NFL Standings After Week 9

Perhaps a bit premature, but here are the conference rankings at the midway point (everyone has played 8 games except the Texans and Giants who will take their byes this coming week) starting with the AFC:

1. Indianapolis
2. Denver
3/4. Cincinnati/New England*
5. Pittsburgh
6. San Diego
1/2 game out of 6th: Houston**
1 game out of 6th: NY Jets, Baltimore, Jacksonville
2 games out of 6th: Miami, Buffalo
3 games out of 6th: Tennessee, Oakland
Planning for 2010: Cleveland, Kansas City

And in the NFC:

1. New Orleans
2. Minnesota
3. Dallas
4. Arizona
5/6. Philadelphia/Atlanta*
1/2 game out of 6th: NY Giants**
1 game out of 6th: Green Bay, Chicago
2 games out of 6th: Carolina, San Francisco, Seattle
3 games out of 6th: Washington
Planning for 2010: Detroit, Tampa, St. Louis

* In the case of Cincy/New England and Philly/Atlanta the teams have not played each other (Eagles and Falcons will later in the year) they have identical conference records, and its too early to parse out the tiebreakers further down the list

** I did not bother placing tied teams outside playoff position in “correct” order.

Week 11 (the games centered around Sunday November 22nd) are the first subject to the NFL’s flexible scheduling system. With the exception of Week 17 the schedule will be finalized 12 days in advance wrt the start times for the Sunday games. The NFL announced today that none of the start times for November 22nd have been altered from what was originally announced in April.

NFL TV Maps for Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Wheeling for Week 9

All local affiliates will show a Fox game in the 1pm window. Pittsburgh and Youngstown will carry Arizona @ Chicago with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman while Wheeling will show Washington @ Atlanta with Kenny Albert, Moose, and Goose. At 1pm all local CBS affiliates will show Baltimore @ Cincinnati with Dick Enberg and Dan Fouts. At 4:15pm all local CBS affiliates, along with the vast majority of the country, will show San Diego @ NY Giants Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. Of course the NFL Red Zone Channel will do its usual continuous whip around the league commercial free all afternoon. The Sunday Night game on NBC is Dallas @ Philadelphia with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth and the Monday Night game on ESPN is Pittsburgh @ Denver with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden. As usual this info courtesy of the506.com and subject to change. Enjoy the games!

NFL TV Maps for Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Wheeling Areas for Week 8

CBS has only one game this coming Sunday and all local markets will show a 1pm game. Pittsburgh will carry Denver @ Baltimore with Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf while Youngstown and Wheeling will show Cleveland @ Chicago with Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots. At 1pm all area Fox affiliates will show San Francisco @ Indianapolis with Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan. At 4:15pm all local Fox affiliates, along with the vast majority of the country, will get Minnesota @ Green Bay (or as the506 lists it in a rare moment of casual “Favre New Team @ Favre Old Team”) with Thom Brennaman and Troy Aikman. And, as usual, the NFL Red Zone Channel will be on air all afternoon with its continuous live whip around the league. Due to the World Series (of which Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday) there is no Sunday Night game on NBC. There is however a Monday Night game on ESPN and its Atlanta @ New Orleans with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden. As always this info courtesy of the506.com and subject to change. Enjoy the games!

NFL TV Maps for Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Wheeling Areas for Week 7

Fox has the doubleheader this week and at 1pm all local affiliates (including Youngstown) will show Minnesota @ Pittsburgh with Kenny Albert, Moose, and Goose. That is to say the Browns game hosting Green Bay will NOT be on in the Youngstown market. Time will tell if WKBN will also make that shift in priority when the Steelers and Browns are on at the same time on CBS later in the season. All local CBS affiliates are scheduled to wait until 4:05pm to show the Jets @ Oakland with Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf. And all local Fox affiliates are scheduled to show Chicago @ Cincinnati at 4:15pm with Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan. Of course the NFL Red Zone Channel will do its live whip around the league on Sunday afternoon. The Sunday Night game on NBC is Arizona @ the Giants with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth and the Monday Night game on ESPN is Philadelphia @ Washington with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden. As usual this info courtesy of the506.com and subject to revision. Enjoy the games!

NFL TV Maps for Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Wheeling Areas for Week 6

CBS has the doubleheader this week and there is uniformity in both broadcast windows for the tri-state area. At 1pm will be Cleveland @ Pittsburgh with Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots and at 4:15pm it will be Tennessee @ New England with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. The local Fox map is more fractured with Youngstown and Wheeling showing a 1pm contest of the Giants @ New Orleans with Thom Brennaman (substituting for Joe Buck working the ALCS) and Troy Aikman. However Pittsburgh is contractually obligated to not show a game opposite a Steelers home game and will therefore wait until the 4:05pm window to show Philadelphia @ Oakland with Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan. Of course the NFL Red Zone channel will be doing the usual continuous whip around the league Sunday afternoon. The Sunday Night game is Chicago @ Atlanta with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth and the Monday Night game is Denver @ San Diego with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden. As always this info courtesy of the506.com and subject to change. Enjoy the games!

NFL TV Maps for Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Wheeling for Week 5

Its a divided map for the most part with CBS having the doubleheader. At 1pm Pittsburgh and Wheeling will get Pittsburgh @ Detroit with Dick Enberg and Dan Fouts while Youngstown will get Cleveland @ Buffalo with Don Criqui and Randy Cross. Fox Wheeling will show a 1pm game; Minnesota @ St. Louis with Chris Meyers and Charles Davis but both Pittsburgh and Youngstown will wait till 4:05pm (thus avoiding the Steelers and Browns games) to show Atlanta @ San Francisco with Kenny Albert Moose & Goose. There is uniformity at 4:15pm on CBS as all local affiliates (along with the vast majority of the country) showing New England @ Denver with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. Of course, anyone that has the NFL Redzone Channel can use that all afternoon to catch the continuous whip around the league to the most compelling action at that moment with some highlights sprinkled in during slow points. The Sunday Night game on NBC is Indianapolis @ Tennessee with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth and the Monday Night game on ESPN is the New York Jets @ Miami with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworksi, and Jon Gruden. As usual this info courtesy of the506.com and subject to change. Enjoy the games!

