So you don’t miss anything here is what our friends at NBC have planned for Sunday’s pregame: Bob Costas will open NBC Sports’ six hours of Super Bowl XLVI pre-game coverage with a live report from Georgia Street in downtown Indianapolis at Noon ET on Sunday, Feb. 5. In the hours leading up to the game, NBC Sports will surround the Super Bowl teams with live team hotel and sideline reports, player features and interviews, and X’s and O’s analysis. Coverage will also include the events surrounding the Super Bowl, including an interview with halftime performer Madonna, live musical performances, red-carpet interviews with music, television and film stars, reports from the festive atmosphere taking place just outside Lucas Oil Stadium, and more. NBC News’ Matt Lauer will also interview President Barack Obama during a special pre-game edition of TODAY airing late Sunday afternoon. In addition to Costas, NBC Sports’...

The best quotes from Sunday’s playoff games There were some great quotes after two outstanding Championship Games. Here are a few of the best for your enjoyment. “Tom Brady will go down in history as one of the best to ever do it. Eli is approaching that status, but until he does I would have to give the nod to Tom Brady.” -- Deion Sanders who he trusts more: Tom Brady or Eli Manning “He took some big hits, yes he got sacked six times but he is cool, calm and collected under pressure. Eli did it again. He is really writing his legacy as we speak.” -- Steve Mariucci on New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns in the NFC Championship Game “We talked about what makes you an elite quarterback, as Eli said he is an elite quarterback. It’s when you can lead your team to victories throwing the ball 58 times without any interceptions and then bringing guys up saying, ‘I’m going to make all of ...

DD on the Ravens: The last several times that Baltimore has been in the playoffs they’ve been eliminated by either Pittsburgh or Indianapolis.  They are gone.  Baltimore has a confidence that with who remains really sets up well for them.  They are the team that can win this game and go into New England and beat the Patriots, if that is what has to be done. DD on the Texans: Congratulations to the Texans for making the playoffs for the first time ever and winning a playoff game, but they are in for a rude awakening.  It is one thing to beat Cincinnati at home, and quite another to go to Baltimore and play a rested, extremely balanced football team. DD on the Ravens getting a home game: M&T Stadium in Baltimore is becoming like Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City – an unbelievably loud outdoor stadium.  Arrowhead was the only out...

This past week the NFL broadcast networks CBS, FOX and NBC signed brand new long term deals with the league worth in the range of a staggering $24 billion dollars. The new deals run from 2014 through 2024 and there are some very interesting things inside the numbers. Each of the networks gets three Super Bowls from 2014-2022. Under the new set-up, NFL Network, in what can be seen as a vote of confidence by NFL owners, will add more games to what has been an eight-game primetime series. Don’t rule out the chance that the NFL could offer that Thursday Night package to Turner Sports or NBC Sports Network as part of a new cable deal down the line. Under the extensions, CBS and Fox will principally retain the rights to AFC and NFC games as they do now but they now have the right to changes relative to flexible scheduling. Comcast-owned NBC will continue to air the ratings monster Sunday Night Football, and starting next season they will by taking over the Thanksgiving night game...

Chris Berman and analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson (on the main set) and Suzy Kolber, Bill Parcells and Merril Hoge (on the second set), will preview the NFL’s week 13 games on Sunday NFL Countdown Presented by IBM on December 4 at 10 a.m.  NFL Insider Adam Schefter and senior analyst Chris Mortensen will provide the day’s headlines and league news.  In addition, reporting from key games:  Bob Holtzman – Falcons at Texans; Josina Anderson – Bengals at Steelers; George Smith – Broncos at Vikings; Hank Goldberg – Raiders at Dolphins; and Rachel Nichols – Packers at Giants. Highlights: ·         The Road to Perfection:  The Green Bay Packers are unbeaten heading into week 13.  The only team to register a perfect season is the 1972 Miami Dolphins.  Since then several teams have co...

