Oakland Raiders Visit Kansas City Chiefs in First-Place Showdown on NBC's THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

The only network with two primetime NFL packages, NBC continues its coverage of Thursday Night Football this Thursday, December 8, with an AFC West first-place showdown, when Derek Carr and the AFC-leading Oakland Raiders (10-2) host Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs (9-3) at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. ET with Football Night in Kansas City on NBC.

The Raiders are the hottest team in the AFC, riding a six-game winning streak into their Thursday Night Football clash against the division-rival Chiefs. Oakland's resurgence is led by third-year QB Derek Carr, who is tied for fourth in the NFL in passing yards (3,375), and boasts a 24-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Oakland leads the AFC with 28.8 points per game, and is coming off a 38-24 win against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday after erasing a 24-9 deficit in the third quarter.

The Oakland offense heads into Kansas City to face a Chiefs defense that has helped propel the team to a 9-3 record, and a 7-1 mark in its last eight games. Kansas City's defense has scored an NFL-high five touchdowns, is tied for the league-lead in fumble recoveries (11), and tied for second in interceptions (14). Defense was the story in the Chiefs' 29-28 win against the Falcons in Atlanta, led by DB Eric Berry. Berry had an interception return for a touchdown, as well as a "pick-two," intercepting QB Matt Ryan on a two-point conversion late in regulation to retake the lead for Kansas City.

The Chiefs defeated the Raiders in Oakland in Week 6 by a score of 26-10. Kansas City RB Spencer Ware had a career-high 131 rushing yards in the win, while Smith completed 19 of 22 passes for 224 yards. The Chiefs are 6-1 in their last seven meetings with the Raiders.

Calling Raiders-Chiefs are seven-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play) and 16-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth, joined by sideline reporter Heather Cox.

Mike Tirico will serve as the host of the Football Night in Kansas City pregame show from Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. 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 NEW 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. For more information, click here.

The new 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. For more information, click here.

In addition, TNF on NBC will feature a new 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 & NBC SPORTS APP TO LIVE STREAM THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

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.)

NBC SPORTS THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ALL ACCESS: NBCSports.com is providing a destination for fans dedicated to behind-the-scenes and social media driven content on their Thursday Night Footballpage. Fans can follow the social conversation and access content around Thursday Night Football. Fans can also get the latest video highlights, and show their passion for who they think will win each week. Visit NBC Sports TNF page at: NBCSports.com/TNF. Additional Thursday Night Football social media plans will be announced soon.

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL BUS TO VISIT CITIES OF THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL MATCH-UPS

Each week, NBC Sports Group's Sunday Night Football bus travels the country to visit the host cities of select Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football games. This season, fans will get a closer look at behind-the-scenes action of TNF broadcasts on the bus, which will take fans from the field, to the studio and in the production trucks. Features of the bus include an interactive replica of the control room, a replica of the Football Night desk, life-size "Photo Bomb" wall, and more.

The bus will arrive in each city two to three days prior to the game, making stops at local landmarks and events before heading to the game site. Once at the stadium, the Sunday Night Football bus will give fans the opportunity to interact with America's most-watched primetime television show with exclusive activities, memorabilia and a 55-inch monitor housing social media elements.

Click here for more information on the SNF bus.

NBC-produced Thursday Night Football game schedule:

Date	Game	Network
Thurs. Dec. 8	Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs	NBC, NFLN **
Thurs. Dec. 15	Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks	NBC, NFLN **
Sat., Dec. 17	Miami Dolphins at New York Jets	NFLN
Thurs. Dec. 22	New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles	NBC, NFLN **
Sun., Dec. 25	Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers	NFLN

** Live streamed on Twitter, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app

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