NBC, ESPN and NFL Network unveiled their prime-time schedule for next season.
Here's a look:
Highlights of the 2011 “Sunday Night Football” schedule:
•Sixteen of NBC’s 17 scheduled games involve at least one playoff team from last season; 11 of 17 include two playoff teams.
•The last two Super Bowl Champions, Saints and Packers, meet in the Thursday night NFL opening game.
•A rematch of last year’s NFC Championship game between the Packers and Bears on Christmas Night in Green Bay, the oldest rivalry in the NFL. The only other time Bears-Packers met on Christmas Day was in 2005 with the Bears winning 24-17 at Lambeau Field.
•Peyton Manning goes home to New Orleans as Saints host Colts in Week 7 in a rematch of Super Bowl XLV.
•Rex Ryan’s Rivals: Meets brother Rob (Dallas defensive coordinator) and the Cowboys in Week 1 in New York on the 10th anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001; Ryan faces his old team, the Ravens in Week 4; and his nemesis the Patriots in Week 10, in a rematch of last year’s AFC Divisional playoff game.
•Three matchups among bitter NFC East rivals: Cowboys-Eagles, Eagles-Giants, and Giants-Cowboys.
•Eagles QB Michael Vick goes back to Atlanta to face his former team for the first time as an opposing starting quarterback in Week 2.
•Traditional “Sunday Night Football” rivalries: Colts-Patriots (Week 13), Ravens-Steelers (Week 9).
•The first “NBC Sunday Night Football” trip to Kansas City as Chiefs host Steelers in Week 12.
"We are pleased to have another terrific schedule for ‘Sunday Night Football," NBC chairman Dick Ebersol said.
2011 “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” SCHEDULE
Thurs. Sept. 8 NFL Kickoff New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers
Sun. Sept. 11 Week 1 Dallas Cowboys at New York Jets
Sun. Sept. 18 Week 2 Philadelphia Eagles at Atlanta Falcons
Sun. Sept. 25 Week 3 Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts
Sun. Oct. 2 Week 4 New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens
Sun. Oct. 9 Week 5 Green Bay Packers at Atlanta Falcons
Sun. Oct. 16 Week 6 Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears
Sun. Oct. 23 Week 7 Indianapolis Colts at New Orleans Saints
Sun. Oct. 30 Week 8 Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
Sun. Nov. 6 Week 9 Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers
Sun. Nov. 13 Week 10 New England Patriots at New York Jets
Sun. Nov. 20 *Week 11 Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
Sun. Nov. 27 *Week 12 Pittsburgh Steelers at Kansas City Chiefs
Sun. Dec. 4 *Week 13 Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots
Sun. Dec. 11 *Week 14 New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
Sun. Dec. 18 *Week 15 Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers
Sun. Dec. 25 *Week 16 Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
Sun. Jan. 1 *Week 17 TBA
ESPN’s 2011 Monday Night Football Schedule
All 12 Playoff Teams from 2010; Nine Divisional Matchups; Patriots-Dolphins MNF Opener on Sept. 12
The 42nd season of Monday Night Football will kick off on ESPN with a doubleheader Monday, September 12 – New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins (7 p.m. ET) and Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos (10:15 p.m. / 8:15 p.m. MT) – and will continue with a total of 17 prime-time games. Following a successful season that delivered the 16 biggest cable household audiences of the year, ESPN’s MNF schedule will feature all 12 playoff teams from 2010, including both the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers and AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
In the first game of the nationally televised ESPN week 1 doubleheader, wide receiver Brandon Marshall and the Dolphins will host divisional foe Tom Brady and the defending AFC East champion Patriots. The second game will pit Tim Tebow and the Broncos against the Raiders in Denver as the longtime AFC West rivals face one another for an NFL record 15th time under the Monday Night lights.
Play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analysts Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski will call the Patriots-Dolphins opener, and the MNF games each week at 8:30 p.m. ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s 24-hour Spanish-language domestic sports network, will continue to offer a Spanish-language production of MNF games during the 2011 NFL season. Additional MNF “game around the game” content will be available throughout the day across ESPN’s multimedia platforms.
