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Sunday Night Football
Program:
Sunday Night Football
NBC Sunday Night Football
NBC Sunday Night Football opening logo.
Format:
Sports
Broadcast Information
Runtime
Conclusion of game, usually about 180 minutes
Studio personalities/Commentators
Commentators:

Al Michaels

Cris Collinsworth

Michele Tafoya

Studio personalities:

Mike Tirico

Dan Patrick

Tony Dungy

Rodney Harrison

Country:
United States
Network:
NBC
First Aired/Last Aired:
August 6, 2006-present
TV Picture Format/Internet
480i standard definition (SDTV),
1080i hi-definition (HDTV)
Official Website
website = http://www.snfonnbc.com/

NBC Sunday Night Football is a weekly television broadcast of Sunday evening National Football League games on NBC that began airing on Sunday, August 6, 2006 with the pre-season opening Hall of Fame Game.

During the 2011–12 season, Sunday Night Football became the first live sports competition to hold the position as Nielsen's most-watched program on U.S. network television during the year, beating American Idol, which held that honor for eight consecutive seasons beginning in 2004; Sunday Night Football repeated this feat three years running, beginning with the 2013–14 season.

As of 2017, Al Michaels as play-by-play announcer, Cris Collinsworth as the color commentator, and Michele Tafoya as the sideline reporter, Fred Gaudelli and Drew Esocoff, the lead producer and director respectively.

Since 2014, sister cable channel NBC Universo has carried Spanish-language simulcasts of select games, after years of aborted attempts to simulcast the games on Telemundo; as with the NFL's other television partners, NBC provides Spanish-language audio feed of the game broadcasts via second audio program (SAP), formerly noted as being "provided by Telemundo" before the rebranding of that entity's sports division to NBC Deportes. With the former mun2's relaunch on February 1, 2015, NBC Universo simulcast Super Bowl XLIX with NBC, with the channel expected to carry Spanish-language simulcasts of NFL games and NBC Sports properties.

Studio show

NBC's broadcast begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time with its pre-game show Football Night in America, which runs until kickoff (which usually occurs around 8:20 p.m. Eastern). The show serves the same purpose as NFL Primetime did for ESPN, offering recaps of the early action as well as a preview of the game to come. The show emanates from the NBC Sports studios in Connecticut as well as at the game site. Dan Patrick, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, Peter King and Mike Florio broadcast from the studio while Mike Tirico reports from the game. Michaels, Collinsworth, and Tafoya will also appear.

Contract

NBC's current contract includes the season-opening Thursday Night NFL Kickoff Game the game played on Thanksgiving Night, and 2 playoff games, 1 in the Wild Card round and 1 in the Divisional Playoffs.

Under the initial 6-year deal, the network was also awarded the rights to two Super Bowl games, following the 2008 (Super Bowl XLIII) and 2011 (Super Bowl XLVI) seasons, and the Pro Bowl games in the years which NBC was slated to air the Super Bowl. Beginning in 2012, through an extension to the contract that runs through 2022, NBC also gained the rights to air a primetime Thanksgiving game (which had previously been part of NFL Network's Thursday Night Football package), 1 Divisional Playoff game in lieu of a Wild Card game in the postseason, and the rights to Super Bowls held or to be held in 2015 (Super Bowl XLIX), 2018, (Super Bowl LII), and 2021 (Super Bowl LV). However, the Pro Bowl is not included in the new contract as ESPN was set to gain exclusive rights to the game in 2015, with NBC's broadcast of the 2014 Pro Bowl being the final time the game would air on broadcast television for the foreseeable future.

NBC is the current home of the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, which begins the NFL's preseason each August. 2 preseason games (the Hall of Fame game and 1 other match-up, depending on other NBC Sports commitments), and the Thursday night season opener will be retained in the new contract beginning in 2014.

From 2006 until 2013, NBC's contract included the rights to both Saturday Wild Card Playoff games that had been previously aired by ABC as part of its Monday Night Football contract. Tom Hammond was the lead play-by-play announcer for the early game until 2012, with Dan Hicks taking the position in 2013. Joe Theismann and Joe Gibbs was the initial color commentator for these broadcasts, doing so until 2011. Mike Mayock, NBC's Notre Dame color commentator provide color commentary in 2012, with John Madden taking over as color commentator in 2013.

Scheduling

For more details on each game's results and statistics, see NBC Sunday Night Football results (2006–present).

Opening game

The first regular season game to be shown by NBC under this contract, Miami at Pittsburgh, aired September 7, 2006, followed by the first Sunday Night game; Indianapolis at the New York Giants on September 10, 2006; which is the first Manning Bowl. The actual first game of the run—the 2006 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game between Oakland and Philadelphia—was televised on August 6, 2006.

Flexible scheduling

NBC Sunday Night Football is the beneficiary of the leauge's new flexible-scheduling system. Since the NFL now considers Sunday Night Football to be its featured game of the week, for the final 7 weeks of the season including Week 17 (7 of the final 8 weeks during the 2006 and 2011 seasons because of Christmas weekend), the NFL has the flexibility in selecting games to air on Sunday night.

World Series conflicts

In its first 4 seasons of Sunday night coverage, NBC took one week off in late October or early November, so as not to conflict with Fox's coverage of baseball's World Series. In 2006 NBC did not air a game on October 22, which was the set date for World Series Game 2, but a potential conflict still existed on October 29 had the series gone seven games (the conflict never arose, however, as the 2006 World Series ended in 5 games). With the change in World Series scheduling beginning in 2007, NBC did not air a game in order to avoid a conflict with World Series Game 4, which is the first chance a team would have to clinch the series. In 2007, there was no game on October 28; in 2008, there was no game on October 26; and in 2009, there was no game on November 1. Although no games aired on these nights, Football Night in America still aired as scheduled at 7 p.m. Eastern.

