Tag: CBS

No, Jim Nantz, the winner of Bills vs. Lions will not be ‘America’s Team’

The Cowboys don’t deserve this title but they’re not losing it to either of these teams.

I completely understand the sentiment that the Dallas Cowboys don’t deserve the title of “America’s Team.” It is more a marketing scheme than anything directly connected to their on-field success, of which they have very little for roughly the past 30 years.

Much like the gross commercialization of the holiday season, the title of “America’s Team” has never been about what actually matters to the Football Industrial Complex. That’s why Jim Nantz’s claim that the winner of the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions’ titanic matchup on Sunday effectively becomes “America’s Team” is so false.

Because the NFL — and all of its main broadcast partners — will unfortunately never EVER center the Bills and Lions quite like they do the Cowboys. In fact, they’ll never center anyone like Dallas. Full stop.

I get that there’s a great likability factor between the Bills and Lions. I know it’s hard to really dislike either team and that both current iterations of the respective organizations are a ton of fun to watch.

But until they inexplicably get all these random national TV games they don’t deserve, until all the major sports networks and outlets turn seemingly every little (irrelevant) tidbit of Cowboys drama into a story everyone has to hear about, the winner of Bills-Lions does not get this nickname. Nantz is just trying to hype up his game for the watching audience … as if everyone who loves football in America isn’t going to watch anyway.

It’s gonna take a lot more than one regular season game in December to supplant the myth (because that’s all they are) that is the Cowboys.

Bills’ Sean McDermott offers injury updates during bye week

Bills’ Sean McDermott offers injury updates during bye week

During NFL Week 12, the Buffalo Bills enjoy their bye week, offering an opportunity for some rest and extra advance preparation for their next game following a 30-21 home win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

They topped their AFC rival without several key starters including middle linebacker Matt Milano (bicep tear), wide receiver Keon Coleman (wrist), tight end Dalton Kincaid (knee), offensive lineman Spencer Brown (ankle), and defensive tackle DeWayne Carter (wrist) who were out with injuries.

Next up the team will host the San Francisco 49ers at Highmark Stadium, and fans and media members have been wondering which players might return to the field in that contest.

Milano, who’s missed most of the season so far, has begun to practice again and could see a return to gameplay as early as Week 13. The rookie Coleman as well as second-year pro Kincaid received a positive update by way of ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler in terms of recovery this week.

While he did not definitely say whether the two impact players on offense would be back for the game against the Niners, he did share that neither player’s injury appears to be substantial or long-term.

Buffalo has notably never lost coming out of a bye week under head coach Sean McDermott, a trend they hope will continue and one they hope will extend to the postseason, as they pursue the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed and first-round bye.

He had good news for the Bills and their fans following Sunday’s win over the Chiefs, sharing that the team didn’t have any new additions to the injury report. And there may be more good news on their existing injured players coming soon, though he made a point to manage expectations.

“There’s this pool of players that they’re kind of tiered as to when we expect to get each one of them back,” McDermott said.

“Again this week being kind of a rehab week for the players that are banged up, the message I’m getting from our training room is ‘hey we’ll let you know kind of how this week goes and then what that looks like for next week’ so you know the challenge is not really knowing as we start to game plan a little bit towards the end of this week who’s available, but certainly understand that the trainers need some more time with these guys and you know again it’s kind of like ‘hey who who are they going to hand us on Monday? Are we to get one player? Two players? More? Less what we have? So we just got to kind of take it one day at a time here, big picture coming out of the game without any serious injuries.”

They still have some challenges ahead in the remaining six contests on the regular season schedule, including road games against the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions right after the 49ers matchup.

But with a healthy roster, the Bills could make a push into the postseason and potentially lock up the No. 1 seed, allowing them to get even healthier headed into the playoffs.

GMFB’s Peter Schrager: No one made ‘louder statement’ last week than Bills (video)

GMFB’s Peter Schrager: No one made ‘louder statement’ last week than Bills (video)

NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” roundtable conversation on Monday following the Week 11 slate of games around the league included a take on which club among them made the “loudest statement”.

Analyst Peter Schrager chose the Bills following their 30-21 win over the Chiefs. He was complimentary of head coach Sean McDermott and pointed out that this regular season win over Kansas City felt different than past ones.

“I don’t think anyone made a louder statement made in the league than what the Bills did yesterday against the Chiefs,” Schrager said the morning after the matchup.

The segment can be found in the clip below:

Notre Dame-USC football game will be broadcast on CBS in afternoon

Well, this stinks.

