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THE NFL ON CBS: WEEK 10 (SUNDAY, NOV. 11) AUDIBLES WITH "NFL ON CBS" ANALYSTS RANDY CROSS AND RICH GANNON

The CBS Television Network continues its 48th year broadcasting the NFL with singleheader coverage of THE NFL ON CBS on Sunday, Nov. 11 (1:00-7:00 PM, ET) beginning with THE NFL TODAY, the Network's one-hour studio show (12:00 NOON-1:00 PM, ET), live from THE NFL TODAY studio in New York City.

 

THE NFL ON CBS lead announce team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms call the Cleveland Browns-Pittsburgh Steelers game live from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa.  Lance Barrow is the coordinating producer and lead game producer and Mike Arnold is the lead game director.

 

Throughout the 2007 season, THE NFL ON CBS will broadcast five-to-six games each week in HDTV, the highest definition television format - 1080i lines of picture resolution - along with 5.1 digital audio.

 

Sean McManus is President, CBS News and Sports.  Tony Petitti is Executive Vice President and Executive Producer, CBS Sports.  McManus and Petitti serve as executive producers of CBS Sports' coverage of THE NFL ON CBS.

 

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RANDY CROSS

(On Cincinnati @ Baltimore):  It's hard to choose between disappointing and very disappointing when you look at the Ravens and the Bengals in 2007. Consistency has been the bane of both these teams' existence all year with all three phases coming up short at one time or another for both teams.  Ray Lewis and the Ravens defense need to be reminded that "great" defenses, which they are only in their minds, hold opponents to field goals instead of touchdowns after turnovers.  Chad Johnson, or "Ocho Shrinko" of late, has gone from tolerable wild child to full-blown question mark and that's without the injuries and such.  Steve McNair aged before our eyes Monday night.  He needs to have a really good game in the worst way this weekend. The Bengals defense has been a nice cure for most of what ails an offense this season...(Mid-Season Musings): Super Bowl XLI ½ winner - Patriots ( the idea is to win the last game of '07 not ALL the games); MVP - Tom BradyBest Free Agent - Randy Moss and Wes Welker, Patriots;  Rookie with the ball of half of 2007 - Adrian Peterson;  Rookie without the ball in the 2007 - Joe Thomas, Browns; Rookie after the ball of 2007 - Amobi Okoye,  Houston; Offensive Line of the First half -three-way tie between Vikings, Patriots and Giants; Most 2008 dollars earned with 2007 performance - Albert Haynesworth, Titans; MIA Award - Dolphins, Rams, Bengals and Bears; Agent of the First half - whoever convinced Miami that Joey Porter was worth that kind of money.

 

Note for scheduling purposes: the real date of Super Bowl XLII is January 20th.  The confusion may come because it is also being referred to as the "AFC Championship Game."  Go figure.

 

RICH GANNON

(On Jacksonville): One of the problems that they're having right now is that they're not getting any production from the quarterback.  Hopefully David Garrard will be able to come back and play this week.  He was playing very, very well prior to going down with the ankle injury.  Quinn Gray has struggled.  But the good news is that they have two of the better running backs in the game in Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew.  That's what they want to do - run the football and control the clock.  On the flip side, the defense was gutted last week by New Orleans and Drew Brees.  They didn't get pressure on the quarterback and their defensive line, the linebackers and the secondary weren't tied in.  Communication wasn't good.  There were too many receivers running free through the secondary.  That is something I'm sure they will get straightened out.  They have to contain Vince Young, keep him in the pocket and stop the runIf they can do those things, they'll have a chance...(On Tennessee): Tennessee is having some of the same problems offensively as Jacksonville.  Vince Young is a great athlete.  He's a winner.  They've won with him.  However, he's really struggling with his passing game.  His accuracy is not where it needs to be.  The receivers are almost non-existent in the passing game.  What they want to do, much like Jacksonville, is run LenDale White early and often.  They want to keep feeding him the ball.  That is becoming increasingly difficult each week when the defenses are stacking eight and nine men at the line of scrimmage.  They're going to have to find a way against a pretty good Jacksonville defense to make some plays through the air.  And that is something they have not done.  On the flip side, Tennessee's defense is No. 2 in the NFL right now.  They're only giving up 66 yards/game on the ground.  They are very stingy.  Their two best players on defense are Albert Haynesworth, who is having his best season ever, and Kyle Vanden Bosch.  They're on the same side and are creating havoc for offensive lines around the league.  Jacksonville is going to have to find a way to slow those guys down and neutralize them if they are going to have any chance.

 

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            Following are THE NFL ON CBS assignments for Week 10, Week 11 and Week 12 (subject to change).

  

WEEK 10 - Nov. 11

 

GAME                                    PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

1:00 PM, ET starts:

·Denver @ Kansas City*          Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf                   Mark Wolff/Bob Fishman

·Jacksonville @ Tennessee*      Kevin Harlan/Rich Gannon                    Jim Rikhoff/Bryan Lilley           

·Buffalo @ Miami*                   Gus Johnson/Steve Tasker                    Victor Frank/Chris Svendsen

·Cleveland @ Pittsburgh*         Jim Nantz/Phil Simms                Lance Barrow/Mike Arnold

 

4:05 PM, ET starts:

·Cincinnati @ Baltimore*          Dick Enberg/Randy Cross                    Ken Mack/Suzanne Smith

 

 

 

WEEK 11 - Nov. 18

 

GAME                                    PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

1:00 PM, ET starts:

·Cleveland @ Baltimore*          Ian Eagle/Solomon Wilcots                   Bob Dekas/Cathy Barreto       

·Kansas City @ Indianapolis*   Gus Johnson/Steve Tasker                    Victor Frank/Mark Grant

·Oakland @ Minnesota*           Dick Enberg/Randy Cross                    Bob Mansbach/Suzanne Smith

·Miami @ Philadelphia*            Kevin Harlan/Rich Gannon                    Jim Rikhoff/Bryan Lilley

·San Diego @ Jacksonville*      Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf                   Mark Wolff/Bob Fishman

 

4:05 PM, ET starts:

·Pittsburgh @ N.Y. Jets*          Jim Nantz/Phil Simms                Lance Barrow/Mike Arnold

 

 

WEEK 12 - Nov. 22 (Thanksgiving Day)

 

GAME                                    PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

4:00 PM, ET starts:

·N.Y. Jets @ Dallas*                Jim Nantz/Phil Simms                Lance Barrow/Mike Arnold

 

WEEK 12 - Nov. 25 - DOUBLEHEADER

  

GAME                                    PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

1:00 PM, ET starts:

·Tennessee @ Cincinnati                       TBD                                                     TBD

·Houston @ Cleveland             

·Buffalo @ Jacksonville

·Oakland @ Kansas City         

·Denver @ Chicago

 

4:15 PM, ET starts:

·Baltimore @ San Diego

 

 

* Games broadcast in HDTV