NBC televised a game on October 31, 2010 and again on October 23, 2011, opposite Game 4 of the World Series on Fox in both cases. Both games featured New Orleans Saints at home, first in 2010 against Pittsburgh Steelers, then in 2011 against Indianapolis Colts. Both cities that are home to News Orleans Saints, New Orleans and the Colts, Indianapolis do not have a Major League Baseball team, and the Pittsburgh Pirates have been recently poor, having not recorded a winning record since 1992. Coincidentally, the minor league team in Indianapolis, Indianapolis Indians, have been the Pirates AAA affiliate since 2005.

Ratings have been mixed for these results, with the NFL winning the night in 2010 while MLB won in 2011. While the Saints won both games, the former matchup featuring a major Nielsen ratings draw in the Steelers, combined with the latter matchup against Colts being a 62–7 blowout while Game 4 of the 2011 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers was a more closely contested game, caused the ratings to slip in 2011.

In 2012, NFL once again scheduled the Saints to play on Sunday Night Football in late October, this time against Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on October 28. (Denver does have an MLB team, the Colorado Rockies, that has had some success in recent seasons, including a trip to the 2007 World Series, though they did not contend for the NL West this season.) The game wound up being scheduled opposite the 4th (and final) game of the 2012 World Series.

2000s

2006

In the 2006 season, in addition to the World Series off-week, there was no game scheduled for Christmas Eve night; NBC broadcast that week's game (Eagles at Cowboys) on Christmas afternoon instead. A half-hour version of Football Night in America aired before the Christmas game and the two "Wild Card Saturday" games. During the 2006 season, no game was initially scheduled for NBC in the affected weeks instead, the schedule slot for the NBC game was left vacant, with one Sunday afternoon game being moved to the prime-time slot (the schedule for the affected weeks simply read "one of these games will move to 8:15 Eastern"). CBS and Fox could each protect 4 of its games during Weeks 10-15 and also each protect one of its games for Week 17; however, these two networks had to decide which games to protect in early October 2006, after Week 4 of the NFL season.

2007

For the first time since NBC gained the rights to Sunday Night Football, a tentative full-season schedule was unveiled, including games in the last 7 weeks of the season. Those games could be replaced under flexible scheduling if the need arose. The same rules under which CBS and Fox protect games for their own packages still apply.

Three of the games in the last 7 weeks of the season were eventually replaced with more compelling matches. This resulted in the situation – twice – of having a team playing on consecutive Sunday nights. New England had consecutive Sunday nighters: the November 18 New England at Buffalo game was moved to prime time and was followed on November 25 by the already-scheduled Philadelphia at New England game. Likewise, the Washington Redskins played a scheduled game at the New York Giants on December 16, and their December 23 game in Minnesota was moved to prime time. For the last week of the season, Tennessee Titans–Indianapolis Colts game was moved, switching places with the Kansas City Chiefs–New York Jets game that was originally scheduled in the Sunday night slot; the Titans needed a win to secure the final AFC playoff spot.

In addition, the annual preseason Hall of Fame Game telecast was shifted to NFL Network, in anticipation of NBC airing the China Bowl contest from Beijing; however, the China Bowl was canceled.

2008

The 2008 schedule, released on April 15, continued the 2007 practice of a scheduled game possibly being moved in favor of a more compelling one during Weeks 11-16 (November 16 through December 21), but left the slot open on the final Sunday, December 28. The NFL Kickoff Game between Washington Redskins and defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants that was played on September 4 started at 7 p.m. ET instead of the normal 8:30 p.m. time in order to avoid conflict with the nomination speech that John McCain gave at the Republican National Convention that night; the game ended at 10:01 p.m. Eastern Time, averting any conflict, and Indianapolis Colts host Chicago Bears 3 days later, as a result, the Manning brothers was used in commercial.

As had happened in 2007, a team played on consecutive Sunday nights due to a game being moved into the Sunday night time slot. The originally scheduled New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game on December 14 was followed by a flexed December 21 home game for the Giants against Carolina Panthers; the Giants-Panthers game was flexed because it carried serious playoff implications, as the winner would clinch the NFC's top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. This was the 2 of 3 flexed games, with a December 7 inter-conference matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Redskins. The league filled the open spot on December 28 with a game between the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers with major playoff implications, as the winner of that game would win the AFC West while the loser would be eliminated.

2009

The 2009 schedule, released on April 14, continued the 2007 and 2008 practice of scheduling a game every Sunday night during the season (except during the World Series) but declaring the games in Weeks 11 through 16 (November 22 through December 27) subject to change, should a more compelling matchup arise. The pattern of the 2007 and 2008 schedules was continued, as the slot for the final Sunday night of the season – January 3, 2010 – was left vacant. Two games were "flexed" in the 2009 season, as the Minnesota Vikings–Arizona Cardinals game replaced the original December 6 matchup between the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins.

To fill the vacant game slot for the last week of the season, NBC was given the match-up between the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets that was originally scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS, with this game having playoff implications for both teams. For the Jets, a win would have put them in the playoffs, while the Bengals had the potential to improve their seeding for the playoffs with a victory. The Jets-Bengals game ended up being the last game played at Giants Stadium (the Jets could have hosted the AFC Championship game, but the Baltimore Ravens did not hold up their end of the deal).

2010s

2010

The 2010 schedule, released on April 20, placed a Sunday night game (Pittsburgh Steelers at New Orleans Saints) against a World Series game for the first time since the NBC Sunday night contract began. It also continued the previous practice of scheduling a Sunday night game during every week of the season, and declaring the games in Weeks 11 through 16 (November 21 through December 26) as "flex games", meaning they reverted to Sunday afternoon if a more attractive matchup arose.