(This story has been updated to add a link.)

Notre Dame and USC is the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football. While the Irish have held up their end of the bargain as far as excellence this year though, the Trojans have not. They might not get into a bowl game this year, and it is for that reason that there won’t be as much excitement for this game this season.

To that end, CBS Sports announced late Saturday that it would broadcast the annual clash between the Irish and Trojans at 3:30 p.m. EST. Yes, that means this game which means so much to these two fan bases won’t be shown in prime time, and that’s very unfortunate.

The Irish can’t worry about not playing in a prime-time spot though. Their focus right now is earning another win to erase any lingering doubts about whether they belong in the College Football Playoff. They’ll be the favorite for sure, but crazier things have happened in the history of this storied rivalry.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Bills-Chiefs draws huge numbers during Week 11 clash

Bills-Chiefs draws huge numbers during Week 11 clash

The Week 11 AFC showdown between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs drew the biggest television audience for an NFL regular season game in 17 years, not including holiday games.

According to USA Today, the 4:25 PM EST kickoff on CBS garnered 31.2 million viewers.

It’s the most viewers for a regular season game since 2007 when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots went toe-to-toe with Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9. Both of those teams were 8-0. 

17 years later, the world got the new version of the Brady-Manning rivalry with Josh Allen’s Bills facing Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs. The Chiefs entered the game 9-0 while the Bills were 8-2.

With the Bills win, Allen and Mahomes are now 4-4 against each other, with many close games, monumental moments, and highlight-reel plays. The NFL would be happy with the TV ratings if these teams met again in the playoffs this season.

CBS also recorded its biggest regional window audience since 1992 in Week 11, attracting 19.8 million viewers for the Ravens-Steelers matchup.

Safe to say it was a great day for the NFL and its fans.

Announcers set for Chiefs vs. Panthers Week 12 game

See which broadcasters will be calling the Kansas City #Chiefs’ Week 12 matchup against the Carolina #Panthers on Sunday, November 24.

In Week 12, the Kansas City Chiefs (9-1) are heading to visit the Carolina Panthers (3-7) in hopes of beginning a new winning streak after their loss Week 11 when the Buffalo Bills (9-2) ended their nine-game streak that kicked off the season.

Sunday’s Week 12 tilt is scheduled to air on CBS with kickoff taking place at 12:00 p.m. CT. Ian Eagle (play-by-play) and Charles Davis (analyst) will be the commentators calling the game for fans watching on TV.

The Chiefs were competitive against the Bills last week however some notable failures by the team led to a 30-21 loss to end the hopes of a perfect season for Kansas City. Allowing Buffalo to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter ensured the Chiefs’ first defeat.

Fortunately for Kansas City, the Panthers look to be a much easier club than the Bills. If the Chiefs play the way did while they were on the winning streak, they look good to finish it ahead by two touchdowns.

Bills’ Terrel Bernard breaks down matchup vs. Chiefs’ Travis Kelce

Bills’ Terrel Bernard breaks down matchup vs. Chiefs’ Travis Kelce

The Bills beat the Chiefs 30-21 at home on Sunday.

The contest that saw the teams’ final scores roughly on average for the season so far also had significant takeaways on and off the field.

But the biggest one belonged to Buffalo linebacker, Terrel Bernard.

With 1:07 left to play in the fourth quarter, the Bills’ defensive captain and play caller took away a Patrick Mahomes pass intended for Kansas City tight end and MGMT “Electric Feel” fan Travis Kelce for an end-game interception.


The entire Buffalo defense ran down to celebrate with him in the end zone after getting in front of Kelce to grab the ball out of the air.

“The main thing is just having awareness of him, “ Bernard said about covering the Chiefs TE to WIVB. “Pre, post-snap, trying to get guys around him as much as possible, playing within our scheme and our system still but understanding he’s going to be one of the first options every pass play.”

It was the second interception for KC’s Mahomes, whose first and last throws in Sunday’s game were caught by Buffalo.

Bernard, who was out during the last meeting between the clubs in January’s divisional round of the playoffs, also had eight tackles and a sack on the day to go with the big-time turnover.

“I think having that awareness, [defensive coordinator] Bobby [Babich] did a great job in the gameplan, all the coaches did, putting him in our minds all week and knowing where he was at and where he was going to be, what he likes to do in certain spots. I think that was a huge factor, and everybody playing to the details of the defense.”

Everything has changed for Kelce since his last matchups against the Bills in which he seemed unstoppable.

