NFL Conference Standings & TV Maps for Week 8

All local Fox affiliates will show a game at 1pm, specifically Arizona @ Baltimore with Sam Rosen and Brian Billick.  CBS has the doubleheader and at 1pm all local affiliates will show Miami @ the NY Giants with Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf.  However, it should be noted that at approximately 4:12pm, even if the game has not finished yet, KDKA will pull out of coverage of early games for a commercial break and kickoff of the Steelers game.  At 4:15 Pittsburgh and Wheeling will show New England @ Pittsburgh with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms while Youngstown shows Cleveland @ San Francisco with Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts.

Though WKBN usually does show the Browns game, it can be noted that NFL broadcast rules actually require WKBN to show the Browns this week.  Youngstown, being a secondary market of both Cleveland and Pittsburgh, when both teams are on the same network in the same time slot with one team at home and one team on the road, that station is required to show the team on the road.

As usual the NFL Red Zone Channel will offer its customary continuous live whip around the league all afternoon Sunday.  The Sunday Night game on NBC is Dallas @ Philadelphia with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth and the Monday Night game on ESPN is San Diego @ Kansas City with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden.  As always this information from the506.com and subject to change.

And now for the current conference standings, starting in the AFC:

1. New England

2. Pittsburgh

3. San Diego

4. Houston

5. Cincinnati

6. Buffalo

7. Baltimore

8. Oakland

9. New York

10/11. Tennessee/Kansas City

12. Cleveland

13. Denver

14. Jacksonville

15. Miami

16. Indianapolis

And in the NFC

1. Green Bay

2. San Francisco

3. New Orleans

4. New York

5. Detroit

6. Chicago

7. Tampa Bay

8. Atlanta

9. Dallas

10. Washington

11. Seattle

12. Philadelphia

13. Carolina

14. Arizona

15. Minnesota

16. St. Louis

Please note that I plan to start putting together a separate weekly post with a more comprehensive playoff picture in the next couple weeks after everyone has played 8 games, or at the very least after Week 11 when everyone has taken their byes and pesky half game differences no longer cloud the picture.  But one quick random thought; it is usually hard to make the playoffs from a 3rd place divisional rank.  However, Chicago is in a uniquely strong position to do so now that they have head-to-head wins over both Atlanta and Tampa.   If current trends hold, the 6th seed in the NFC could come down to 3rd in the North or 2nd in the South.

Tags: kdka, WKBN