The Week 16 game, between Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles, originally scheduled for December 26, was moved to December 28 due to a major blizzard that affected most of the Eastern United States. The NFL postponed the game after Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter declared a snow emergency for the city. It was the 23rd NFL game to be played on a Tuesday, but the first since 1946. This was the only game, outside of the final Sunday night, to be "flexed" in the 2010 season; the original schedule called for the San Diego Chargers to play the Bengals in Cincinnati (the game was moved to CBS, and was indeed blacked out in Cincinnati). Because of this, a full 90-minute edition of Football Night in America aired on December 26, with a short five-minute pre-game leading into the game on the 28th, while Faith Hill's introduction was not played due to time constraints before kickoff.

For the Week 17 match-up, NBC featured the 7–8 St. Louis Rams playing the 6–9 Seattle Seahawks in a win-and-in game, where the winner of the game would qualify for the playoffs as the NFC West Division Champion while the loser will be eliminated.

2011

The 2011 schedule, released on April 19, once again placed a Sunday night game (Indianapolis Colts at New Orleans Saints on October 23, the fourth straight time these teams played each other on national television) opposite a World Series game. Sunday Night games between November 13 and December 18 (inclusive) were "flex games", which could have reverted to Sunday afternoon if a more competitive matchup arose (one was; see below). The final Sunday night of the season – January 1, 2012 – was likewise a "flex game"; the slot, vacant when the schedule was released, was filled by the game between Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. The Hall of Fame Game scheduled for August 7, and to be shown on NBC, was canceled due to the lockout that off-season; it was the only game to be affected.

The NFL announced on November 8 that the Week 13 rivalry game between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots would be moved to 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, while a replacement game would be announced by November 22. This was due to the Colts struggling without their star QB Peyton Manning (without him, Colts lost 62–7 to New Orleans Saints in a Sunday night game on October 23). This also marked the first time the NFL announced that a Sunday night game was being moved to the afternoon without simultaneously announcing a replacement. On November 21, the matchup between Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints was flexed into the Sunday night slot. As compensation to Fox because they only had two other games in the early time slot, the league gave them the Denver Broncos–Minnesota Vikings game that was originally to air on CBS. This was the first time that the league moved an inter-conference telecast to the home team's Sunday afternoon regional broadcaster.

On November 14, the NFL decided to keep the Week 12 matchup between Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs on November 27 in place after the league considered flexing it out for other matchups, particularly the AFC East showdown between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets and the inter-conference matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tennessee Titans, due to the AFC West (of which the Chiefs are a member) being a weak division for 2011.

On December 7, NFL ended up keeping the Week 15 match-up between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Diego Chargers on December 18, a decision that came a day late due to the NFL Committees meetings that took place on the day before. NBC wanted the game between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos as it featured a matchup between Tom Brady and Tim Tebow, two players with high popularity. While CBS did not protect that game, the network was fighting to keep the game since they had lost the aforementioned Week 13 Broncos-Vikings game to Fox, denying the network the earlier chance to capitalize on Tebow's marketability.

For the second consecutive season, and third overall, the last Sunday night game that was flexed in featured a contest in which the winner would become the division champions and earn a home game in the playoffs while the loser would be eliminated. This particular matchup was for the NFC East between New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium, a rematch of Week 14's Sunday night broadcast. This was the first time NBC had shown both meetings of division rivals during a regular season.

The 2011 season ended with an average of 20.7 million viewers and was the highest-rated program of the 2011–12 television season, dethroning American Idol, which was the highest-rated program for eight consecutive seasons. As a further result, Sunday Night Football became the first-ever television sports series of any kind to finish a television season as the most-watched show.

2012

The only flexed game of the season that displaced a scheduled game took place on December 23; the San Diego Chargers at New York Jets game reverted to the afternoon, and the San Francisco 49ers played in Seattle that night. This resulted in the 49ers playing on consecutive Sunday nights, both on the road (the team played in New England the previous Sunday night, December 16). A portion of the San Francisco-New England game aired on the NBCSN and CNBC due to NBC News' live coverage of Barack Obama's speech following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting; (except for New England and San Francisco markets; which would remain on NBC).

The final Sunday night of the season – December 30, 2012 – likewise was a "flex game"; the slot was left vacant when the schedule was released, as has been the practice of the past 4 seasons. It was filled by the game between Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. Usually announced on the Tuesday before game day (but sometimes before), the game typically highlights a situation in which winner advances to the playoffs while loser does not; the winner of this flex game would win its division, although Redskins would still advance to the playoffs as a wild card team - even if the team lost - if certain other teams lost. After the first 15 games were played that day, which included Minnesota Vikings clinching the #6 seed in NFC with a win, the game would turn out to be a winner-take-all, in which winner would clinch the No. 4 seed in NFC and loser would be eliminated regardless. The Redskins would eventually defeat Cowboys 28-18 and clinch their first NFC East crown since 1999.

2013

The 2013 schedule, released on April 18, once again placed a Sunday night game (Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings) against a World Series game. This was the 4th straight year that a World series game competed against a Sunday Night game. Sunday night games between November 17 and December 22 (inclusive) were "flex games", they would revert to Sunday afternoon if a more competitive matchup arose. The final Sunday Night of the season – December 29, 2013 – likewise was a "flex game"; the slot was left vacant when the schedule was released, as has been the practice of the past five seasons. The game site (and, by extension, its teams) was determined after the completion of most Week 16 games. It was filled by the game between Philadelphia at Dallas.

