CBS is taking heat again, and this time the blowback is all about where the network pointed its top broadcast crew.
For Sunday’s 4:25 p.m. ET window, CBS assigned Jim Nantz and J.J.
Watt to Raiders-Chiefs instead of Broncos-49ers. That choice landed hard with fans because the two games were sitting side by side on the schedule, yet only one got the network’s marquee treatment.
On paper, the Broncos-49ers matchup looked like the cleaner football play. The 49ers were undefeated, the Broncos were 2-1, and plenty of observers saw it as a game with Super Bowl implications. Raiders-Chiefs, meanwhile, came in with both teams at 3-0, but it also brought the familiar pull of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the attention that follows Kansas City every week.
That was enough for a lot of viewers to call foul online. One fan wrote, “It’s because Patrick mahomes has these refs in this pocket so he just thinks he can call for his games to be on CBS more broncos 49ers should actually be the game of the day,” while another said, “One is a divisional game, so it makes sense, but Broncos Niners will be the more exciting game,”
A third fan put it even more bluntly: “Cbs pulls #1 tv crew from donkey 49ers game. Cbs knows America loves chiefs and mahomes,” A fourth added, “Not the @NFL going back on trying to punish the @Raiders and not give any nationally televised games to sucking us off because of our record!”
The broadcast assignment also confirmed that Tony Romo’s leave of absence is still in effect, with Nantz and Watt continuing as CBS’s main duo for the network’s biggest games. That left little mystery about who would get the spotlight - and just as little patience from fans who wanted Broncos-49ers treated like the bigger game.
The frustration came down to optics as much as anything else. Mahomes keeps drawing national attention, even in what’s being called a rebound season for Kansas City, and Kelce adds another layer of mainstream interest. But for plenty of fans, that still didn’t make up for passing over a matchup that looked, at least to them, like the better game of the day.
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The reaction online was swift, with plenty of criticism aimed at a network that seemed to choose star power and established storylines over what could have been the more meaningful football game. The broadcast assignment also served as another reminder that Tony Romo is still away from CBS duties, leaving the network to sort through its top booth plans while Denver keeps waiting for the kind of stage that usually comes with higher billing. [Read more 🡒]
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The Broncos still have to see how he responds as the week goes on, and their next injury update will offer a clearer read on whether he is ready for Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. But a full practice participation is a positive sign for a receiver whose explosiveness gives Denver a different dimension when he is available. [Read more 🡒]