ESPN’s MNF Schedule Highlights:
Appearances by both Super Bowl teams – Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings (11/14); and Pittsburgh Steelers at San Francisco 49ers (12/19);
Nine of 17 MNF games involve divisional matchups, including Redskins at Cowboys (9/26), Vikings at Packers (11/14), Falcons at Saints (12/26);
Nine NFL teams with multiple MNF appearances.
Redskins-Cowboys renew their rivalry in September:
Sept. 12: Season-opening doubleheader – Patriots at Dolphins and Raiders at Broncos. Denver continues NFL’s longest current streak of 20 consecutive seasons playing on MNF (1992-present);
Sept. 19: Second-year quarterback Sam Bradford and the St. Louis Rams face Eli Manning and the New York Giants;
Sept. 26: A classic NFC East matchup featuring Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys hosting the Washington Redskins, the teams’ 14th meeting all-time on MNF.
MNF returns to Motown and Halloween night in Kansas City:
Oct. 3: Peyton Manning and the AFC South champion Indianapolis Colts travel to Tampa to face Josh Freeman and the Buccaneers. ESPN’s Gruden will call his first MNF game at the stadium he once called home as the Bucs’ coach;
Oct. 10: Jay Cutler and the defending NFC North champion Chicago Bears play Matthew Stafford and the upstart Lions as Detroit returns to MNF for first time in a decade (since Oct. 8, 2001).
Oct. 17: The Dolphins travel North for a divisional matchup to face Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets, who advanced to the AFC Championship game last season;
Oct. 24: Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens go head-to-head against Maurice Jones-Drew and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Oct. 31: Matt Cassel and the AFC West champion Chiefs host Phillip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers on Halloween night in Kansas City;
Quarterback spotlight in November with Cutler, Vick, Rodgers, Brady and Brees on MNF:
Nov. 7: In a big city NFC brawl on Broad Street, Jay Cutler and the Bears play Michael Vick and the defending NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles;
Nov. 14: Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers and the champion Green Bay Packers host Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field in a key NFC North clash;
Nov. 21: AFC contenders meet when Cassel, the former Patriots back-up, returns with the Chiefs to New England to play Brady and the Pats;
Nov. 28: It’s a homecoming for Eli Manning when the Giants go marching into New Orleans to face Drew Brees and the Saints.
Falcons-Saints finale to again decide NFC South?:
Dec. 5: The Chargers travel to Jacksonville to play Jones-Drew and the Jaguars;
Dec. 12: In a rematch of the week 17 game in 2010 that decided the NFC West, the Rams face the Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field;
Dec. 19: Ben Roethlisberger and the defending AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers face the San Francisco 49ers in a matchup of tradition-rich NFL franchises;
Dec. 26: With hopes of recapturing the division from their NFC South rivals, Brees and the Saints host Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons in the MNF season finale.
ESPN’s 2011 Monday Night Football Schedule
Preseason
Date Time (ET) Teams
Aug. 11 8 p.m. Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers
Aug. 15 8 p.m. New York Jets at Houston Texans
Aug. 22 8 p.m. Chicago Bears at New York Giants
Aug. 25 8 p.m. Washington Redskins at Baltimore Ravens
Regular Season
Sept. 12 7 p.m. New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins
10:15 p.m. Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos
Sept. 19 8:30 p.m. St. Louis Rams at New York Giants
Sept. 26 8:30 p.m. Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys
Oct. 3 8:30 p.m. Indianapolis Colts at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Oct. 10 8:30 p.m. Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions
Oct. 17 8:30 p.m. Miami Dolphins at New York Jets
Oct. 24 8:30 p.m. Baltimore Ravens at Jacksonville Jaguars
Oct. 31 8:30 p.m. San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs
Nov. 7 8:30 p.m. Chicago Bears at Philadelphia Eagles
Nov. 14 8:30 p.m. Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Nov. 21 8:30 p.m. Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Nov. 28 8:30 p.m. New York Giants at New Orleans Saints
Dec. 5 8:30 p.m. San Diego Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars
Dec. 12 8:30 p.m. St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks
Dec. 19 8:30 p.m. Pittsburgh Steelers at San Francisco 49ers
Dec. 26 8:30 p.m. Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints
NFL Network today announced its eight-game, regular-season primetime Thursday Night Football schedule which features seven 2010 playoff teams (Eagles, Steelers, Falcons, Colts, Jets, Ravens and Seahawks), including five which won division crowns and both AFC Championship Game teams (Jets and Steelers). The schedule consists of seven Thursday night games and one Saturday night telecast. Game times for the contests are 8:00 PM ET.