The league announced on November 1, 2013, that the Week 11 Kansas City Chiefs–Denver Broncos game, originally scheduled as CBS's only late 4:05 p.m. ET singleheader game, was flexed into the Sunday Night Football, replacing the originally scheduled Green Bay Packers–New York Giants game. CBS originally selected the Chiefs–Broncos matchup as one of their "protected games" from flex-scheduling, but later allowed the league to flex it so it could be seen by a national audience. This would be one of two cases of a team playing on consecutive Sunday nights due to one of the games being moved in to the Sunday night slot (as Denver Broncos would play New England Patriots the following Sunday night); Philadelphia Eagles, the other team to play on consecutive Sunday nights, played at home against Chicago Bears on December 22 and played in Dallas on December 29.

On December 2, 2013, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported (via Twitter) that the Week 15 rivalry game between Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers for December 15 would remain in the Sunday Night slot, a report later confirmed by NFL. The league had considered flexing the game out due to Steelers starting the season 0-4, which included a 20-10 loss to Bengals on Monday Night Football earlier in the season that was more of a blowout than the final score indicated. Ultimately, it was decided to keep the rematch in the Sunday Night slot due Steelers making a late playoff push, the team's fanbase that provides high ratings regardless of how well the Steelers are doing, as well as a lack of compelling matchups for the week, with only 2 other pairings that did not have a team with a losing record by the flex deadline (New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens at Detroit Lions, the latter being a Monday night game which could not be flexed out of its slot).

On December 10, 2013, NFL decided to flex Week 16 Chicago Bears-Philadelphia Eagles matchup into the Sunday Night slot, replacing New England Patriots-Baltimore Ravens matchup, which moved to the late afternoon slot on CBS. The move surprised many in the television industry, as all four teams were strong playoff contenders. Some have speculated that since the Patriots had an opportunity to lock up the AFC East before their game in Baltimore (the Patriots were ultimately upset by Dolphins 24-20), while the other 3 teams would not be able to clinch playoff spots (nor would they be eliminated) prior to Week 16, that the Bears-Eagles matchup might be more compelling.

On December 22, 2013, NFL decided to flex week 17 game between Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys to determine NFC East Champion while the loser will be eliminated.

2013 Sunday Night Football "flex schedule" games
Week Planned game Selected game Ref.
11 Packers at Giants Chiefs at Broncos
12 Broncos at Patriots [24]
13 Giants at Redskins [25]
14 Falcons at Packers Panthers at Saints [26]
15 Bengals at Steelers [27]
16 Patriots at Ravens Bears at Eagles [28]
17 no game scheduled Eagles at Cowboys [29]

2014

When the 2014 NFL schedule was released on April 23, it placed a Sunday night game (Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints) against a World Series game for the fifth straight year. Starting with this season, NBC was permitted to begin flexing games as soon as Week 5, with the restriction that no more than two games may be flexed between Weeks 5 and 10. The final Sunday night of the season – December 28, 2014 – likewise was a flex game; the slot was left vacant when the schedule was released, as been the practice of the past six seasons. The game's teams (and, by extension, its location) was announced after most week 16 games it was filled by Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. Country/pop superstar Carrie Underwood continued her role as the performer of the Sunday Night Football opener.

On November 11, 2014, the NFL announced that the November 16 game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants game would air as scheduled, even though the Detroit Lions–New England Patriots game was considered to be a better matchup, citing that the Cowboys are one of the most popular NFL teams playing in the country's largest media market.

For the first time since flexed scheduling went into effect, no Sunday Night games were flexed during the season other than Week 17 (where the match-up is usually determined as late as 6 days prior to the Sunday of Week 17)

On December 21, 2014, NFL announced that the rivalry game between Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers would be flexed into the Week 17 Sunday Night Football slot, with the winner clinching the AFC North. The league considered flexing the Atlanta FalconsCarolina Panthers game into the Sunday Night slot as it decided NFC South while loser would be eliminated, but the division being historically weak (it was assured to have a division winner with a losing record by the end of Week 16), combined with Steelers being a major draw, led to the league's decision. With the Bengals and Steelers clinching a playoff spot in Week 16, it also marked the first time since the NFL scheduled all intra-divisional matchups in Week 17 in 2010 that a game flexed to the Week 17 slot featured at least 1 team (in this case both) that was already in the playoffs. It was later reported by Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King that the league chose to flex the Bengals-Steelers game because CBS has not had a game flexed in the Week 17 slot since 2009; the aforementioned Falcons-Panthers match-up was later flexed to CBS as part of the new television contract that allows intra-conference match-ups to be flexed between CBS and Fox.

2015

The 2015 schedule was released on April 21, 2015. The defending Super Bowl champions New England Patriots faced Pittsburgh Steelers during the NFL Opening Kickoff Game on Thursday, September 10, 2015. Other notable games included Seattle Seahawks vs Green Bay Packers (Week 2) and New England Patriots vs Indianapolis Colts (Week 6) in a rematch of their respective conference championship games. It also placed a Sunday Night game (Green Bay Packers at Denver Broncos on November 1) against a World Series game for the 6th straight year. The final Sunday Night game of the season – January 3, 2016 – likewise was a flex game; the slot was left vacant when the schedule came out as has been the practice over the past 7 seasons. The games team's (and by extension, and its location) was announced after most week 16 games. It was filled by Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers. Arizona Cardinals wound up playing on consecutive Sunday nights — at Seattle Seahawks in Week 10 and then, at home against Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11 (Cardinals won both of those games), with the latter being flexed into the Sunday Night slot. The December 20 game (Cincinnati Bengals at San Francisco 49ers) reverted to the afternoon, replaced by the Arizona at Philadelphia Eagles game. Minnesota Vikings also wound up playing on consecutive Sunday Nights beginning in week 16 at home against New York Giants and on the road in Week 17 against the Green Bay Packers.

