Dandy Week 11 broadcast maps: CBS says SD-Pitt week's top game???

These nifty NFL broadcast maps are provided each week courtesy of the fine folks at the506.com. The maps offer some cool collages highlighting what Pigskin America is watching each Sunday.

 

The maps also provide some insight into the NFL, the hot teams, the psyche of fans and the goals of the big pro football broadcasters.

 

The Ravens-Giants showdown, an inter-conference battle of two likely playoff teams, draws top billing in the early CBS slot, but only the network's No. 2 tandem of Gumbel-Dierdorf.

 

An intriguing Denver-Atlanta showdown, featuring two of the most promising young QBs in the league (Jay Cutler, Matt Ryan), draws widespread distribution across the Southeast and a wide stretch of the middle of the country that bears an uncanny resemblance to the Louisiana Purchase. Seriously, look for yourself.

 

This is kind of interesting: the undefeated Titans have a divisional battle against the (admittedly disappointing) Jaguars. Yet CBS gives top billing to San Diego-Pittsburgh, with the network's top crew of Nantz-Simms and distribution across about three quarters of the country.

 

Seems a little curious. After all, the Chargers have been just as disappointing as the Jaguars, while the Titans are clearly a bigger story at this point in the season than Pittsburgh. If anything, the top crew should be working the Ravens-Giants battle. But what do we know. We just work here.

 

With the Cowboys playing Sunday in primetime on NBC, Fox's No. 1 crew of Buck-Aikman, who typically call Dallas games, find themselves in Green Bay to watch the Gale Sayers-Dick Butkus Bears battle the Bart Starr-Ray Nitschke Packers. (Hey, we can dream can't we?)

 

The 175th meeting of these two old-school rivals (it's the most played series in the NFL) gets scattered coverage in different parts of the country, from the tip of Maine to the Tijuana border.

 

The network's other intriguing game, the Vikings-Bucs battle that will impact the NFC playoff race, gets only regional coverage.