Blogcasting the National Football League, Blogcasting the NFL
It’s preseason with a tinge of the playoffs. That will be one of the highlights of a 13-game national television preseason schedule that was announced today by the NFL, along with the complete list of 2008 preseason matchups. All 12 of the 2007 NFL playoff teams will be featured in the national TV games.
It all starts in Canton, OH — site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On Sunday night, August 3 on NBC (8:00 PM ET), the Indianapolis Colts will take on the Washington Redskins in the annual Pro Football Hall …read more

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
Mike Mayock watches college football’s best players. All year. That’s all he does. I only pick up on who’s good in college football from time-to-time, becoming especially attentive around Combine time, of course. Mike and I joked about his job a couple years ago during an interview because he thought it was “pretty sad” to be so devoted to this cause. Well, it’s turned into a nice career for the NFL Network Draft guru. He now rivals ESPN’s Mel Kiper as the foremost authority on the NFL Draft. Anyway, Mike released his Top …read more

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
History was made last night as the New England Patriots became the first team in NFL history to complete a 16-0 regular season with a 38-35 victory over the New York Giants on NFL Network’s Saturday Night Football telecast. The telecast was also the first in league history to air on three networks nationally with simulcasts on CBS and NBC and local over-the-air partners WWOR in New York, WCVB in Boston and WMUR in Manchester.
Based on fast national ratings, an average of 34.5 million viewers tuned into the game, ranking it as the …read more

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
The NFL has arranged with broadcast television partners CBS and NBC for an unprecedented three-way national simulcast of the NFL Network telecast of Saturday night’s New England Patriots at New York Giants game when the Patriots will try to become the first NFL team to go 16-0 in a regular season. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said:
“We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans. What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC …read more

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
Remember this picture? I do. I was a little over one month old when it was taken. If you look at the bottom left you’ll see Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr (#15) doing a face plant across the goal line to score the winning touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys. It brought the Packers their third consecutive NFL championship. Many remember it as the “Ice Bowl” because of the frigid temperatures that day in Wisconsin.
These two teams will meet again this evening in much milder conditions (game time temp is expected to …read more

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
Today’s Thanksgiving Day games set the stage for next week’s (Thursday) prime time matchup of 10-1 teams as the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions 37-26 and the Dallas Cowboys beat the N.Y. Jets 34-3. There was really no mistaking who the better teams were today. Brett Favre continued his MVP-type season setting a Green Bay record with 20 consecutive completions and finishing with a season-high 381 yards and three touchdowns in a road win over suddenly slumping Detroit. As for the Cowboys, they are 10-1 for the first time in team …read more

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
Thanksgiving is always a great day. The family is together. The food is great. And, invariably, so is the football. The NFL will present fans with a Thanksgiving tripleheader today as traditional competitors Detroit and Dallas host games during the day and the NFL Network kicks off the first of its eight primetime games this season with a nightcap featuring the Indianapolis Colts and Atlanta Falcons.
Some of the most memorable NFL games in history have been played on Thanksgiving Day – the “Clint Longley” game; the Cowboys-Dolphins “snow” game; Barry Sanders running for …read more