This year marks the sixth season of live regular season primetime games on NFL Network. Last year’s edition of Thursday Night Football was the most-watched in the network’s history with an average of 5.7 million cable viewers per game, highlighted by two of the network’s four most-watched games ever with Cowboys-Cardinals on Christmas Day (7.8 million viewers) and Bengals-Jets on Thanksgiving Day (7.1 million viewers).
Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers, Thursday, Nov. 10 – The sixth season of Thursday Night Football opens with a divisional game between long-standing rivals, Oakland and San Diego. The Raiders defeated 2010 passing leader Philip Rivers and the Chargers in both of the meetings between the two teams in 2010.
New York Jets at Denver Broncos, Thursday, Nov. 17 – The New York Jets travel to Denver for the second consecutive year to take on the Broncos, and look for a repeat of their Week 6 victory last year. This game features two of the premier defensive minds in the game in New York head coach Rex Ryan and Denver head coach John Fox, and two first-round quarterbacks in Mark Sanchez (Jets) and Tim Tebow (Broncos).
San Francisco 49ers at Baltimore Ravens, Thursday, Nov. 24 – The first-ever Thanksgiving game in Baltimore is a family affair as the Harbaugh brothers face each other for the first time as rookie NFL head coach Jim Harbaugh and the San Francisco 49ers travel to Baltimore to face head coach John Harbaugh and the Ravens. It also marks the first time in NFL history where siblings have faced each other as head coaches. This game also includes 2011 Pro Bowl linebackers Ray Lewis (Ravens) and Patrick Willis (49ers).
Philadelphia Eagles at Seattle Seahawks, Thursday, Dec. 1 – A pair of 2010 playoff teams meet at Qwest Field in Seattle. The 2010 AP Comeback Player of the Year award winner Michael Vick and the Eagles make their second consecutive appearance on Thursday Night Football, while the Seahawks will make their first appearance on NFL Network since 2006.
Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers, Thursday, Dec. 8 – AFC North division rivals Cleveland and Pittsburgh meet for the third time on NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football. The defending AFC champion Steelers aim for their eighth consecutive home victory against the Browns.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Atlanta Falcons, Thursday, Dec. 15 – After posting their best record since 2007 with Maurice Jones-Drew compiling 1,324 yards rushing, the Jacksonville Jaguars hope to make a run to the playoffs in a late-season game against the 2010 NFC South champion Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome.
Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Saturday, Dec. 17 – The Dallas Cowboys become one of two teams (Pittsburgh Steelers) to appear on every season of Thursday Night Football with a road game against Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman and the young Buccaneers on a special Saturday night edition.
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts, Thursday, Dec. 22 – The Thursday Night Football schedule concludes with an AFC South division game featuring top quarterbacks Matt Schaub (Houston) and Peyton Manning (Indianapolis). The 2010 rushing champion Arian Foster looks to repeat last year’s performance when he scored four touchdowns in two games against the Colts.
NFL Network 2011 Thursday Night Football Schedule
Week 10: Thursday, November 10 at 8:00 PM ET
Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers
Week 11: Thursday, November 17 at 8:00 PM ET
New York Jets at Denver Broncos
Week 12: Thursday, November 24 at 8:00 PM ET
San Francisco 49ers at Baltimore Ravens (Thanksgiving)
Week 13: Thursday, December 1 at 8:00 PM ET
Philadelphia Eagles at Seattle Seahawks
Week 14: Thursday, December 8 at 8:00 PM ET
Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 15: Thursday, December 15 at 8:00 PM ET
Jacksonville Jaguars at Atlanta Falcons
Week 15: Saturday, December 17 at 8:00 PM ET
Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 16: Thursday, December 22 at 8:00 PM ET
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts
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