2016

The 2016 schedule was released on April 14, 2016. NBC's first telecast of the season featured a rematch of Super Bowl 50 when Denver Broncos played host to Carolina Panthers, the first time the Super Bowl participants faced each other in Week 1 of the subsequent year since 1970. It also placed a Sunday night game (Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys) against a World Series game for the seventh straight year. The Thanksgiving Night match-up featured the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Indianapolis Colts, and for the first time since 2011, NBC carried a Christmas Day game as Denver Broncos traveled to play Kansas City Chiefs, a rematch of the Week 12 game in Denver that was flexed into that week's Sunday night slot. In addition, NBC carried 5 late season Thursday Night Football games in conjunction with NFL Network in a similar arrangement to the one NFLN has with CBS. As before, flexible scheduling rules went into effect in Week 5, with Week 16 excluded because the majority of the schedule was played on Christmas Eve, The final Sunday Night game of the season – Sunday January 1, 2017 – likewise was a flex game; the slot was left vacant when the schedule came out as has been the practice over the past eight seasons. The game's teams determined (and by extension and it's location) was announced after most Week 16 games. It was filled by the Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions. 

The Week 5 game between the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers was placed against the second presidential debate. The debate did not air on NBC due to contractual obligations, however, it was carried by several other channels including sister networks CNBC and MSNBC.

The Week 7 game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals ended in a 6-6 tie following a missed field goal from each team in the last minutes of overtime. This became not only the first tie to be featured on Sunday Night Football, but also the first tie not to see a touchdown since 1972, as well as the lowest scoring tie, and the second lowest score in the prime time slot.

On November 14, 2016, the NFL announced that it had flexed the Chiefs-Broncos game into the Sunday night slot for Week 12, replacing the originally-scheduled New England Patriots-New York Jets game, which was moved to the 4:25 p.m. ET slot as the second game of the doubleheader on CBS. With the aforementioned Week 16 matchup between the Broncos and Chiefs already being scheduled for Christmas night (December 25), that was the second time that NBC has shown both meetings of division rivals during a regular season.

On December 4, 2016, the NFL announced that it had flexed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Dallas Cowboys game into the Sunday night slot for Week 15, replacing the originally-scheduled Pittsburgh Steelers-Cincinnati Bengals game, which was moved to the 1:00 p.m. ET slot as the early game on CBS. As a result, the Cowboys wound up playing on consecutive Sunday nights — on the road against the New York Giants in Week 14 (which they lost, 10-7) & then at home against the Buccaneers in Week 15 (which they won, 26-20).

On January 15, 2017, NBC was scheduled to carry an AFC divisional playoff game with the Chiefs at home against the Steelers in the afternoon; on January 13, the NFL announced that game would move to primetime on NBC the same day due to an ice storm affecting the Kansas City area which would cause perilous travel for fans if the game went on as regularly scheduled, and thus becoming an unexpected bonus Sunday Night Football broadcast in its regular timeslot. NBC filled the vacated afternoon timeslot with a NHL game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals.

2017

The 2017 NFL Schedule was released on April 20th. NBC's first telecast of the season will feature the NFL Kickoff Game between Super Bowl LI champion New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs on September 7, followed by the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys on September 10. It will also place a Sunday Night Game (Pittsburgh Steelers at Detroit Lions) against a World Series game for the eighth straight year. The Thanksgiving Night game will feature New York Giants against Washington Redskins. The Week 16 Game Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers will air on Saturday December 23. Because the majority of the schedule will be played on Christmas Eve which will fall on a Sunday. This will also be NBC's second year of producing Thursday Night Football with CBS and NFL Network. In Addition to airing 5 Thursday Night Games. NBC along with NFL Network will also air the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Houston Texans on Christmas Day. The final Sunday Night Game of the season – Sunday December 31, 2017 – Likewise is a flex game; who's slot was left blank when the schedule came out as has been the practice of the past nine seasons. The game's teams will be determined at a later date (typically upon completion of most Week 16 games). This season will also mark the year that NBC will broadcast Super Bowl LII.

Similarities to ABC's NFL coverage

Much of NBC's Sunday Night Football production crew comes from ABC/ESPN, including Fred Gaudelli and Drew Esocoff (who respectively serve as producer and director of the broadcasts), as ESPN moved most of its previous Sunday night crew over to Monday Night Football. Michaels and Madden also came to NBC directly from ABC/ESPN, while Cris Collinsworth also came to NBC directly from Fox, and Football Night in America's Sterling Sharpe was a member of ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown in recent years (calling several Sunday night games for the network in 2005). With regard to using ABC/ESPN talent, NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said, "I was not interested in the quote, unquote vanity of starting anew ... There's not a lot of room for experimentation."

In addition, NBC has the starters for each team introduce themselves on each side of the ball (though the strict "player name/position/playing college" introductions of the past have been relaxed, and now players can list their birthplace or high school in the last part rather than their playing college), much as ABC did in the last few years of its run, and the short post-game show (done to allow affiliates to start their late newscasts) follows a similar format to ABC's. As of Week 9 of the 2016 NFL season, this practice is also used on the NBC-produced Thursday Night Football broadcasts on NBC and/or NFL Network.

Michaels, Madden, and Collinsworth ended each telecast in the 2007 and 2008 NFL seasons by selecting an MVP for that night's game to receive the Horse Trailer award (with a photo of each recipient being affixed to the side of a production truck, also known as a "horse trailer"). This concept originated from Madden's days with the NFL on CBS, where he invented the similar "Turkey Leg Award" for the Thanksgiving Day game in 1989 (he later took the concept to Fox, then expanded it to every game of the year with the Horse Trailer Award when he joined ABC in 2002). In the 2006 season, the MVP concept was modified slightly, where the game's MVP was called the "Rock Star of the Game" and had his photo placed on a display at the "Top of the Rock" observation deck atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza, NBC's New York headquarters, in New York. When Madden retired following Super Bowl XLIII, the Horse Trailer Player of the Game award was discontinued.

