NBC's THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL features an NFC South rivalry with playoff implications, as Drew Brees and the division-leading Saints (9-3) travel to Atlanta, Ga., to face Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons (7-5) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET with Football Night in Atlanta on NBC, the only network with two primetime NFL packages.
Thursday Night Football will also be televised by NFL Network, and streamed live on Amazon Prime Video, NBCSports.com, the
NBC Sports app, NFL Mobile from Verizon, Watch NFL Network, the NFL app on Microsoft, and NFL Game Pass (International).
The Saints are in the No. 4 position in the NFC Playoff picture following a win over the Panthers (8-4) on Sunday, and look to maintain first place in the NFC South this Thursday. Despite a loss to the
VIKINGS (10-2) on Sunday, the Falcons remain in
THE HUNT for a playoff berth. Atlanta is currently the No. 7 seed, only one game behind division rival Carolina, and will face every NFC South opponent over the season's final four weeks.
New Orleans improved to 9-3 with a 31-21 win over Carolina, as Brees completed 25-of-34 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown. With the performance, Brees (6,127) surpassed Peyton Manning (6,125) for the second-most completions in NFL history. Rookie RB Alvin Kamara totaled 126 scrimmage yards - 66 receiving and 60 rushing - in the victory. For the season, Kamara has amassed 614 receiving yards and 606 rushing yards, and is just the third rookie in NFL history to record at least 600 rushing and receiving yards (Hall of Famer Charley Taylor and Billy Sims).
The Falcons boast the eighth-best offense in the league (365.2 yards per game), led by Ryan, whose 3,057 passing yards rank ninth among all quarterbacks. Against the Buccaneers on Nov. 26, WR Julio Jones had 12 catches for 253 yards - becoming the only player in NFL history with multiple 250-yard receiving games.
Calling Saints-Falcons are Mike Tirico (play-by-play) and 16-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth, joined by sideline reporter Heather Cox.
Liam McHugh will serve as the host of the Football Night in Atlanta pregame show from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. He will be joined on-site by Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy and two-time
SUPER BOWL champion Rodney Harrison.
Sam Flood is executive producer of
NBC Sports and NBCSN. Fred Gaudelli is the executive producer of NBC's
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL and Thursday Night Football. Drew Esocoff is director of SNF and TNF. Rob Hyland is coordinating producer of Thursday Night Football.
NBC's THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL FEATURES SPECIAL THEME MUSIC, SHOW OPEN & GRAPHICS
Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum recording artist Pentatonix will perform the Thursday Night Football show open. The show open celebrates the start of the NFL weekend, with game highlights and player cameos.
The Thursday Night Football theme music was composed and produced by Grammy Award-nominated producer and songwriter Jimmy Greco, and features the string section from the orchestra of Tony Award-winning Broadway blockbuster Hamilton under the direction of violinist and Hamilton concertmaster Jonathan Dinklage. The new music - entitled "Can't Hold Us Down" - is a high energy, melodic piece combining a modern pop musical arrangement, mixed with a traditional anthemic feeling found in classic sports themes.
In addition, TNF on
NBC will feature a special graphics package, defined by bright colors, highly energized motion design and vibrant neon trimmed logos. The graphics package was designed to shine at its brightest in the game broadcast, extending from pre-game through to post-game, and was uniquely created to help celebrate Thursday night as the kickoff of the NFL Weekend.
NBCSports.com and the
NBC Sports app will stream all of NBC's Thursday Night Football games to desktops, tablets, and connected TVs via "TV Everywhere," giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high-quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The full HD-quality video stream will come directly from NBC's TNF broadcasts. Powered by Playmaker Media, the
NBC Sports app is available on Apple iOS, Android and select Samsung devices, as well as on Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Win10, and Xbox. (NOTE:
NBC Sports does not have
NFL LIVE streaming rights to mobile devices.)
Mike Florio and co-host Chris Simms bring fans the latest NFL news and interviews with players and coaches every weekday morning with PFT Live on
NBCSN at 7 a.m. ET. The two-hour PFT Live provides all-encompassing coverage of the NFL, including the most current news and analysis, thought-provoking debates, and interviews with a wide variety of NFL newsmakers. The program is a simulcast of
NBC Sports Radio's PFT Live national program that airs daily beginning at 6 a.m. ET.
NBC SPORTS RADIO
NBC Sports Radio will surround the 2017 NFL season with daily coverage across more than 425 radio affiliates, highlighted by PFT Live, featuring NFL insider and
FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA commentator Mike Florio daily from 6-9 a.m. ET; Safety Blitz with Rodney Harrison and Dan Schwartzman; featuring three-time All Pro and two-time Super Bowl-winner Rodney Harrison; Going Deep with Amani and Dan, featuring former Giants wide receiver Amani Toomer; and NFL Insider Michele Tafoya.
To listen to a live stream of
NBC Sports Radio, or find your local affiliate, visit www.NBCSportsRadio.com
NBC SPORTS REGIONAL NETWORKS
NBC Sports Regional Networks, which serve top NFL markets such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and San Francisco, will surround the 2017 NFL season with in-depth news, analysis and original programming on the teams that matter most in more than 35 million U.S. households.
SNF IS NO. 1 PRIMETIME PROGRAM ON TELEVISION, WITH NBC/NFLN TNF RANKING NO. 2
NBC
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL finished the 2016-17 TV season as primetime's #1 TV show in all key metrics for a record sixth consecutive year - tying
AMERICAN IDOL for the most consecutive years atop the charts (since 1950), based on live plus same day data provided by The Nielsen Company.
NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL also ranked as the No. 1 show in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic for the seventh consecutive TV season. SNF's six-year run at the top marks the only six times on record that a sports series has been the highest-rated and most-watched show of the primetime TV season In addition, NBC/NFL Network Thursday Night Football ranked as primetime TV's No. 2 show in average viewers and household rating, and No. 3 among Adults 18-49.
Remaining NBC-produced game schedule in Thursday Night Football package:
| Date |
Game |
Network |
| Thurs. Dec. 7 |
New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons |
NBC, NFLN ** |
| Thurs. Dec. 14 |
Denver Broncos at Indianapolis Colts |
NBC, NFLN ** |
| Sat. Dec. 16 |
Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions |
NFLN |
| Mon., Dec. 25 |
Pittsburgh Steelers at Houston Texans |
NBC, NFLN** |
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