NFL Content across ESPN Platforms This Week

Mac Nwulu

November 25, 2015

ESPN Reporters to Cover Six Week 12 Games for Sunday NFL Countdown

Sunday NFL Countdown: Rashad Jennings on Running for his Dad; Frank Caliendo Returns; and More

Host Chris Berman and analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson and Keyshawn Johnson will preview NFL week 12 games on ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown on November 29 at 11 a.m. ET. Reporter/host Wendi Nix will host select segments, NFL insiders Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter will report the day’s headlines and news, with senior analyst Matthew Berry and special contributor Stephen A. Smith.

The two-hour, pre-game program will be preceded by a one-hour NFL Insiders: Sunday Edition at 10 a.m. featuring host Trey Wingo, NFL Insiders Mortensen and Schefter and NFL Front Office Insider Louis Riddick.

Reporter game assignments for week 12:

Vikings at Falcons (Lindsay Czarniak)
Giants at Redskins (Britt McHenry)
Buccaneers at Colts (Josina Anderson)
Bills at Chiefs (Bob Holtzman)
Steelers at Seahawks (Shelley Smith)
Patriots at Broncos (Sal Paolantonio)

Features:

Jason Licht’s Suits: Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht made a deal with his kids in week 3 that if the Bucs won their game, he would jump in the pool with his suit upon his return home. They won, and a tradition was born. To date, Licht has soaked five suits celebrating Buccaneers wins.
Caliendo – “Payton” Manning Camp: Though Broncos starting quarterback Peyton Manning isn’t playing right now, many are still exploiting his success. In a faux ESPN Outside the Lines, Jeremy Schaap and Countdown comedian/impressionist Frank Caliendo take a closer look at how many are making money on “Pay”-ton’s good name.
Rashad Jennings – Running for his Dad: Giants running back Rashad Jennings describes how he found inspiration in running for his dad, Albert Jennings, who has diabetes and two legs amputated due to complications from the illness. Josina Anderson reports.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football: Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns host the AFC North division rival Baltimore Ravens on ESPN’s Monday Night Football on November 30 at 8:15 p.m. The MNF commentator team of Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Lisa Salters call the game from FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.

Note: Monday in Cleveland will be the 500^th MNF game for longtime stats guru Steve Hirdt, the executive vice president of Elias Sports Bureau. Hirdt has worked more MNF games than anyone in the show’s 46-year history. He joined ABC Sports’ MNF crew on Sept. 13, 1982.

Leading into the matchup, Chris Berman and Suzy Kolber host Monday Night Countdown at 6 p.m. on ESPN. NFL analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson and Keyshawn Johnson and Insiders Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter review Sunday’s games and preview the MNF matchup with Berman in studio, while Trent Dilfer, Ray Lewis, Steve Young and Kolber offer analysis from Cleveland.

MNF is available on ESPN Deportes and will be streamed live on WatchESPN for fans with video subscriptions from affiliated providers. Highlights:

Gruden’s Grill Session with Joe Thomas: Veteran Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas visits with MNF’s Super Bowl-winning coach, Jon Gruden, in this week’s edition of “Gruden’s Grill Session.”
Jeremy Schaap Essay – Johnny Manziel: Last week, the Browns named quarterback Johnny Manziel their starter for the rest of the season. Then, after video of him at an Austin, Texas, club last weekend (during the team’s bye week) surfaced on social media, Manziel was demoted to third-string quarterback. ESPN’s award-winning reporter Jeremy Schaap pens an essay on the troubled Cleveland quarterback.
Browns Andrew Hawkins: Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins never let naysayers deter him from his goal of becoming a productive member of a NFL team. At 5 feet, 7 inches tall, Hawkins was told he was too short to make it in the NFL. Countdown’s Jim Trotter reports the long, sometimes circuitous, journey Hawkins took to the NFL.

NFL Sundays on ESPN Radio Continue with Dolphins-Jets
ESPN Radio’s national coverage of Sunday afternoon NFL games will continue Sunday, Nov. 29, with Ryan Tannehill and the Miami Dolphins visiting Brandon Marshall and the New York Jets at noon. Commentator Dave Flemming will provide commentary with analyst Bill Polian and reporter Ian Fitzsimmons.

NFL Matchup: Minnesota at Atlanta; Giants at Washington Film Room; New England at Denver; and More

NFL Matchup host Sal Paolantonio and analysts Ron Jaworski and Merril Hoge preview the weekend’s NFL matchups via film-room X’s and O’s analysis Saturday, Nov. 28, at 8:30 a.m. on ESPN2 (re-air on ESPN, Sunday at 3:30 and 6:30 a.m.). Highlights:

Key Segments:

Jaws’ Shot Play – Minnesota at Atlanta: Jaworski shows a Vikings play that takes advantage of single high-safety design by opposing defenses with quarterback Teddy Bridgewater throwing the ball successfully to wide receiver Stefon Diggs on an out-and-go route.
Film Room – Giants at Washington: In this week’s Film Room, Jaworski shows a play that is a staple of the Giants offense featuring wide receiver Dwayne Harris on a third-down reception from a slant pattern.
Between the Lines and Hoge Breakdown – New England at Denver: Jaworski explains how Brock Osweiler and the Broncos offense will use play-action to get receivers in favorable matchups against the Patriots defense. And Hoge shows how the Patriots will follow a similar game-plan used against the Bills defense to attack the Broncos defense.

ESPN The Magazine’s “Wide Receivers Issue” Hits Newsstands Friday

In the latest ESPN The Magazine – the “Wide Receivers Issue” – the “Crossing in the End Zone” cover story has senior writer Mina Kimes exploring how the paths of youth football buddies T.Y. Hilton and Antonio Brown reconnected in the NFL. Brown and Hilton grew up in the same neighborhood, born to fathers who also grew up in that neighborhood. But their lives took different turns. The story examines how two kids who started in the same place, but whose paths diverged dramatically, ended up in the same place once again: as two of the best receivers in the NFL. For additional information: https://es.pn/1QEqJy4. To download cover: https://bit.ly/1NLAgNG.

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