
Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya call the nightcap from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Bob Costas will be in Philly along with Hines Ward to host the day’s proceedings. Dan Patrick will be in New York and he’ll be joined by Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison along with insiders Peter King and Mike Florio and Scott Pioli.
Next year, NBC’s two playoff games will be spread into the Wild Card and Divisional rounds. NBC could get an extra playoff game down the road, but we’ll get into that at the appropriate time.
Here’s the preview from NBC.
NFL WILD CARD SATURDAY DOUBLEHEADER ON NBC FEATURES CHIEFS–COLTS AND SAINTS–EAGLES
Coverage Begins with Football Night In America at 4 p.m. ET
Chiefs – Colts at 4:30 p.m. ET
Saints – Eagles at 8 p.m. ET
Former New Orleans DB Steve Gleason To Serve as Saints-Eagles Social Media Analyst & Will Live Tweet Using Eye-Tracking Technology
NBC Sports Live Extra to Live Stream Chiefs – Colts and Saints – EaglesStamford, Conn. – December 31, 2013 – NBC Sports will kick off its coverage of the 2013 NFL playoffs with a Wild Card doubleheader on Saturday featuring the Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) – Indianapolis Colts (11-5) at 4:30 p.m. ET, and the New Orleans Saints (11-5) – Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) at 8 p.m. ET. Both games will also be live streamed online via NBC Sports Live Extra. NBC and NBC Sports Live Extra’s NFL Wild Card coverage on Saturday begins at 4 p.m. ET with a special 30-minute edition of Football Night In America.
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 Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. Costas will be joined on-site by two time Super Bowl winner and Super Bowl XL MVP 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 Harrison, Peter 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.
In the early game, Andrew Luck and the Colts host Alex Smith and the Chiefs at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. The Colts enter the playoffs on a three-game win streak, having recently beat the Chiefs in Week 16 by a score of 23-7. The Chiefs finished the regular season with an overtime loss on the road against the Chargers this past Sunday, but Kansas City still holds the best record on the road in the NFL this season (6-2). Veteran play-by-play announcer Dan Hicks will be in the booth, joined by analyst Mike Mayock and reporter Alex Flanagan.
In the late game, Nick Foles and the Eagles will host Drew Brees and the Saints at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. The Eagles made it into the playoffs after a thrilling victory on the road this past Sunday in a win-or-go-home contest against the Cowboys. The Saints have a better overall record than the Eagles this season, and are coming off a 42-17 win at home against the Buccaneers, but are 3-5 on the road in 2013.
Coverage of Saints-Eagles will begin at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Calling Saints-Eagles is seven-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play), who will be joined by 14-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth, and Emmy Award-winning sideline reporter Michele Tafoya.
NBC Sports’ coverage of the AFC Wild Card game at 4:30 p.m. ET will be led by Notre Dame on NBC and Emmy Award-winning coordinating producer Rob Hyland and director Pierre Moossa. Coverage of the NFC Wild Card game at 8 p.m. ET will be led by Sunday Night Football and Emmy Award-winning coordinating producer Fred Gaudelli and Emmy Award-winning director Drew Esocoff. Sunday Night Football has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series for five consecutive years. In addition, NBC’s Sunday Night Football on-air and production team have a combined 40 Emmy Awards.
CHIEFS – COLTS PREVIEW
“Kansas City showed great heart against the Chargers to play the way that they did, but Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts right now have been playing as well as anybody. Going into Kansas City, I know how tough that is to try and go in there and get a win. The fact that the Colts have that one under their belt is going to really way in their favor.” – Cris Collinsworth
“Andy Reid has got to figure out a way to put pressure on Andrew Luck. Luck is going to be the offense. Kansas City’s got to get pressure to stop them. I like Indy at home. I think Luck has a field day.” – Tony Dungy
“If you look at Indianapolis, they’re an OK team…But I truly believe that Indy, with that previous win (against Kansas City), it actually hurt them because now Kansas City is very familiar with them. They (Kansas City) are going to come in and they’re going to beat them.” – Rodney Harrison
EAGLES – SAINTS PREVIEW
“I can’t wait to watch the New Orleans Saints against the Philadelphia Eagles. Rob Ryan is one of those defensive coordinators that will do anything. Chip Kelly calling the plays for the Philadelphia Eagles is one of those guys that will do anything. We’re going to get a whole lot of ‘we’ll do anything’ calls in that game and it will be exciting as anything we have seen all year.” – Cris Collinsworth on Saints – Eagles
“Those Philly fans…they can’t wait, they hope it snows so they can throw snowballs at Drew Brees and that dome offense. How is New Orleans going to function on the road in Philadelphia? I think it’s going to be tough for New Orleans. A lot of points, but Philly outscores them.” – Tony Dungy
“I think it’s something mental. I just believe that they don’t believe they can win on the road, like you said, in those conditions, snowballs, or whatever the conditions are…I think it’s over. That (Eagles) defense is a lot better than we give credit to.” – Rodney Harrison
Click here for video of Dan Patrick, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison previewing NBC’s wild card matchups that will feature the Chiefs – Colts and Saints – Eagles. http://www.nbcsports.com/football/nfl/previewing-wild-card-sat-nbc
NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA
For the second consecutive season, both Wild Card Saturday games on NBC will be streamed live online. NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops and tablets, will stream both games. The video stream will come directly from NBC’s broadcast of Chiefs – Colts and Saints – Eagles, 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 Football Night In America team 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.
In addition to NBC’s coverage of the two Wild Card games 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.
DIGITAL AND SOCIAL COVERAGE
NBC Sports Group is utilizing its wide array of digital and social assets to provide fans with more behind-the-scenes content than ever before. NBC Sports Group’s NFL coverage this weekend will include continued comprehensive coverage via NBC Sports Group’s social media channels.
On Saturday @SNFonNBC will promote a guest player who will live tweet during the Saints –Eagles game on NBC. Steve Gleason @TeamGleason, the former Saints defensive back and special teams player who is currently battling Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), will serve as the guest player. Gleason memorably blocked a punt early in the Saints emotional first game back at the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina and continues to inspire through Team Gleason. Gleason tweets with his eyes, using eye-tracking technology to type.
That is all.
