The CBS Television Network continues its 51^st year broadcasting the NFL with coverage of THE NFL ON CBS on Sunday, Sept. 26 (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 action from the Indianapolis Colts-Denver Broncos game live from INVESCO Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo.  Lance Barrow is the coordinating producer and lead game producer and Mike Arnold is the lead game director.

 

Throughout the 2010 season, THE NFL ON CBS will broadcast all of its 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, and serves as executive producer of CBS Sports' coverage of THE NFL ON CBS.  Harold Bryant is Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

 

* * * * *

  

PHIL SIMMS

(On Denver Offense and Demaryius Thomas):  It is extremely evident that as soon as you watch Demaryius Thomas on the field for a few plays that he's different. There is no doubt he has the talent of a number one pick in the NFL draft and it looks like they're using him very well. Denver's offense looks like it has advanced over last year, which we would expect because it's the second year for Coach Josh McDaniels. There is a lot of young talent. There's no question the Denver offense will be pretty productive all year. The wide receiving corps has everything - size, speed, quickness.  It's a great balance, which a lot of NFL teams don't have. They have the great size receiver and speed in Thomas, and the great little speedy, crafty receiver in Eddie Royal.  And, they have a couple of excellent route runners, which makes an excellent, complete wide-receiver unit.

 

(On Indianapolis): Impressive, impressive, impressive. The run game was very good against the Giants because of what the Giants decided to do. What that does for a football team is give you confidence in your run game and it also lets your linemen be aggressive so they're not always retreating and just blocking for Peyton Manning. Hey this past week they got to actually fire out and hit people, which all offensive linemen like doing.  Indianapolis's offense is, by NFL standards, spectacular in just the execution and the simple thought processes that they use. It's not about we're smarter and more clever than you. It's that they have done these plays so many times that they can execute them better than opponents can execute on defense. And on the defensive side, Indianapolis is still fast. They've built this team around a couple things that has never changed since Peyton has been there: Peyton Manning; and then speed on defense and pass rush. They have, as a pair, without a doubt the two fastest defensive ends in the NFL. 

 

(On Indianapolis-Denver): Indianapolis is away from the Dome and on natural grass so that always gives the opponent a better chance when you're playing the Colts. When you're at your place and you're on natural grass you can do more of what you do on the offensive side. You don't have to quite make as many adjustments as you would if you went to their place and played....Every time you watch an Indianapolis game you want to see what the opponents have decided to do against Peyton Manning. Do they say, go ahead and beat us with the run if you can; or do you try and play it straight up and let them beat you with the pass?  I'm always anxious to see the defensive plan. For example, the Jets decide to blitz and that didn't work. The Giants decided to just play all coverage and dare them to run, and that didn't work. So, let's see what Denver has in store for them.

  

  

DAN DIERDORF

(On both Tennessee and the Giants coming off Week 2 losses): They both lost, but Tennessee, getting beat 19-11, probably feels a little bit better about themselves than the Giants do.  Losing is losing but to get it handed to you the way the Giants did is kind of sobering.

 

(On New York Giants): This is a fascinating game for the New York Giants.  I know it's only the third game of the year, and maybe there will be a bigger fork in the road later in the season, but they are at a fork in the road right now.  It may not be the biggest one they see this year, but it's certainly the first fork.  How they navigate this thing is going to tell us something about this team.  This is a team that closed out last season losing eight of 11 games.  Can they come back?  That is where the Giants are right now.  They have to go on a run and show the ability to bounce back from last week.  You would think they could, but the questions remain after how they finished last year.

 

(On Giants' Antrel Rolle): I've seen players beef before about things they didn't like but he might be the first one I've heard go public complaining about what time they got to the stadium on gameday.  Watch out if his steak is ever medium-well when it's supposed to be medium-rare in the pre-game meal.  There will be hell to pay there.

 

(On familiarity between coaches Jeff Fisher and Tom Coughlin): It's two guys that are very familiar with each other; two guys that are strong believers in the physicality of the game.  They are not finesse guys - never have been and never will be.

 

 

(On Giants' Keith Bulluck playing against his former team): It's always awkward when someone plays for a franchise for 10 years and then ends up moving.  But in this day and age, it's a very small minority of players that are going to play their whole careers for one club.  You reach a point where, from a dollars and cents standpoint where the business side comes into play, you're either going to get released, or your contract is going to be up and they're not going to renew it, which was the case with Bulluck.  It's just going to happen.  It's painful and obviously he was hurt by it.  But you can't love a player more than Jeff Fisher loved Keith Bulluck.  When all his former teammates see him before and after the game, there will be more than a few hugs.