***UPDATE*** One update affecting the tri-state area as Fox Wheeling is now planning to show Washington @ Carolina with Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick.

Braylon Edwards Accused in Night Club Assault

The alleged incident took place early this morning in Cleveland:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/10/a_cleveland_man_accuses_browns.html

Generally speaking this would not be a huge deal. Its a simple assault, a heat of the moment thing, if it ever makes it to court I assume he would pay a fine and that would be that. But its not like Braylon had a lot of fans left in Cleveland. He drops passes, has acted petulent in the past, and for what its worth he went to Michigan. If its a matter of an argument between him and the guy that saved the Cavaliers franchise and is the first time Cleveland sports has had an unquestioned mega star of a sport since Jim Brown in Lebron James, Edwards might as well seek help from the feds getting into the witness protection program. This needless argument was to say the least a dumb move on his part. And obviously not exactly what the 0-4 Browns needed right now.

NFL TV Coverage Maps for Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Wheeling Markets for Week 4

All local markets will get a 1pm CBS game. Pittsburgh will carry Baltimore @ New England with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms while Youngstown and Wheeling will carry Cincinnati @ Cleveland with Ian Eagle and Rich Gannon. As for Fox in the 1pm window Pittsburgh and Youngstown are slated to show Seattle @ Indianapolis with Dick Stockton and Charles Davis while Wheeling has Tampa Bay @ Washington with Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan. I wouldn’t be shocked if this map changes with the primary early game of Giants/Chiefs being on the map for most of Pennsylvania east of Pittsburgh. There is unanimity in the 4:15 window on Fox as the vast majority of the country will get Dallas @ Denver with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. The entire country is getting this game save the St. Louis and San Francisco primary and secondary markets, and blackouts until 7pm in New Orleans and Miami opposite those teams playing at 4:05pm at home on CBS. Of course, those who have the channel on their satellite or cable package can avail themselves of the NFL Red Zone channel all day for a continuous live whip around the country to the most compelling action of the moment. The Sunday Night game on NBC is San Diego @ Pittsburgh with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth and the Monday Night game is Green Bay @ Minnesota with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden. As always this info is courtesy of the506.com and subject to revision. Enjoy the games!

Busy Sports News Day In Cleveland

As the Indians announced the firing of manager Eric Wedge and the Browns announce that Derek Anderson will be the starting quarterback this coming Sunday against the Bengals.

I am in favor of the removal of Wedge, though I find it interesting that they would announce it now while allowing him to continue to manage the final handful of games remaining through Sunday. I guess they want to be able to begin a public search for a replacement without it appearing unseemly. At any rate, its time for a change. Actually, I think it was a season ago but it certainly is now. The Indians are in full rebuilding mode after July’s activity. Also, to be quite frank, I was not massively impressed with Wedge’s managerial skill. There were any number of times just in the odd game that I would catch in person or on TV that he made tactical blunders, didn’t handle a controversial umpiring decision, etc very well. It will be interesting to see who the Indians tab to replace Wedge. I fully assume it’ll be a lower cost hire, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. All high profile managers got their start somewhere, after all.

As for the Browns and Mangini’s decision to go with Anderson I frankly disagree. Brady Quinn was a 1st round draft choice a couple years ago and he is the future of the franchise. This team is going to lose more than they win irregardless of quarterback; why not play your future and let him gain experience? I would not have pulled him from the Baltimore game last Sunday for the same reason. Of course what this tells you is that Mangini is not sold on Quinn and might look to go with DA or a totally different option long term. Going with Anderson could be defensible though the Browns would not be able to get a 1st round pick in trade for Quinn they could get something to rebuild with. But going a 3rd route would mean completely starting from scratch. And while this team hasn’t looked very good so far they could get better as the season progresses. For what it is worth the 3 teams they have played so far are all undefeated, which is to say, they are a combined 6-0 against teams other than the Browns. I say stick with Quinn and let him go through growing pains with the rest of the team.

Week 3 NFL Coverage Maps for Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Wheeling Markets

Fox has just one game again this week, and viewers in Pittsburgh and Wheeling will get Atlanta @ New England at 1pm with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. Viewers of Fox in Youngstown will wait until 4:05pm to get New Orleans @ Buffalo with Ron Pitts and Jon Lynch. The CBS map is more monolithic with all area markets getting Cleveland @ Baltimore at 1pm with Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker while at 4:15pm getting Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. Again I should remind Pittsburgh viewers that KDKA will pull out of the early game around 4:13pm even if it has not ended to do the mid-games commercial break and then the start of the Steelers game. And any football fan that gets the NFL Red Zone channel on their TV system has that available for a constant whip around the league with live game feeds and occassional highlights during slow moments from 1pm straight thru the end of the late games commercial free. The Sunday Night game on NBC is Indianapolis @ Arizona and the Monday Night game on ESPN is Carolina @ Dallas. As always this info courtesy of the506.com and subject to change. Enjoy the games!

***UPDATE*** No changes to the local broadcast maps that I can see, but there are two local blackouts this week, one affecting the Toledo area. The Lions and Raiders will both be blacked out locally after failing to sell out.