FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016

NBC SPORTS PRESENTS TWO NFL PRESEASON GAMES IN FOUR NIGHTS AS FALCONS FACE DOLPHINS THURS. AT 8 PM ET & BENGALS VISIT JAGUARS SUN. AT 8 PM ET ON NBC

Mike Tirico & Cris Collinsworth To Call Both Games With Michele Tafoya Reporting from Sidelines

Football Night in America’s Tony Dungy Joins Mike & Cris in Booth on Thursday Night to Discuss His Recent Enshrinement in Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Timeline: Peyton Manning’s Summer School Airs Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC

STAMFORD, Conn. – August 23, 2016 – NBC Sports presents a pair of NFL preseason games this week.

Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons face Ryan Tannehill and the Miami Dolphins in Orlando, Florida, this Thursday, August 25, live at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Four nights later, on Sunday, August 29, Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals visit Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Mike Tirico, back stateside after serving as an NBC host  at the 2016 Rio Olympics, calls both games alongside analyst Cris Collinsworth. Reporter Michele Tafoya returns to the sidelines for both games after reporting from poolside at the swimming competition in Rio. At halftime of Thursday’s Falcons-Jaguars game, Football Night in America’s Tony Dungy will join Tirico and Collinsworth to discuss his Aug. 6 enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will live stream this week’s NFL games to tablets, desktop computers, and connected devices. 

On Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET, prior to Bengals-Jaguars, NBC presents The Timeline: Peyton Manning’s Summer School, a one-hour program that looks at Peyton Manning’s historic 2013 season, when he set the single-season records for touchdown passes (55) and yards passing (5,477).  The Timeline is an NFL Network series from NFL Films.

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Highlights of NBC’s 2016 Sunday Night Football & Thursday Night Football schedules:

  • 24 primetime regular-season games, including 17 SNF games, the NFL’s opening game of the season NFL Kickoff 2016, the NBC’s annual Thanksgiving night game, and five new Thursday night games;
  • Every 2015 playoff team makes an appearance on Sunday Night Football; 19 of NBC’s 23 scheduled regular-season games (Week 17 game TBD) involve at least one playoff team from last season; 10 of SNF’s 18 scheduled games include two playoff teams – including four playoff rematches (Panthers-Broncos on Sept. 8; Packers-Redskins on Nov. 20; Panthers-Seahawks on Dec. 4; and Steelers-Bengals on Dec. 18);
  • Four NBC games each for Seahawks and Cowboys; three NBC games apiece for Broncos, Patriots, Panthers, Packers, Steelers, Giants, and Chiefs;
  • High-profile NFC East matchups continue on NBC – Eagles-Cowboys (Sun., Oct. 30) on SNF for the eighth consecutive season – the longest streak of matchups on the broadcast primetime package in NFL history (ABC 1970-2005; NBC 2006-present); Giants-Cowboys (Sun., Dec. 11) on SNF for the seventh time in six seasons; and Giants-Eagles (Thurs., Dec. 22) on NBC for the eighth time in 10 seasons;
  • NBC will open Minnesota’s new U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 2 (Sun. Sept. 18), as the Vikings host Aaron Rodgers and the NFC North rival Green Bay Packers. This will be the fourth stadium to debut on NBC’s Sunday Night Football in the last eight years (Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008, AT&T Stadium in 2009, Levi’s Stadium in 2014);
  • The Oakland Raiders host their first-ever NBC SNF game, facing the Super Bowl champion Broncos on Sun., Nov. 6. It will be Oakland’s first SNF appearance since the series’ inaugural season in 2006 (at Denver, 10/15/06).

NBC TO BROADCAST 28 NFL GAMES IN 2016: NBC begins its 11th consecutive season as the primetime broadcast home of the NFL.  In the 2016 season, NBC will broadcast 28 NFL games — 19 regular-season games as part of its Sunday Night Football package (17 regular-season SNF games, NFL Kickoff 2016, and the annual Thanksgiving night game), five primetime regular-season Thursday games as part of a new two-year agreement to televise Thursday Night Football, two NFL Playoff games, and two primetime preseason games. NBC Sports will also produce four games to be televised on NFL Network.

SNF IS NO. 1 PRIMETIME PROGRAM ON TELEVISION: NBC’s Sunday Night Football finished the 2015-16 season as television’s No. 1 primetime show in household rating (13.0) and viewership (22.5 million average) for the fifth consecutive season, based on live plus same day data from The Nielsen Company (September-May). Sunday Night Football also ranked as the No. 1 show in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic for the sixth consecutive TV season.

Sunday Night Football is one of only four shows since 1950 to rank No. 1 in primetime for five consecutive TV seasons (September-May, based on Nielsen live plus same day data).

2016 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Thurs. Sept. 8 NFL Kickoff  Carolina Panthers at Denver Broncos
Sun. Sept. 11 Week 1   New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals
Sun. Sept. 18 Week 2   Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings
Sun. Sept. 25 Week 3   Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys
Sun. Oct. 2 Week 4 Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers
*Sun. Oct. 9 Week 5   New York Giants at Green Bay Packers
*Sun. Oct. 16 Week 6 Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans
*Sun. Oct. 23 Week 7 Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals
*Sun. Oct. 30 Week 8 Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys
*Sun. Nov. 6 Week 9 Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders
*Sun. Nov. 13 Week 10 Seattle Seahawks at New England Patriots
*Sun. Nov. 20 Week 11  Green Bay Packers at Washington Redskins
**Thurs. Nov. 24 Week 12 Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts
*Sun. Nov. 27 Week 12 New England Patriots at New York Jets
*Sun. Dec. 4 Week 13 Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks
*Sun. Dec. 11 Week 14 Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
*Sun. Dec. 18 Week 15 Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals
Sun. Dec. 25 Week 16 Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
*Sun. Jan. 1 Week 17 TBD

*Flex Week

** Thanksgiving Night Game

2016 NBC THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Thurs. Nov. 17 Week 11 New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
Thurs. Dec. 1 Week 13   Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings
Thurs. Dec. 8 Week 14   Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
Thurs. Dec. 15 Week 15 Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks
Thurs. Dec. 22 Week 16 New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

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