 

 

STEVE TASKER

(On Pittsburgh's quarterback situation): Byron Leftwich has got more experience in the offense and has been taking more reps. But if you're not healthy, particularly against a defense that has a front like Tampa Bay, you're asking for trouble. So Charlie Batch is the guy they're going to have to lean towards unless something drastically changes during the week.

 

 

(On how Tampa Bay will handle Pittsburgh's defense): Troy Polamalu being healthy has really changed things in Pittsburgh.  It has allowed them to do a lot more things up front. Not only can you take more chances because of his ability to be in the back end to cover up some things, it gives them more opportunity to attack. It's going to fall to Josh Freeman to play as well as he did in the first half of the Carolina game a week ago. He's going to have to make some plays outside of the pocket. He's going to have to use his legs not only to give himself more time to throw the football but also to make some first downs and convert. There isn't any question the Pittsburgh defense is going to put some pressure on Josh Freeman. The question is what will Tampa Bay do offensively to counteract?  Are they going to use screens and draws?  Are they going to move Freeman around deliberately or just wait for him to make a play?  Those are some questions that have to be answered. Given what Josh Freeman did last week, Tampa Bay is going to have some idea of how to do it. It's going to be interesting to see how they will handle Pittsburgh's pressure up front.

 

(On Pittsburgh vs. Tampa Bay): Pittsburgh is a more proven club. Their switch at quarterback leaves a big question, but I still give the nod to them until Tampa Bay really proves that they are a consistent team. Pittsburgh's defense is almost a constant. Tampa Bay will not face a team the first month of the season as good as this one. I tip the scales towards Pittsburgh just because of their defense.

 

* * * * *

 

Following are THE NFL ON CBS assignments for Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5 (subject to change).

  

  

 

  

  

WEEK 3 - Sept. 26 - CBS DOUBLEHEADER

 

GAME                                    PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

1:00 PM, ET starts:              

·Tennessee @ N.Y. Giants       Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf                   Mark Wolff/Bob Fishman

·Cincinnati @ Carolina  Bill Macatee/Rich Gannon                     Bob Dekas/Andy Goldberg

·Pittsburgh @ Tampa Bay         Gus Johnson/Steve Tasker                    Victor Frank/Mark Grant

·Buffalo @ New England          Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots Jim Rikhoff/Bryan Lilley

·Cleveland @ Baltimore            Don Criqui/Steve Beuerlein                   Ross Schneiderman/Chris Svendsen

 

4:15 PM, ET starts:

·Indianapolis @ Denver            Jim Nantz/Phil Simms                Lance Barrow/Mike Arnold

·Oakland @ Arizona                 Spero Dedes/Randy Cross                   Ken Mack/Jim Cornell

·San Diego @ Seattle              Ian Eagle/Dan Fouts                             Bob Mansbach/Suzanne Smith

 

WEEK 4 - Oct. 3

 

GAME                                    PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

1:00 PM, ET starts:

·N.Y. Jets @ Buffalo                Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf                   Mark Wolff/Bob Fishman

·Cincinnati @ Cleveland            Bill Macatee/Rich Gannon                     Bob Dekas/Andy Goldberg     

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

·Denver @ Tennessee               Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots Jim Rikhoff/Bryan Lilley

 

4:00 PM, ET starts:

·Indianapolis @ Jacksonville     Ian Eagle/ Dan Fouts                            Bob Mansbach/Suzanne Smith

·Houston @ Oakland                Gus Johnson/Steve Tasker                    Victor Frank/Mark Grant

 

WEEK 5 - Oct. 10 - CBS DOUBLEHEADER

 

GAME                                    PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

1:00 PM, ET starts:              

·Jacksonville @ Buffalo Gus Johnson/Steve Tasker                    Victor Frank/Mark Grant

·Denver @ Baltimore  Ian Eagle/Dan Fouts                               Bob Mansbach/Suzanne Smith

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

 

4:15 PM, ET starts:

·Tennessee @ Dallas                Jim Nantz/Phil Simms                Lance Barrow/Mike Arnold

·San Diego @ Oakland             Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots Jim Rikhoff/Bryan Lilley

 

* * * * *

 

CBS Sports Contacts: 

LeslieAnne Wade         212/975-5171              lwade@cbs.com

Robin Brendle              212/975-1533              rlbrendle@cbs.com

Jerry Caraccioli            212/975-7466              gwcaraccioli@cbs.com