Here’s a look at the announcing assignments for Week 7 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. 17, 2024
Featured/only game: Denver at New Orleans
Prime Video 8:15 p.m.
Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, Kaylee Hartung
Spanish: Miguel Gurwitz, Rolando Cantú
Westwood One Radio: Kevin Kugler, Ryan Harris
This marks Broncos’ head coach Sean Payton’s first game as a HC against the Saints, as well as his return to the Superdome as an opposing coach. Payton served as the Saints’ HC from 2006-21, winning Super Bowl XLIV after the 2009 season, but retired after the 2021 season to head into broadcasting with Fox. He returned to the sidelines ahead of the 2023 season with Denver, but the Saints and Broncos didn’t play last year.
Payton’s return has sparked plenty of debate about booing or cheering him (an X poll New Orleans Times-Picayune columnist Jeff Duncan ran this week got 59.3 percent of 1,316 fans voting cheer). And it will also be interesting thanks to the Saints inducting Drew Brees (who played QB for them from 2006-20) into their Hall of Fame. Brees is asking fans in attendance to memorize a very long halftime chant, which perhaps speaks to some of the challenges he had in communicating to his audience as a broadcaster. (Brees has said he’d like to go back to that, but for now, he’s doing business things, including opening a pickleball and bowling facility in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie this week.)
A halftime request from @DrewBrees for fans attending Thursday’s game in the Dome! ⚜️#Saints pic.twitter.com/UC7nFRXzEP
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 16, 2024
In terms of actual on-field play, this is a matchup that looked a lot better a few weeks back. The Saints got off to one of the league’s hottest starts with a 47-10 win over the Carolina Panthers and a 44-19 rout of the Dallas Cowboys, but have dropped four straight since then. The 3-3 Broncos won three straight from Sept. 22 to Oct. 6, but fell 23-16 at home to the Los Angeles Chargers last week.
Both teams have quarterback questions in this one. Denver rookie Bo Nix has thrown for 1,082 yards with a 61.1 percent completion mark and five touchdowns against five interceptions to date, while New Orleans seems likely to start fellow rookie Spencer Rattler (243 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and a 55.5 percent completion mark in his debut last week) again with Derek Carr still listed as doubtful. We’ll see who comes through.
Sunday, October 20, international window
Featured/only game: New England at Jacksonville (London)
NFL Network 9:30 a.m.
Chris Rose, Joe Thomas, Steve Wyche
Westwood One Radio: JP Shadrick, Byron Chamberlain
The NFL has the fourth of its five 2024 international games this week, and the third-straight one in London, and the second-straight one involving the Jaguars. Unlike the last two international games (held at Tottenham Hotspur Arena), though, this one will be at Wembley Stadium. And this will have a different NFLN team on the call, with Rose and Thomas tagging in for Rich Eisen and Kurt Warner. Wyche returns for his second straight week as London sideline reporter, and Shadrick is on his third straight week calling a radio game from London (but with his third different analyst). After this one, this year’s international series will wrap up with the New York Giants-Carolina Panthers clash in Munich, Germany on Nov. 10.
London was not very kind to the Jaguars last week, as they fell 35-16 to the Chicago Bears, dropped to 1-5 on the year, and gave Caleb Williams (236 yards, four touchdowns, 79.3 percent completion rate, one interception) his best NFL start to date. That may bode well for Patriots’ rookie QB Drake Maye, who finally got his first start of the season last week, throwing for 243 yards and three touchdowns (but with a 60.6 percent completion mark and two picks) in a 41-21 loss to the Houston Texans. But Maye was hit hard in that one and suffered a knee injury; he’s expected to play this week, but there are questions about how well the New England line (a big factor in why his first season start came so late) will protect him.
Sunday, October 20, early window
Seattle at Atlanta
Fox 1 p.m.
Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, Megan Olivi
Tennessee at Buffalo
CBS/Paramount+ 1 p.m.
Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber, Jason McCourty, AJ Ross
Cincinnati at Cleveland
CBS/Paramount+ 1 p.m.
Spero Dedes, Adam Archuleta, Aditi Kinkhabwala
Featured game 1: Houston at Green Bay
CBS/Paramount+ 1 p.m.
Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson
Sports USA Radio: Josh Appel, James White
CBS has the single-header this week, and this is the game they’re sending to most of the country. It sets up as a pretty solid one, with the Texans at 5-1 and the Packers coming in at 4-2. But those teams are in rather different positions within their divisions; Houston’s well clear at the top of the AFC South, with the Indianapolis Colts second at 3-3 and then the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars with just one win each, while Green Bay is tied for last in the NFC North with the Chicago Bears, with the Minnesota Vikings (5-0) and Detroit Lions (4-1) up ahead. So there’s perhaps more pressure on the Packers at the moment.
For Green Bay, Jordan Love enters on the heels of one of his best games to date. He threw for 258 yards and four touchdowns (with a 68.8 percent completion mark and one interception) last week in the Packers’ 34-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals. But he’s facing a tough defense: Houston’s allowed the fourth-fewest (6.2) yards per passing attempt this year, and racked up 19 sacks (fifth-highest in the league). We’ll see what he can do against the Texans.
Miami at Indianapolis
Fox 1 p.m.
Kevin Kugler, Daryl Johnson, Laura Okmin
Featured game 2: Detroit at Minnesota
Fox 1 p.m.
Adam Amin, Greg Olsen, Pam Oliver
ESPN Radio: Steve Levy, Mike Tannenbaum
Speaking of those aforementioned teams ahead of the Packers in the NFC North, they square off this week as well (and in a game also going to much of the country, so many of those even without Sunday Ticket will be able to flip back and forth). Sam Darnold has been a revelation for the unbeaten Vikings to date, but he’s coming off his roughest game of the season against his former team, the Jets. There, he only completed 14 of 31 attempts for 179 yards.
