The CBS Television Network continues its 48^th year broadcasting the NFL with doubleheader coverage of THE NFL ON CBS on Sunday, Dec. 23 (1:00-7:00 PM, ET) beginning with THE NFL TODAY, the Network's 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 Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots game, live from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.  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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PHIL SIMMS

(On Miami-New England): For the Dolphins I look at it this way: What state of mind will they be in? Will there be a sense of relief and a let-down because they won the game or does that give them energy and make them play better because they finally won a game?  The psychological and emotional part of NFL football is a big factor with the Dolphins this week.  I talked with a lot of NFL players and coaches and it was truly universal. Everyone was hoping for them to win because anyone that has ever been involved in professional football understood what a burden and what a mark it is to have on you for the rest of your life - to be part of a team that never wins a game.  Everyone I spoke to Sunday night just kept saying good for the Dolphins.  And to see a team celebrate and act the way they did after that victory - well it was emotional just watching it because I know how much it meant to them...For the New England Patriots, there are a lot of ways to look at it.  It is amazing - when you are on top people try to pick you apart and if you don't win with style and convincingly people try to find the way for you to lose a game.  The Patriots have shown that they are resilient and once again this past week, with really bad elements, they found another way to win.  Probably the most important thing is that the Patriots have many ways to win and that is why they are undefeated.  They can win with defense.  They can win with somebody intercepting a pass.  They can win with a sack.  On offense it is Randy Moss-and-Tom Brady or Wes Welker-and-Tom Brady, and this past week it was Laurence Maroney and the offensive line.  That is when you get greatness. They just have more avenues to win games right now than anybody else.  Also, an overlooked fact is the Patriots management of games.  It is a phrase that is thrown out there a lot and everybody says what do you mean? It was bad weather in New England so they played field position and the play calling gave respect to the conditions that were out there. The quarterback, Tom Brady, didn't have a very good game, but that depends on how you judge it.  I thought his throwing of the football was always extremely careful.  He always erred on the side of safety.  He probably missed some completions because of it and threw one interception, but it never put his team in tremendous trouble.  That is just another factor to winning. Not only having talent, but also understanding the dynamics of games: how they change from week-to-week, and being able to adjust to them mentally.  I thought the Patriots did that extremely well last week.  And of course, it is something I have noticed about them for many, many years throughout their success.

DAN DIERDORF

(On Cleveland-Cincinnati): If Cleveland wins, they're in.  Those are the scenarios as a player and as a coach that you like because it's under your own control.  Not only is this game important for the Cleveland Browns because of that, it is also important because it's the battle for Ohio.  There are always hard feelings between Cincinnati and Cleveland.  So, Cleveland knows that if they win they're in, and Cincinnati knows they have a chance to be the spoiler.  That is always a motivation as well...(On Cleveland's coach Romeo Crennel): It's been fun to see Romeo Crennel finally get results from the plan that he's had in effect for the past couple of years.  This is a guy at the beginning of the season that was on the ropes.  He was being heavily criticized in Cleveland, now all of a sudden his team is the talk of the town and he's a good guy again...(On Cleveland): Cleveland is not a great defensive football team.  They give up 25 points a game.  But their offense has been carrying them along.  They do enough to scratch out wins.  They have a nice combination of receivers and running backs, and their offensive line has been nothing short of spectacular...(On Cleveland Offensive Lineman Joe Thomas): When you look back at the 2007 draft, there won't be many teams that hit a home run farther than the Browns when they drafted Joe Thomas to fill their position at left tackle.  He has been spectacular.  To walk into that position as a rookie and play the way he's played, he should be a candidate for Rookie of the Year.  An offensive lineman is never going to win it, but he is worthy...(On Cleveland's offensive emergence): Who would have thought at the beginning of the season, going into this game in Week 16, who would have the more spectacular passing game - the Cleveland Browns or the Cincinnati Bengals?  The fact is that the Cleveland Browns, with the emergence of Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow and of course, Derek Anderson, who came out of nowhere, are overshadowing Carson Palmer, T.J. Houshmanzadeh and Chad Johnson...(On Cincinnati):  As the last couple of games play out, now that they are officially out of it, it's going to be very interesting to see how these guys handle it.  Do they play like professionals?  Do they play with pride?  Do they play together?  Or do they start to unravel?  That's what everyone is going to be looking at with Marvin Lewis and this Bengals team.  Any time a team fails to play up to their expectations, it's a story going down the stretch with the last couple of games of the year to see if they're able to keep it together. 

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            Following are THE NFL ON CBS assignments for Week 16 and Week 17 (subject to change).

WEEK 16 - Dec. 23 - DOUBLEHEADER

GAME                                    PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

1:00 PM, ET starts:

·Cleveland @ Cincinnati*          Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf                   Mark Wolff/Bob Fishman

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

·Houston @ Indianapolis*         Kevin Harlan/Rich Gannon                    Jim Rikhoff/Bryan Lilley

·Oakland @ Jacksonville          Ian Eagle/Solomon Wilcots                   Ken Mack/Andy Goldberg

4:15 PM, ET starts:

·Miami @ New England*         Jim Nantz/Phil Simms                Lance Barrow/Mike Arnold     

·N.Y. Jets @ Tennessee*         Dick Enberg/Randy Cross                    Bob Mansbach/Jim Cornell

·Baltimore @ Seattle                 Bill Macatee/Steve Beuerlein                 Ross Schneiderman/Jim Cornell

WEEK 17 - Dec. 30 - DOUBLEHEADER

GAME                                    PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

1:00 PM, ET starts:

·Jacksonville @ Houston

·Tennessee @ Indianapolis

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

·Buffalo @ Philadelphia

·Pittsburgh @ Baltimore           

4:15 PM, ET starts:

·San Diego @ Oakland

·Kansas City @ N.Y. Jets        Ian Eagle/Solomon Wilcots                   Ken Mack/Andy Goldberg

* Games broadcast in HDTV