Sunday Night Football, television's No. 1 Primetime program, kicks off the NFL's 2014 preseason schedule with the NFL/Hall of Fame Game this Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, as two-time Super Bowl-winning QB Eli Manning and the New York Giants face 2014 fourth-overall pick WR Sammy Watkins and the Buffalo Bills.
Calling Bills-Giants from Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio, is seven-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his 29th season as
The Voice of the NFL's premier
Primetime package; 15-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth, who has won the Emmy for Outstanding Event Analyst in each of his five seasons in the
Sunday Night Football booth; and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who won her second Emmy for Outstanding Sports Reporter for her work during the 2013 SNF season. Last summer at the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Gold Jacket Dinner, Michaels was honored with the Pete Rozelle Radio & Television Award for "long-time exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football."
Sunday night's telecast will also feature live interviews with members of the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of 2014, including DE Michael Strahan, who spent his entire 15-year NFL career with the Giants, and WR Andre Reed, who played 15 of his 16 NFL seasons with the Bills. The NFL Hall of Fame's Class of 2014 also includes LB Derrick Brooks, P Ray Guy, DE Claude Humphrey, T Walter Jones, and DB Aeneas Williams.
NBC's second preseason game will air on Sunday, Aug. 24 also at 8 p.m. ET and features Andy Dalton and the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals, against Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals from University of Phoenix Stadium, the site of
Super Bowl XLIX, which will be broadcast on
NBC on Sunday, Feb. 1.
NBC Sports Live
Extra will live stream the NFL/Hall of Fame Game to tablets and desktop computers.
Highlights of the 2014
Sunday Night Football schedule:
19
Primetime games, including the NFL's opening game of the season, NFL Kickoff 2014 and NBC's annual Thanksgiving night game;
Every 2013 playoff team makes an appearance on Sunday Night Football; 16 of NBC's 18 scheduled games involve at least one playoff team from last season; 9 of 18 include two playoff teams (Week 17 game TBD);
Three games each for the Seahawks, Broncos, Patriots, 49ers, Packers, Cowboys;
The 49ers host the Seahawks on NBC's annual Thanksgiving night game.
NBC will broadcast a Thanksgiving night game each season through 2022;
Three matchups among bitter NFC East rivals: Giants-Eagles (Week 6), Cowboys-Giants (Week 12) and Cowboys-Eagles (Week 15);
The 190th meeting between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers (Week 10 in Green Bay) - the most played matchup in NFL history;
A pair of playoff rematches, including a rematch of the NFC Championship Game (Seahawks-49ers) on Thanksgiving, and a rematch of the AFC Divisional Playoffs (Colts-Patriots) in Indianapolis on November 16.
NBC TO BROADCAST 19 NFL GAMES IN 2014: As part of the agreement
NBC signed with the NFL in December 2011, NBC, for the third straight season, will broadcast 19 regular-season games, including 17 regular-season
Sunday Night Football games, NFL Kickoff 2014, and the annual Thanksgiving night game. NBC's original
Sunday Night Football agreement, which began in 2006, included 17 regular-season games. It was increased to 18 games in 2010.
SNF NO. 1
Primetime PROGRAM ON TELEVISION FOR 3 YEARS RUNNING:
For the third consecutive September-May television season, NBC's
Sunday Night Football finished as the No. 1 show in
Primetime in household rating, viewership and the coveted Adult 18-49 demographic, based on live plus same day data from The Nielsen Company (September-May). This marks the only three times on record that a sports series has been the highest-rated and most-watched show of the
Primetime TV season. For the 2013-2014
Primetime television season,
Sunday Night Football ranked as the highest-rated (12.8), most-watched show (21.7 million, viewers 2+), and the No. 1 broadcast program across the key demographics of Adults 18-49, 18-34, 25-54 as well as Men 18-49, 18-34 and 25-54 and Women 18-34 and 18-49.
2014 NBC Sunday Night Football SCHEDULE
Thurs. Sept. 4 NFL Kickoff Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks
Sun. Sept. 7 Week 1 Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos
Sun. Sept. 14 Week 2 Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ers
Sun. Sept. 21 Week 3 Pittsburgh Steelers at Carolina Panthers
Sun. Sept. 28 Week 4 New Orleans Saints at Dallas Cowboys
*Sun. Oct. 5 Week 5 Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots
*Sun. Oct. 12 Week 6 New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles
*Sun. Oct. 19 Week 7 San Francisco 49ers at Denver Broncos
*Sun. Oct. 26 Week 8 Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints
*Sun. Nov. 2 Week 9 Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers
*Sun. Nov. 9 Week 10 Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
*Sun. Nov. 16 Week 11 New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts
*Sun. Nov. 23 Week 12 Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
**Thurs. Nov. 27 Week 13 Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers
*Sun. Nov. 30 Week 13 Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
*Sun. Dec. 7 Week 14 New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers
*Sun. Dec. 14 Week 15 Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
*Sun. Dec. 21 Week 16 Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals
*Sun. Dec. 28 Week 17 TBA
*Flex Week
** Thanksgiving Night Game
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