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THE NFL ON CBS: WEEK 12 (THURSDAY, THANKSGIVING DAY, NOV. 26 & SUNDAY, NOV. 29) AUDIBLES WITH LEAD "NFL ON CBS" PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER JIM NANTZ
The CBS Television Network, home of Super Bowl XLIV, continues its Golden Anniversary 50th year broadcasting the NFL with THE NFL ON CBS on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26 (4:00 PM, ET) and Sunday, Nov. 29 (1:00-7:00 PM, ET) beginning with THE NFL TODAY, the Network's studio show (3:30-4:00 PM, ET) and (12:00 NOON-1:00 PM, ET) respectively, live from THE NFL TODAY studio in New York City.
THE NFL ON CBS lead announce team of Jim Nantz, who this year is marking his 25th with CBS Sports, and Phil Simms call the action from the Thanksgiving Day game, Oakland Raiders-Dallas Cowboys, live from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Lance Barrow is the coordinating producer and lead game producer and Mike Arnold is the lead game director.
Throughout the 2009 season, THE NFL ON CBS will broadcast all of its games each week in HDTV, the highest definition television format - 1080i lines of picture resolution - along with 5.1 digital audio.
Sean McManus is President, CBS News and Sports, and serves as executive producer of CBS Sports' coverage of THE NFL ON CBS. Harold Bryant is Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.
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JIM NANTZ
(On Thanksgiving Day games): Growing up, these were games that were riveting. You scheduled your family feast around the lesser of the two games.
(On Oakland): Oakland continues to struggle because they can't stop the run. But there's a new pulse felt around that team and it has to do with switching the leadership position at quarterback with Bruce Gradkowski starting last week. The team really rallied behind him in beating Cincinnati, a team that was one of the real stories of the season coming into last week. The Raiders only have only three wins but two of them are impressive; one against Philadelphia and one against Cincinnati. It shows they are capable of playing at a very high level. They're just not very consistent.
(On Dallas): The Cowboys are definitely in the mix on the NFC side. They're just not getting the headlines like New Orleans and Minnesota. They consider themselves Super Bowl contenders in the NFC. I don't see any reason to dispute them in thinking that way.
(On Oakland-Dallas): With the way Dallas has struggled for points these last two weeks, and the Raiders proving all the experts wrong last week by beating Cincinnati, we've got a compelling story brewing here.
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NOTE: On Saturday, Nov. 28, CBS Sports' Jim Nantz returns to his alma mater, the University of Houston, to serve as honorary captain of the Houston football team for its game against Rice. Nantz will join the team captains on the field for the coin toss. And at halftime, Nantz will interview former Cougars quarterback Andre Ware in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Ware winning the Heisman Trophy.
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Following are THE NFL ON CBS assignments for Week 12, Week 13 and Week 14 (subject to change).
WEEK 12 - Nov. 26 (Thanksgiving Day*)
GAME PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
4:00 PM, ET start:
??Oakland @ Dallas* Jim Nantz/Phil Simms Lance Barrow/Mike Arnold
WEEK 12 - Nov. 29
GAME PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
1:00 PM, ET starts:
??Miami @ Buffalo Gus Johnson/Steve Tasker Victor Frank/Mark Grant
??Indianapolis @ Houston Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf Mark Wolff/Bob Fishman
??Cleveland @ Cincinnati Ian Eagle/Rich Gannon Bob Dekas/Andy Goldberg
4:00 PM, ET starts:
??Kansas City @ San Diego Dick Enberg/Dan Fouts Bob Mansbach/Suzanne Smith
??Jacksonville @ San Francisco Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots Jim Rikhoff/Bryan Lilley
WEEK 13 - Dec. 6
GAME PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
1:00 PM, ET starts:
??Tennessee @ Indianapolis Ian Eagle/Rich Gannon Ken Mack/Chris Svendsen
??Oakland @ Pittsburgh Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf Mark Wolff/Bob Fishman
??Denver @ Kansas City Dick Enberg/Dan Fouts Bob Mansbach/Suzanne Smith
??Houston @ Jacksonville Gus Johnson/Steve Tasker Victor Frank/Mark Grant
??New England @ Miami Jim Nantz/Phil Simms Lance Barrow/Mike Arnold
4:00 PM, ET starts:
??San Diego @ Cleveland Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots Jim Rikhoff/Bryan Lilley
WEEK 14 - Dec. 13 - DOUBLEHEADER
GAME PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
1:00 PM, ET starts:
??Denver @ Indianapolis Dick Enberg/Dan Fouts Bob Mansbach/Suzanne Smith
??N.Y. Jets @ Tampa Bay Ian Eagle/Rich Gannon Ken Mack/Andy Goldberg
??Miami @ Jacksonville Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots Jim Rikhoff/Bryan Lilley
??Buffalo @ Kansas City Bill Macatee/Steve Beuerlein Ross Schneiderman/Jim Cornell
??Cincinnati @ Minnesota Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf Mark Wolff/Bob Fishman
4:15 PM, ET starts:
??San Diego @ Dallas Jim Nantz/Phil Simms Lance Barrow/Mike Arnold
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CBS Sports Contacts:
LeslieAnne Wade 212/975-5171 lwade@cbs.com
Robin Brendle 212/975-1533 rlbrendle@cbs.com
Jerry Caraccioli 212/975-7466 gwcaraccioli@cbs.com