Meanwhile, the Lions are coming off an emphatic 47-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys that prompted a Jerry Jones meltdown this week. There, Jared Goff completed 72.0 percent of his passes and threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns with no picks. But while he’s also playing well this season, supporting casts may be key here; the Lions have a great offensive line and a strong receiving corps, while the Vikings have a particularly strong RB in Aaron Jones, but it’s unclear if he’ll be available. Both teams have strong defenses, though, with Minnesota second and Detroit fifth in points allowed to date (76 and 91).
Philadelphia at NY Giants
Fox 1 p.m.
Chris Myers, Mark Sanchez, Katrina Pink
Compass Media Radio: Jerry Recco, Boomer Esiason, Phil Simms, Gregg Giannotti
Sunday, October 20, afternoon window
Las Vegas at LA Rams
CBS/Paramount+ 4:05 p.m.
Kevin Harlan, Trent Green, Melanie Collins
Sports USA Radio: Larry Kahn, Alex Mack
Carolina at Washington
CBS/Paramount+ 4:05 p.m.
Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, Evan Washburn
Featured game: Kansas City at San Francisco
Fox 4:25 p.m.
Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi
Compass Media Radio: Chris Carrino, Brian Baldinger
This one’s interesting on several levels, and not just for newly confirmed Raiders’ part-owner Tom Brady and the restrictions he’s operating under. (Although those have been in place all year, they got more attention this week, including with Baldinger weighing in). But on the field, there’s a lot to cover in this rematch of February’s Super Bowl LVIII (which Kansas City won 25-22). And some of that is the dichotomies of these teams.
Kansas City is 5-0 this year and outscoring opponents 118-85, so there shouldn’t be many problems, right? Well, wins are wins, but they haven’t played a great schedule, with the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons (both 4-2) their only past opponents who are above .500 at this point. And some of their key stars, including Patrick Mahomes (1,235 passing yards, six passing touchdowns against six interceptions with a 69.4 percent completion rate) and Travis Kelce (24 catches for 228 yards with no touchdowns) haven’t appeared on the stat leaderboards the way we’d normally expect.
Meanwhile, the 49ers are tied at the top of the NFC West, but they’re just 3-3 on the season. And Brock Purdy (1,629 passing yards and nine touchdowns with four interceptions and a 65.4 percent completion mark) has played better than Mahomes, but still faces a lot of questions. We’ll see how their QB duel breaks down, and how Brady analyzes it.
Sunday, October 20, Sunday Night Football
Featured/only game: NY Jets 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, Ross Tucker
There’s plenty of drama around both of these teams as well. The Jets came close to a win on Monday in interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich’s debut in that position, falling 23-20 to the Buffalo Bills, but they’re still just 2-4 on the season. And the questions about quarterback Aaron Rodgers (1,387 yards, nine touchdowns, five interceptions and a 61.8 percent completion mark), his level of influence on the team, and his comments to the media remain. He did get an interesting new (and familiar) piece this week with the trade for Davante Adams, and we’ll see how that works out.
Meanwhile, the Steelers are facing some quarterback drama of their own after head coach Mike Tomlin’s apparent decision (although it’s not finalized yet) to start the returning-from-injury Russell Wilson over Justin Fields this week. Fields started Pittsburgh’s first six games and led them to a 4-2 mark, throwing for 1,106 yards with five touchdowns and an interception (and a 66.3 percent completion mark) and running for 231 yards and five touchdowns. But Tomlin looks set to make that change if Wilson is healthy enough. So we’ll see if that quarterback situation really is as good for the Steelers as Bill Belichick claimed earlier this year.
Monday, October 21, Monday Night Football
Featured game: Baltimore at Tampa Bay
ABC & ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN Deportes 8:15 p.m.
Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Laura Rutledge
ESPN2: Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Bill Belichick, Guests TBA
ESPN Deportes: Rebeca Landa, Sebastián Martinez-Christensen, MJ Acosta-Ruiz
Westwood One Radio: Kevin Harlan, Devin McCourty
This sets up as a strong clash of 4-2 teams. For Tampa Bay, WR Chris Godwin is having an incredible year: he leads the league with 43 receptions, is tied for first with five touchdowns, and is third with 511 receiving yards. He’s been a big part of QB Baker Mayfield’s resurgence; Mayfield has thrown for 1,489 yards and 15 touchdowns against five interceptions with a 70.9 percent completion rate to date. But the Buccaneers have had some major stumbles this year; they’re coming off a 51-27 win over the Saints, but they lost 36-30 (in overtime) to the Atlanta Falcons the week before, and their other loss was a 26-7 defeat against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 22.
Meanwhile, the Ravens are coming off a 30-23 win in a high-profile QB duel between their own Lamar Jackson and the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels. Reigning NFL MVP Jackson threw for 323 yards and a touchdown with a 76.9 percent completion mark (and one interception) last week while also rushing 11 times for 40 yards, one of his best performances of the season. (His best was probably the week before, where he threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns against the Cincinnati Bengals.) On the season, he’s thrown for 1,529 yards (seventh in the league) and 10 touchdowns with a 67.0 percent completion mark (and two interceptions). It will be interesting to see what he can do against a Bucs’ defense that’s conceded 7.9 yards per attempt so far this year, seventh-highest in the league.
LA Chargers at Arizona
ESPN+ 9 p.m.
Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky, Louis Reddick, Molly McGrath
Westwood One Radio: Kevin Kugler, Kurt Warner
ESPN+ ManningCast (mostly Ravens-Bucs, Chargers-Cardinals after that ends): Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Bill Belichick, Guests TBA
BYE: Chicago, Dallas
H/T Sammy for the listings!