Theme music

Academy Award winner John Williams composed the instrumental theme music, titled "Wide Receiver,"[for Sunday Night Football. For Super Bowl XLIII, NBC commissioned Joel Beckerman[44] of Man Made Music to create new instrumental cues adding techno and rock elements around the main brass melody. These cues replaced the original Williams arrangements full-time at the start of the 2009 season. Singer Pink sang the theme song for the broadcast in 2006, a reworking of the Joan Jett song "I Hate Myself for Loving You" retitled "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night". Several alternative versions were used throughout the season, substituting different lyrics when appropriate (such as "Waiting All Year For Opening Night").

In 2007, country singer Faith Hill replaced Pink as the singer of the opening theme, and a new arrangement of the Joan Jett song coincided with her debut.[48] The Faith Hill intro, in particular, was not without criticism and parody. The intro was lampooned in the October 9, 2010 episode of Saturday Night Live, with host Jane Lynch as Hill (with Jason Sudeikis as Al Michaels and Bill Hader as Cris Collinsworth).[50][51] In the 30 Rock episode "Season 4", the character of Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) sings what appears to be an allusion to the Faith Hill intro for NBC's fictional Tennis Night in America[52][53] program. In the South Park episode entitled "Faith Hilling", Eric Cartman sings an obvious spoof of Hill's actual Sunday Night Football song. On April 15, 2013, Hill announced that she would no longer sing the intro song for Sunday Night Football.

The use of the reworked Joan Jett song is another similarity to ABC's Monday Night Football coverage. From 1989 to 2011, Hank Williams, Jr. opened MNF with a reworking of his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" entitled "All My Rowdy Friends Are Back for Monday Night (Are You Ready for Some Football?)."

On October 7, 2012, the Soul Rebels Brass Band had a featured performance on Sunday Night Football, performing the show's theme song.

It was announced May 7, 2013, that Carrie Underwood would take over singing the theme song.

A new Underwood-sung theme known as "Oh, Sunday Night", which takes elements from her 2014 duet hit with Miranda Lambert, "Somethin' Bad", premiered with the opening game of the 2016 season on September 11.

For NBC's coverage of Thursday Night Football, a capella group Pentatonix sings the opening theme song called "Weekend Go." The song is a reworked version of their original song "Sing." NBC also used the "TNF" main theme music called "Can't Hold Us Down," performed by members of the Broadway orchestra for Hamilton.

Show opening

The song is at the centerpiece of the opening montage, which has changed several times over the years. Underwood's music has always played in the background over the official welcome after the opening is completed and the teams take the field.

2006

For the first season, Pink appeared to sing from the top of a skyscraper as a helicopter zoomed down on a city skyline with enlarged players Shaun Alexander, LaDainian Tomlinson and Tom Brady and the field, the results of computer-generated imagery. A television monitor, which resembles the monitor at Times Square leased at the time by NBC, showed game preview footage and opening credits.

2007

Faith Hill, who replaced Pink as the theme song's performer, sang on a stage while some of the key players in the game and announcers Al Michaels and John Madden arrived in limousines and walk on a red carpet as they head to a simulated theater. The marquee outside the theater showed the logo of then-official NFL communications partner Sprint, which paid a product placement fee, and one of the "bystanders" recorded the red carpet scene on a Sprint camera phone. Access Hollywood co-hosts Shaun Robinson and Tony Potts also appeared in the opening. In addition, some of the lyrics were changed slightly and the musical arrangement tilts toward country more than rock, to reflect the change in singers.

2008

The 2008 opening, which debuted on September 7, takes place in a stadium. Hill performs surrounded by video screens with simulated game action, and the song ends with a computer-generated fireworks display. Once again, a Sprint camera phone is used, this time by a fan. Among the spectators are NFL stars Ray Lewis and Antonio Gates. Again, there were some lyrics changes, among them was the substitution of the lyrics "last one standing better turn out the lights."[58]

Super Bowl XLIII

A special intro sequence was used for Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009. Hill performs with CGI blue neon lights in the settings of the background and at the end of the video, the Vince Lombardi Trophy enters through pouring water, showing the trophy in front of the city of Tampa (the host city of Super Bowl XLIII).

2009

For 2009, Faith Hill appears in the intro sequence performed in a closed-studio setting, surrounded by video monitors, neon lights and a message board that displayed the names of the production staff. Sprint returned for more product placement, as a branded cell phone appeared to give an alert that the game was about to start.

2010

Faith Hill was seen in front of a Ford Mustang convertible as the song began, overlooking a bluff; the scene was taped in the Hollywood Hills in Southern California. A number of NFL stars appeared in front of various landmarks throughout the United States, including Peyton Manning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Eli Manning at Times Square, Desean Jackson at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Larry Fitzgerald in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Drew Brees on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Hill herself drove down a road with some simulated billboards with the opening credits and a product placement ad for Verizon (which replaced Sprint as the league's telecommunications sponsor) and was also seen at the Washington Monument. Some of the lyrics changed yet again; for example, the opening line once again asked, "Alright, Sunday night, where are you?" Hill gathered with the NFL stars on a CG football field inside a stadium at the end of the video. In Week 16, the introduction did not air due to the game moving to Tuesday night and time constraints.