Here are some of the thoughts of the CBS crew of Phil Simms and Dan Dierdorf Let’s start Simms on Cincinnati-Pittsburgh: The rematch is real.  Everybody has looked at Cincinnati all year and said, ‘They’re a nice story but they’ll fade away.’  I don’t know if they will.  They did get hurt by losing Leon Hall.  That has changed their team a little.  But they are very good on defense with a lot of good defensive lineman.  They’ve also done an excellent job with a young quarterback.  They’re showing everybody in the league the precautions you have to take to keep a young quarterback going and being productive for the team.  But they’re also being careful not to ruin his confidence.  It’s a fine mix and I give the Bengals a lot of credit.  They’ve handled that whole situation very well. Pittsburgh: We all know that the Steelers are a good football team.  You can’...

Anyone who may doubt the power of the NFL need only look at the ratings that the league is getting across the board and the numbers are impressive. Every network that televises NFL games has seen ratings increases this year at the half way point. Here is a look inside the numbers at the mid season mark. Fans have made the 2011 NFL season must-see TV for good reason…they have been captivated by the fantastic finishes.  In Week 9, all five 4:00 PM ET games, the Sunday night game and the Monday night game were all within one score (eight points) in the fourth quarter – putting the NFL on an active seven-game streak of fantastic finishes.  For the season, more than two thirds of games (90 of 130) have been one-score games in the fourth quarter. The average NFL game telecast (including broadcast and cable) has drawn 17.9 million viewers – more than double the average primetime viewership (8.4 million) for the big four broadcast networks in the new televisi...

On the NFL Today on CBS former Steelers head coach reacted to the possibility of him returning to the NFL as a head coach. Bill Cowher: I'd just like to say this. I've not been contacted directly or indirectly by any football team or any organization. It's all speculation, and it's unfortunate because it affects the lives of many people that are in the profession. I am here to say to you today, I do not plan on coaching next year. I love where I work, and more importantly I enjoy the people that I work with up here. So I can put all the speculation to rest. And if I have to repeat this in December again, I will. But you know what, J.B., it's a tough profession, I know there is speculation out there. I'm flattered by it to be honest with you. But at the same time it affects way too many people’s lives. I like what I'm doing right here, and I plan on being back in the same seat next year. 

Much was written and said about the most bizarre controversy that I frankly have seen in my nearly 30 years of covering the NFL. Here is the transcript of Bob Costas’ essay on the “Handshake that shook the world.”  The buzz around the league tonight, and no doubt into the early part of the upcoming week, is about the confrontation and near-throw down between Niners coach Jim Harbaugh and his Detroit counterpart, Jim Schwartz. The league will sort through the whys and wherefores though it appears the likely conclusion will be that whatever the initial provocation, Schwartz's overreaction was the greater breach of professionalism. But while that moment goes viral, the larger fact is that the similarities between Schwartz and Harbaugh outweigh their present differences. Schwartz took over a team that was 0-16 when he arrived two-and-a-half years ago. Despite today's narrow loss, they sit at 5-1, winners of nine of their last 10 dating back to last season. And a...

Any doubt that Jon Gruden enjoys being a broadcaster more than coaching was put to rest this week as he signed a new long term to stay part of Monday Night Football.   Since joining ESPN in May 2009, Gruden has teamed with play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analyst Ron Jaworski – earning two Sports Emmy Award nominations in the Best Analyst category – to help make MNF the most-watched series in cable television history. The Super Bowl-winning coach has contributed to ESPN’s annual NFL Draft and Super Bowl week coverage and other platforms. He was also part of the MNF team that called the 2010 NFL Pro Bowl. In addition to his NFL role, Gruden has called a handful of marquee college football telecasts for ESPN, including the Rose Bowl (2010) and Bowl Championship Series National Championship games (2010 and 2011) for ESPN Radio, and the 2011 Outback and Orange bowl games. Gruden has been widely praised for his groundbreaking SportsCenter Special: QB Camp p...