He may just want to shake it off, knowing all too well that Bernard and the Bills defense held him to only two catches for eight yards receiving.

But with the win the Bills now have a better shot at a No. 1 seed and a first-round bye, the Chiefs do as well although they are not out of the woods yet.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was complimentary of the Bills when asked what his takeaways off the field were from the loss.

“Things you can learn, the main thing is that they’re a good team and, if you have a few mistakes in there, they can capitalize on them,” Reid said.

The teams could face off again in the postseason, and time will tell which club will play host to the other if they do.

[lawrence-related id=143137,142403,143106]

Bills’ Josh Allen plays it cool after Chiefs: ‘It’s another Week 11 win’

Bills’ Josh Allen plays it cool after Chiefs: ‘It’s another Week 11 win’

Buffalo beat Kansas City in exciting fashion on Sunday.

The club topped the Chiefs 30-21 at home in Orchard Park in front of Bills Mafia on the same field where KC ended its postseason run last year.

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen put his superhero cape on for the Bills offense when it mattered most, breaking tackles and shaking off defenders for a 26-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-2 with 2:17 left in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

After the game ended thanks to a win-sealing interception by Terrel Bernard on defense, Allen was asked about his scoring play by CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson.

“Yeah, appreciate Coach McDermott for trusting the offense going out there,” he said. “We had a man play, they dropped out to zone and they had something good for it. I was just trying to make a play and help our team win a football game. You know, some things we need to clean up, some throws I wish I had back, but we’re going into the bye week 9-2…we’ll take it.”

Allen was sacked zero times for the first time against Kansas City since the 2021 regular season, and the team put up their 30 points without key players on offense in receiver Keon Coleman, tight end Dalton Kincaid, and offensive tackle Spencer Brown.

He finished the day Sunday 27-for-40 with 262 yards, a touchdown, and an interception passing to go with another 55 ground yards with the TD.

The scoring rush was his latest in a career highlight reel of making little-to-no/probability plays.

In fact, per NFL Next Gen Stats, there was only a 1.2% chance of scoring a touchdown on the play once he tucked the ball to run.

The Bills hosted their AFC rivals for their fifth regular-season meeting with the QB under center.

The club is now 4-1 in those matchups, becoming the only team in the NFL to log four victories against Chiefs QB and State Farm insurance enthusiast, Patrick Mahomes.

The squad improves to 9-2 overall headed into their bye week. It’s the franchise’s first time at 9-2 since the 1992 NFL season.

The Bills have treated division games as “counting double” but had previously struggled to translate that in conference matchups that could have a bearing on No. 1 seeding and a first-round bye come playoff time.

But not this time.

The final points were roughly on average for what the two teams have put up throughout this season thus far, and it was the Chiefs’ first time giving up more than 28 points in 31 games and the first time allowing 30 points on offense since 2022.

And while Buffalo continues to have success against Kansas City during the regular season, Allen knows they need to beat them in the playoffs and spoke to that while answering whether it was just another Week 11 win for Buffalo.

“It is, it’s another Week 11 win,” he added. “Knowing how things usually play out we’ll probably see this team again at some point. We’ve got to get there first so like I said, we’ll enjoy this bye week and go into the next week after that and put together a good game plan and try to go 1-0.”

Announcers set for Chargers vs. Titans Week 10 game

Find out who will be calling the Week 10 game between the Chargers and Titans.

The Chargers look to improve to 6-3 when they meet the Titans on Sunday, Nov. 10, at 1:05 p.m. PT.

The Week 10 game will be televised on Fox. Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma will have the call.

Los Angeles is coming off a 27-10 victory over the Browns behind a prolific passing performance from Justin Herbert and another dominant defensive effort.

Tennessee took care of business against the Patriots in an overtime game where the Mason Rudolph and Tony Pollard accounted for most of the offense’s production, and the defense forced three takeaways.

The Chargers lead the overall series, 29-19-1.

Announcers set for Chargers vs. Browns Week 9 game

Find out who will be calling the Week 9 game between the Chargers and Browns.

The Chargers look to improve to 5-3 when they meet the Browns on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 11:00 a.m. PT.

The Week 9 game will be televised on CBS. Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta will have the call.

Los Angeles is coming off a 26-8 victory over the Browns behind a breakout performance by Ladd McConkey and a dominant defensive effort.

Cleveland upset the Ravens, 29-24, in a game where Jameis Winston made his first start for the Browns and threw three touchdowns.

The Chargers lead the overall series, 19-9-1. The Bolts have won in their last four meetings with the Browns.