2011

There were a few significant changes from the previous year, including Faith Hill (who herself returned for her fifth year as part of the telecast's opening) arriving in a motorcycle. In addition, Verizon returned for more product placement. Most of the scenes, including the NFL stars' appearances in front of various landmarks throughout the U.S. and Hill at the Washington Monument (with the minor difference being her wardrobe), were repeated from 2010, however several new NFL stars appeared, including Adrian Peterson and Brian Urlacher; in the last few seconds of the sequence, all of them gather on a computer-generated football field. In another notable change, the opening credits were dropped for the season. J. Ivy, a spoken word poet from Chicago who has worked with Kanye West and Jay-Z, also appears during the opening.

Super Bowl XLVI

Faith Hill performed another special Super Bowl version of the song at the start of the network's broadcast of Super Bowl XLVI on February 5, 2012. With computer-generated technology, this was filmed in a closed-studio setting, with Hill surrounded by video screens showing clips from past Super Bowls. A Verizon smartphone (product placement) was seen at the beginning of the video sequence.

2012

Some changes were made to the show's opening for the 2012 season, which included Faith Hill walking through the tunnel towards the stage. She then performs with a rock band in front of a live audience, with video screens in the background. Shortly after the start of the song, guests appeared on the CG video screens each week (such as three of the judges from The Voice for Week 1 and the Chicago Fire Department for Week 3) singing the line "We want it too!". The live audience uses their smartphones to form the Verizon logo. NFL stars are also seen going through the tunnel with moving CG images of city landmarks, players and team logos. Initially, the stars presented were Aaron Rodgers (Packers), Clay Matthews (Packers), Ray Lewis (Ravens), Patrick Willis (49ers), Jimmy Graham (Saints), DeMarcus Ware (Cowboys), Calvin Johnson (Lions), Larry Fitzgerald (Cardinals), Jared Allen (Vikings), Rob Gronkowski (Patriots), Darrelle Revis (Jets) and Eli Manning (Giants). The opening itself was remixed with Nick Mangold (Jets) and LeSean McCoy (Eagles) filling in for Ray Lewis and Darrelle Revis. The opening title sequence was not used at the start of the NBC Sunday Night Football Thanksgiving Special broadcast (November 22, 2012), nor on December 16, 2012, two days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

2013

Carrie Underwood became the performer for the theme song for the 2013 season, replacing Faith Hill. Her intro debuted on September 8, with the theme arrangement itself tilted even more towards country to reflect the change in singers. In this animation sequence, Underwood performs on stage inside a computer-generated stadium. Verizon also returned for more product placement. Some of the NFL stars appearing in this opening include Andrew Luck (Colts), Eli Manning (Giants), Peyton Manning (Broncos), Clay Matthews (Packers) and J.J. Watt (Texans). The animation ends with the NBC Sunday Night Football logo written in laser lighting. As was the case the previous year, the opening graphic sequence was not used at the start of the Sunday Night Football on Thanksgiving Night broadcast on November 28, 2013.

2014

Underwood continued her role as Sunday Night Football's show opener, which debuted on September 7. Once again, Verizon returned to provide product placement. Some of the NFL stars that are represented in the opening are Phillip Rivers (Chargers), Luke Kuechly (Panthers), DeMarcus Ware (Broncos), Clay Matthews (Packers), Brandon Marshall (Bears), Jimmy Graham (Saints), LeSean McCoy (Eagles) and Colin Kaepernick (49ers). This time, Underwood is seen performing on a computer-generated stage. In another major tweak, the lyrics toward the end of the song changed, with the commentators' first names (Al & Cris) being replaced with "come on along with the best on TV." As was the case of the previous two years, the opening sequence was not used for the start of the Sunday Night Football on Thanksgiving Night broadcast on November 27, 2014.

Super Bowl XLIX

Carrie Underwood performed a special Super Bowl version of the song at the start of the network's broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX on February 1, 2015. In this version, Underwood is performing her concert inside a CGI rendering of University of Phoenix Stadium, the site of Super Bowl XLIX. The Patriots' Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Darrelle Revis, as well as the Seahawks' Russell Wilson and Kam Chancellor, appeared in the opening. Verizon provided product placement.

2015

Carrie Underwood returned for her third year as part of the show's opening on September 13. Once again, she is seen performing on a computer-generated stage. Product placement was once again provided by Verizon, which introduced its newest company logo that September. As was the case of the previous three years, the opening sequence was not used for the start of the Sunday Night Football on Thanksgiving Night broadcast on November 26, 2015.

2016

Carrie Underwood returned for her fourth season on September 11, with "Oh, Sunday Night" replacing "Waiting All Day For Sunday Night" as the new intro for SNF. In this open, Underwood is seen at the stadium entrance in front of a bus. Upon entering the stadium, she goes into the SNF broadcast booth with Al Michaels (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (color commentator). She is then seen going down the steps before entering the locker room with the players and then walking past a row of cheerleaders. Michele Tafoya (sideline reporter) also appears in the open, as does product placement by Verizon. As Underwood leaves the computer-generated stadium at the end of the open, the SNF logo is lit up between the two computer-generated pyrotechnics displays and finally, the sliding doors seen above the logo slide open while going into a live shot. As was the case of the previous four years, the opening sequence was not used for the start of the Sunday Night Football on Thanksgiving Night broadcast on November 24, 2016.

2017

Carrie Underwood will return for her fifth season on September 10.

Graphics

The scoring banner used from 2006 to 2008.

The graphics, logos and scoreboard for NBC's Sunday Night Football telecasts were designed by Troika Design Group, along with the city skyline graphics used in the introductions to both Football Night in America and the games proper.[59] It was effectively the first time the network used permanent time/score boxes throughout any of their sports broadcasts outside of Olympic Games broadcasts, where permanent scoring displays were compulsory; prior to 2006, the network continued the previous mode of presenting the scores on-screen for a short time every few minutes or so, a method common in American sports broadcasting until Fox introduced constant scoring displays in 1994.

