NFL Network Follows The Unbeatens

This week in a rare harmonic convergence, NFL Network has both unbeaten teams in games that will be watched quite intently. On Thursday, NFL Network has the 13-0 Indianapolis Colts taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars. Many observers feel the Colts will rest some players in that game.

Then on Saturday, the 13-0 New Orleans Saints will host Dallas at the Superdome. It’s believed the Saints will not rest players as they seek regular season perfection.

NFL Network has programming throughout the week, especially from Thursday through Saturday. Take a look at the release.

UNBEATEN WEEK ON NFL NETWORK:

COLTS & SAINTS 13-0 AND COUNTING…

JAGUARS & COWBOYS PURSUE PLAYOFFS

ON NFL NETWORK

Indianapolis Visits Jacksonville on “Thursday Night Football”

Followed by Special Saturday Edition when New Orleans Hosts Dallas

Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Steve Mariucci and Rich Eisen Go On the Road for the Pregame Show from the Superdome on Saturday

NFL Network Adds 20.5 hours of Special Colts-Jags and Saints-Cowboys Programming to Schedule This Week

Two 13-0 teams pursuing perfection and two teams battling for playoff spots are featured this week on NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football schedule.

MVP candidate Peyton Manning leads the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts into Jacksonville to face Maurice Jones-Drew and the Jaguars, who are fighting to stay in the hunt for an AFC playoff spot, on Thursday, December 17 at 8:00 PM ET.  Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Sears pregame show begins at 6:00 PM ET from the studio in Los Angeles.

A special Saturday edition of Thursday Night Football on December 19 at 8:00 PM ET features Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys looking to improve their NFC playoff position when they travel to New Orleans to take on Drew Brees and the undefeated Saints. The high-scoring Saints can move closer to home-field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs with a victory.

Bob Papa (play-by-play) and Matt Millen (analyst) call the action on both games for NFL Network this week.

For the Saturday game, NFL Network’s Thursday Night Kickoff pregame show goes on location to the Superdome. Host Rich Eisen will be joined by analysts Deion Sanders, Steve Mariucci and New Orleans native Marshall Faulk on the field for the two-hour pregame show starting at 6:00 PM ET followed by the halftime and postgame shows. Thursday Night Kickoff includes a feature on Brees meeting New Orleans music legend and Saints fan Harry Connick Jr.

In addition to the games on Thursday and Saturday, NFL Network is adding 20.5 hours of special programming to the schedule as well as focusing on the matchups on the nightly NFL Total Access at 7:00 and 10:00 PM ET. On Tuesday night, Dec. 15, NFL Replay features the Colts win over the Broncos from Sunday at 8:00 PM ET, followed by the Saints three-point victory over the Falcons at 9:30 PM ET. Playbook, the weekly X and O show that uses coaches tape to analyze the matchups, on Wednesday at 6:00 PM ET will be dedicated entirely to the Colts-Jaguars and Cowboys-Saints games.  Brian Billick, Mike Mayock and Solomon Wilcots are featured on Playbook on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Two new NFL Films produced half-hour shows make their debut this week on Friday night. Path to Perfection: 2009 Indianapolis Colts begins at 8:00 PM ET followed by Path to Perfection: 2009 New Orleans Saints at 9:00 PM ET.  These shows feature the award-winning NFL Films behind-the-scenes footage and exclusive sound from the Colts and the Saints from this memorable season.

The following is the schedule of the additional shows featuring the four teams on NFL Network’s schedule this week:

Thursday, December 17:

1:30pm ET – NFL Replay – Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts (9/21/08) – David Garrard answers Peyton Manning’s fourth-quarter com
e-from-behind drive with one of his own, leading the Jaguars 47 yards in the final minute to set up the game-winning field goal.

3:00pm ET – Super Bowl XLI: Indianapolis Colts vs. Chicago Bears – Peyton Manning leads the Indianapolis Colts past the Chicago Bears and wins Super Bowl MVP honors.

3:30pm ET – “America’s Game: 2006 Indianapolis Colts” – Re-live the story of the 2006 Colts through the eyes of Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy and Jeff Saturday. Narrated by Donald Sutherland.

4:30pm ET – Playbook – Find out who will win and why when NFL experts analyze tonight’s game between the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars.

6:00pm ET – “Thursday Night Kickoff” – Live in-depth pre-game coverage of the Colts-Jaguars game.

8:00pm ET – “Thursday Night Football” – Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars. Bob Papa and Matt Millen call the action.

Friday, December 18:

DEBUT 8:00pm ET – “Path to Perfection: 2009 Indianapolis Colts” – A recap of the Indianapolis Colts’ exciting run to an undefeated record including the memorable come-from-behind win against the New England Patriots.

8:30pm ET – “Game of the Week” – 2006 Week 3: Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints

DEBUT 9:00pm ET – “Path to Perfection: 2009 New Orleans Saints” – A recap of the New Orleans Saints’ unexpected run to a perfect record behind the leadership of Drew Brees and a stifling defense.

