NEW YORK – December 28, 2011 – The NFC East division title is on the line as the New York Giants (8-7) host the Dallas Cowboys (8-7) in a win-and-in game on Sunday Night Football. The winner will be the No. 4 seed in the NFC and will host a Wild Card round playoff game next week, while the loser’s season is over. The last time these two teams met was Week 14 on Sunday Night Football with the Giants rallying from 12 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat the Cowboys, 37-34, in Dallas. The game was seen by 24.5 million people, the second-most watched SNF game this season (see chart below).
Calling Cowboys-Giants will be six-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his 26th season as the voice of the NFL’s premier primetime package; 12-time Emmy Award-winner Collinsworth, who won the Emmy for outstanding event analyst in both of his seasons in the Sunday Night Football booth; and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, in her first season on SNF.
Coverage begins Sunday with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET with 22-time Emmy Award-winner Bob Costas hosting the program live from inside MetLife Stadium. Costas is joined on site by Michaels and Collinsworth for reaction to the afternoon games.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios and is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com. Alex Flanagan will report from Sports Authority Field at Mile High on the Chiefs-Broncos game.
ON COWBOYS-GIANTS:
Collinsworth: “There were so many points and so many yards put up in that last one (Week 14 game) that maybe it comes down to the defensive side of the ball on Sunday. Jason Pierre Paul was remarkable in the last game. He really almost won the thing by himself. And DeMarcus Ware is going to have to get after Eli Manning.â€
Harrison: “It’s going to be more of a defensive-minded game. The Cowboys are going to come out and try to slow down the Giants pass rush by running the ball. The Giants will win. They will run the ball with Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, and in tight games like this, I trust Eli not Romo.â€
Dungy: “This is a playoff game.”