NBC's game telecasts use the same type of horizontal bottom-screen scoreboard that Monday Night Football used in the 2005 NFL season (and was subsequently used by ABC Sports until its rebranding in August 2006). After its debut, the graphics also began to be phased in across other NBC Sports properties, including its coverage of Notre Dame football and the annual Bayou Classic game (which uses exactly the same graphics used on SNF broadcasts), National Hockey League coverage (which uses the SNF graphics but with a scoreboard on the top), and tennis and golf (which use a modified version influenced by the look, but with bolder text for readability purposes). NBC's Olympics coverage continues to use a different package mixed between NBC's graphics and those of the IOC's world feed. The NBC football graphics are also used, in some form or another, on certain locally produced preseason telecasts carried by NBC owned-and-operated stations and affiliates that serve as flagship outlets for NFL teams (such as New York Giants preseason games on WNBC, and the Minnesota Vikings on KARE-TV).

The scoring banner used from 2009 to 2011 (regular season).

NBC's bottom-line scoring banner underwent a significant revamp for the 2009 season, although it debuted during the network's Super Bowl XLIII coverage on February 1, 2009. The changes included presenting downs and yardage in a feather derived from NBC's iconic peacock logo in the colors of the team currently on offense. In addition, when a team scores a touchdown, the banner will open, the team's logo and initials will slide to the left of the banner and "TOUCHDOWN" is displayed in the remainder of the banner. After a few moments, the banner will show the drive information. Then the banner returns to normal and show the change in the team's score. Additionally (beginning with Week 9), timeout indicators were added below each team's respective scores. For the 2010 season, the timeout indicators were changed to three white trapezoids below the team abbreviations, and the play clock was moved from above the team in possession of the football to above the game clock (for the final two minutes of regulation and if necessary, overtime). The down markers also changed in 2010, which is now featuring the team logo next to the down marker.

The scoring banner used from 2012 to 2014, starting with the 2011 NFL Wild Card playoffs to Week 17 of the 2014 NFL regular season. Notice the addition of timeout indicators at the bottom, and the cleaner and larger looking font in the team's initials.

On January 2, 2012, during the NHL Winter Classic (with a sneak two days before during a Notre Dame hockey game on Versus), the graphics of all of NBC Sports' productions were updated to a new package intended to unify the graphical image between both the network and the rebranded NBC Sports Network, which relaunched that same day. Subsequently, on Wild Card Saturday (January 7), the network's NFL presentation was changed to the new graphical styling to match the style and layout of the then-recently christened NBC Sports Network. Most of the banner's styling remains the same, but with a cleaner and larger font for readability and a more neutral NBC logo to the left rather than the "aggressive peacock" used since 2006. Elements such as team and individual player stats take on team colors (main color as the background, secondary color as the accent), and the down/yardage/possession graphic also takes on team coloring, with neutral team comparison stats and other elements having a gold/blue/black coloring. Additionally, the play clock appeared directly above the game clock throughout the entire game.

Beginning with the 2014 Hall of Fame Game on August 3, 2014, the play clock was moved to the right side, next to the down/yardage graphic, of the bottom-screen score banner, which itself remained in the 4:3 safe area. In addition, beginning with the NFL Kickoff Special on September 4, 2014, an electronic green-colored line-of-scrimmage marker was added to the virtual on-field graphic. NBC's Sunday Night Football was also the last of the five NFL broadcast partners to switch to a full 16:9 letterbox presentation on its 4:3 standard-definition feed, a downscaled version of the HD feed's native 16:9 format (utilizing the Active Format Description #10 flag), following Fox (2010), ESPN's Monday Night Football (2011), NFL Network's Thursday Night Football (2012) and CBS (2013). Some of the graphics were also re-positioned.

On January 3, 2015, during the Wild Card playoffs, NBC Sports debuted a revamped graphics package for its NFL coverage on Wild Card Saturday Night, which is formatted for the 16:9 letterbox presentation. The package was part of a new graphics set introduced across NBC Sports' properties on January 1, 2015, during its coverage of the Premier League and the 2015 NHL Winter Classic.

On November 3, 2016, during the Atlanta Falcons-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on NFL Network, NBC Sports debuted a separate graphics package for their production of Thursday Night Football, which is completely different from the CBS Sports version. The score bar, which is similar in design to the SNF version, is also seen at the bottom of the screen, with the NBC/NFL Network co-branding on the left side of the bar. However, the timeout indicators on NBC's TNF score bar are stacked to the right of the team's abbreviations, as opposed to underneath them on the network's own SNF score bar.

International broadcasts

In Canada, Sunday Night Football telecasts are televised live on TSN, using the NBC feed (despite not being an over-the-air channel, it is simsubbed by Bell TV and cable providers which carry feeds from the service). In the United Kingdom, the telecasts air live on Sky Sports carrying the NBC branding and commentators during games; In Australia, SNF is broadcast live on 7mate, with the games airing early on Monday afternoon due to the country being located a day ahead of the United States near the eastern fringe of the International Date Line.

In Brazil, SNF is broadcast on ESPN Brasil, with the original English audio available as a separate feed via second audio program. Brazilian Portuguese audio is hosted by Everaldo Marques on play-by-play and Paulo Antunes as color commentator; Rômulo Mendonça fills in occasionally as play-by-play and Paulo Mancha or Antony Curti as color commentator.

The Sunday Night Football telecasts are also aired in Latin America, ESPN Latin America, with Álvaro Martín as play-by-play announcer and Raúl Allegre providing color commentary.

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