Week 5 broadcast maps: New England-Denver dominate

 

We told you it was a week of dogs in our real and spectacular picks. But the evidence of how bad a week it is can be seen here: the Raiders-Giants game, which we predict will be the biggest blowout in NFL history, is the top game in the early slot for CBS. It's being shown across three quarters of the country's geographical expanse and draws the network's No. 2 tandem of Gumbel-Dierdorf.

 

Cincy-Baltimore, meanwhile, is a battle of two 3-1 teams but has zero buzz nationally. It will generate only local coverage – except for lucky Utah! – with the immortal broadcast team of Johnson-Tasker. No respect.

 

No doubt that Patriots-Broncos is the biggest game of the week. It's being broadcast across almost the entire nation. In fact, it's getting some of the widest distribution of any game this year (other than the primetime games, obviously) and, of course, the No. 1 crew of Nantz-Simms.

 

A real bad week for Fox is highlighted by Atlanta-San Francisco, with Ablert-Johnston-Siragusa, the network's No. 2 team, calling the action. But because Fox does not have the double-header this week, the game will generate only regional coverage while competing against New England-Denver on CBS.

 

The network's No. 1 team of Buck-Aikman should just admit that they're the official broadcast crew of the Cowboys. They seem to follow America's Team religiously, even into dusty outposts of semi-pro football like Kansas City. The Cowboys-Chiefs game passes for Fox's top game in the early slot of this week of mangy dogs.