Here’s a look at the announcing assignments for Week 5 of the NFL season, with some discussion of a featured game in each slot based on broadcasters, matchups, or both. All times are Eastern.
Thursday, Oct. 3
Featured/only game: Tampa Bay at Atlanta
Prime Video 8:15 p.m.
Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, Kaylee Hartung
Spanish: Miguel Gurwitz, Rolando Cantú
Westwood One Radio: Ian Eagle, Derek Rackley
The Falcons are coming into this one fresh off a last-second win against their fierce rivals in New Orleans, which improved their record to 2-2 on the year. Those two wins (against the Saints and the Eagles) have come by a total of three points, though, and Atlanta has also lost to the Steelers by eight and to the Chiefs by five. There were higher expectations for their offense in particular with Kirk Cousins under center, but those haven’t come to fruition yet. Meanwhile, undercover fan Baker Mayfield has the Bucs humming at 3-1, but they’re still 2.5-point underdogs.
Sunday, Oct. 6, international window
Featured/only game: NY Jets vs Minnesota (London)
NFL Network 9:30 a.m.
Rich Eisen, Kurt Warner, Stacey Dales, Jamie Erdahl
Westwood One Radio: JP Shadrick, Ben Leber
This is the second of five international games this year, and the first of four on NFL Network (following the Packers-Eagles Brazil game on Peacock). That number could rise significantly in the future, and that might even lead to an outside broadcaster getting a full lineup of international games, as Eisen has theorized. For now, though, it’s the NFLN crew calling these four international games (and three further games in a Dec. 28 tripleheader). And in this one, they get to call Aaron Rodgers and the Jets as slight (2.5-point) underdogs against the Vikings and former Jets’ QB Sam Darnold.
Sunday, Oct. 6, early window
Carolina at Chicago
Fox 1 p.m.
Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, Megan Olivi
Baltimore at Cincinnati
CBS/Paramount+ 1 p.m.
Kevin Harlan, Trent Green, Melanie Collins
Compass Media Radio: Chris Carrino, Brian Baldinger
Featured game: Buffalo at Houston
CBS/Paramount+ 1 p.m.
Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, Evan Washburn
ESPN Radio: Steve Levy, Harry Douglas
This one (which much of the country will get to see) is particularly interesting for former Buffalo receiver Stefon Diggs now with Houston following an offseason trade. That sparked discussions about his relationship with Bills’ QB Josh Allen, and Allen (and some bad aggregation of his comments) added to that two weeks ago with a “It’s a fun and wonderful thing when you have a bunch of guys that don’t care about stats” line (about four different receivers catching touchdown passes in the Bills’ win over the Jacksonville Jaguars).
Many interpreted that as a shot at Diggs. But Allen later said that wasn’t what he meant. At any rate, it will be interesting to see Diggs face his old team, especially with Houston QB C.J. Stroud playing well. The Texans are one-point underdogs here, so it’s expected to be a close one.
Indianapolis at Jacksonville
CBS/Paramount+ 1 p.m.
Spero Dedes, Adam Archuleta, Aditi Kinkhabwala
Miami at New England
Fox 1 p.m.
Chris Myers, Mark Sanchez, Kristina Pink
Sports USA Radio: John Ahlers, Brandon Noble
Cleveland at Washington
Fox 1 p.m.
Jason Benetti, Greg Olsen, Pam Oliver
Sunday, Oct. 6, afternoon window
Las Vegas at Denver
Fox 4:05 p.m.
Kevin Kugler, Daryl Johnston, Laura Okmin
Arizona at San Francisco
Fox 4:05 p.m.
Kevin Burkhart, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi
Sports USA Radio: Larry Kahn, James White
Featured game: Green Bay at LA Rams
CBS/Paramount+ 4:25 p.m.
Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson
Compass Media Radio: Bill Rosinski, Merrill Hoge
CBS has the doubleheader this week, and this game is the one they’re sending to much of the country. The 2-2 Packers against the 1-3 Rams may not sound that thrilling at first glance, but there could be some fireworks here; both defenses have been struggling, and both teams have top-10 passing offenses, with the Packers also featuring the league’s second-best rushing offense.
The Packers are three-point favorites, and the over/under line is 48.5. It’s possible this could turn into a notable shootout between quarterbacks Jordan Love and Matthew Stafford, and it will be interesting to see how prominent former QB Tony Romo discusses them on the broadcast.
NY Giants at Seattle
CBS/Paramount+ 4:25 p.m.
Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber, Jason McCourty, AJ Ross
Sunday, Oct. 6, Sunday Night Football
Featured/only game: Dallas at Pittsburgh
NBC/Universo/Peacock 8:20 p.m.
Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark
Universo: Miguel Gurwitz, Rolando Cantú, Ariana Figuera
Westwood One Radio: Ryan Radtke, Mike Golic
Many probably were envisioning the Cowboys as better than 2-2 at this point, but losses to the Saints and Ravens have them sitting at just .500. The Steelers, by contrast, are a slightly surprising 3-1, with Justin Fields playing well at quarterback (and maybe well enough to keep that job even if Russell Wilson returns to health). They’re 2.5-point favorites at home, and it will be interesting to see if they can keep well-paid Dallas pivot Dak Prescott in check.
Monday, October 7, Monday Night Football
Featured/only game: New Orleans at Kansas City
ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN Deportes 8:15 p.m.
Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters
ESPN2: Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Bill Belichek, Guests TBA
ESPN Deportes: Rebeca Landa, Sebastián Martinez-Christensen, MJ Acosta-Ruiz
Westwood One Radio: Kevin Harlan, Ross Tucker
The Saints have cooled off after a hot start, losing their last two games to the Eagles and Falcons. But both were late-game losses, so there’s still some reason for hope with them. And while quarterback Derek Carr hasn’t looked as good the past two weeks as he did early on, his overall numbers (824 yards, six touchdowns, three interceptions, and a 72.0 percent completion rate) still are better than what many expected from him this year.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs are 4-0, but have a one-point win, a five-point win, and two seven-point wins. So they’re actually behind the Saints (57 to 20) in point differential. They are 5.5-point favorites at home, though. Will we get a shootout here between Carr and Patrick Mahomes, or will one of these offenses have a down day?
BYE: Detroit, Tennessee, Philadelphia, LA Chargers
H/T Sammy for the listings!