9:30pm ET – NFL Replay – New Orleans vs. Miami Dolphins (10/25/09) – The Saints score 22 points against the Dolphins in the fourth quarter to keep their perfect record intact. A pick-six from CB Tracy Porter with less than two minutes remaining sealed the victory in Miami.

1:00am ET – “Path to Perfection: 2009 Indianapolis Colts” – A recap of the Indianapolis Colts’ exciting run to an undefeated record including the memorable come-from-behind win against the New England Patriots.

1:30am ET – “Game of the Week” – 2006 Week 3: Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints

2:00am ET – “Path to Perfection: 2009 New Orleans Saints” – A recap of the New Orleans Saints’ unexpected run to a perfect record behind the leadership of Drew Brees and a stifling defense.

2:30am ET – NFL Replay – New Orleans vs. Miami Dolphins (10/25/09) – The Saints score 22 points against the Dolphins in the fourth quarter to keep their perfect record intact.

Saturday, December 19:

7:00am ET – “NFL Films Presents: Triplets” – This 30-minute show features Steve Sabol interviewing the triplets – Emmit Smith, Troy Aikman, and Michael Irvin. The show focuses on their careers and their impact on the Cowboys Dynasty of the 90’s.

7:30am ET – America’s Game: 1992 Dallas Cowboys – Re-live the story of the 1992 Cowboys through the eyes of Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Ken Norton Jr. The 1992 Cowboys were voted as the fifth greatest Super Bowl-winning team of all-time by a panel of football experts. Narrated by Alec Baldwin.

8:30am ET – America’s Game: 1993 Dallas Cowboys – Re-live the story of the 1993 Dallas Cowboys through the eyes of Emmitt Smith, Bill Bates and Jimmy Johnson. Narrated by Ed Harris.

9:30am ET – America’s Game: 1995 Dallas Cowboys – Re-live the story of the 1995 Cowboys through the eyes of Darren Woodson, Rich Dalrymple, Daryl Johnston and Larry Brown. Narrated by Ed Harris.

10:30am ET – NFL Replay – Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints (11/08/09) – The Saints score 24 points in the second half to rally past the Panthers in New Orleans. Drew Brees passed for 330 yards and a touchdown.

12:00 Noon ET – NFL Replay – New England Patriots vs. New Orleans Saints (11/30/09) – In a battle of two of the top offenses, New Orleans outlasts the Patriots for a 38-17 victory. QB Drew Brees passed for 371 yards and five touchdowns in the win.

1:30pm ET – NFL Replay – New Orleans Saints vs. Washington Redskins (12/06/09) – The Saints kick the game-winning FG in OT to clinch the NFC South title. Robert Meachum scored Saints touchdowns on a fumble return for a TD and a game-tying scoring catch at the end of regulation.

3:00pm ET – Game of the Week – 2006 Week 3: Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints

DEBUT 3:30pm ET – Game Changers: New Orleans – Drew Brees and Harry Connick Jr. – Follow Harry Connick Jr.’s trip to his old stomping grounds in New Orleans and witness his much-anticipated encounter with QB Drew Brees following the Saints’ thrilling MNF victory over the Patriots.

4:00pm ET – Path to Perfection: 2009 New Orleans Saints – A recap of the New Orleans Saints’ unexpected run to a perfect record behind the leadership of Drew Brees and a stifling defense.

4:30pm ET – Top 10 Dallas Cowboys – The bright lights of ‘Big D’ have been home to big talent like Tony Dorsett, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin. NFL’s Top 10 reveals the biggest stars to don the star with a countdown of the Top 10 Dallas Cowboys.

5:30pm ET – “Playbook” – Find out who will win and why when NFL experts analyze tonight’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints.

6:00pm ET – “Thursday Night Kickoff — Special” – Live on-location in New Orleans, in-depth pre-game coverage of the Cowboys-Saints game.

8:00pm ET – “Thursday Night Football – Special Saturday Edition” – Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints. Bob Papa and Matt Millen call the action.

NFL.com/LIVE has additional coverage of both games with live look-ins on the action and instant analysis from the studio at NFL Films by Mike Mayock. Fran Charles is joined by analysts Jamie Dukes and Bucky Brooks for NFL.com/LIVE from the Los Angeles studio with Solomon Wilcots contributing reports from the sideline on Thursday. On Saturday, Paul Burmeister hosts with Dukes and Brooks while Brian Baldinger and Steve Wyche report from the sidelines in New Orleans.

NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football games are also carried on over-the air television in the participating team cities if the games are sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff. The Colts vs. Jaguars game will be seen on FOX channel 59 (WXIN) in the Indianapolis market and FOX channel 30 (WAWS) in the Jacksonville market.  On Saturday, the game will be on in Dallas/Ft. Worth market on KTXA channel 21 and on ABC channel 12 (WGNO) in the New Orleans market. All telecasts will use NFL Network announcers, graphics and production elements. 

My only fear is that the Colts could lose to Jacksonville and Friday’s programming could look rather silly.