CBS Announces 2014 THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Broadcast Schedule

The CBS Television Network and NFL Network announce the Thursday Night Football prime time broadcast schedule for the 2014 NFL season. This year marks the inaugural partnership between CBS Sports and NFL Network in broadcasting Thursday Night Football and features the most marquee match-ups ever on Thursday night, including 14 divisional rivalries. The 16-game Thursday Night Football schedule kicks off on September 11 with Steelers vs. Ravens from Baltimore and ends with a Week 16 Saturday double-header on December 20.

The 2014 Thursday Night Football schedule will feature games from Weeks 2-8 and Week 16 (Saturday) broadcast on CBS that also will be simulcast on NFL Network. The Thursday Night Football schedule in Weeks 9-12 and Weeks 14-16 will be televised on NFL Network, and will be simulcast on over-the-air stations in the primary markets of the participating teams. All Thursday Night Football games will kick off at 8:25 PM ET, with the exception of the Week 16 Saturday double-header - NFL Network (4:30 PM ET) and CBS (8:00 PM ET).

The Thursday Night Football schedule is highlighted by Giants vs. Redskins (Week 4), Jets vs. Patriots (Week 7), Saints vs. Panthers (Week 9), as well as Cowboys vs. Bears (Week 14), and features 11 playoff teams from 2013 - including seven division winners. Five-time MVP Peyton Manning headlines a list of prominent stars to appear on this year's Thursday Night Football schedule, along with Adrian Peterson (2012 MVP), Aaron Rodgers (2011 MVP), and Tom Brady (2010 & 2007 MVP), former No. 1 overall picks Andrew Luck, Cam Newton and Eli Manning, 2013 Defensive Player of the Year Luke Kuechly and cornerback Darrelle Revis.

The entire 16-game Thursday Night Football schedule will also be streamed live on the NFL Mobile from Verizon app (NFL.com/mobile), the NFL app on XBOX, including interactive features from Microsoft, and through Watch NFL Network (NFL.com/watch), with participating cable and satellite providers.

The Thursday Night Football schedule on CBS, also simulcast on NFL Network includes:

Sept. 11 (Week 2): Steelers at Ravens Oct. 9 (Week 6): Colts at Texans

Sept. 18 (Week 3): Buccaneers at Falcons Oct. 16 (Week 7): Jets at Patriots

Sept. 25 (Week 4): Giants at Redskins Oct. 23 (Week 8): Chargers at Broncos

Oct. 2 (Week 5): Vikings at Packers Dec. 20 (Week 16): Chargers at 49ers/Eagles at Redskins*

The Thursday Night Football schedule on NFL Network includes:

Oct. 30 (Week 9): Saints at Panthers Dec. 4 (Week 14): Cowboys at Bears

Nov. 6 (Week 10): Browns at Bengals Dec. 11 (Week 15): Cardinals at Rams

Nov. 13 (Week 11): Bills at Dolphins Dec. 18 (Week 16): Titans at Jaguars

Nov. 20 (Week 12): Chiefs at Raiders Dec. 20 (Week 16): Chargers at 49ers/Eagles at Redskins*

To view the entire 2014 NFL schedule, visit NFL.com and CBSSports.com.

The full slate of 16 regular-season Thursday Night Football games will be produced by CBS with its broadcasters and production team, including Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. Nantz and Simms also will announce select games on Sunday on CBS. NFL Network hosts and analysts will be featured in the pregame, halftime and postgame shows along with CBS Sports announcers.

This season marks both the 55th year of NFL broadcasts on the CBS Television Network and the ninth year of Thursday Night Football games on NFL Network. In 2013, NFL Network's Thursday Night Football set rating and viewership records. Including the audience from over-the-air broadcasts in local markets, NFL Network's 13-game schedule of Thursday Night Football broadcasts finished with a record-high per game average audience of 8 million viewers, up 10% from 2012, marking the fifth-consecutive year that Thursday Night Football has set an all-time high viewership mark.

Each week of the 2013 Thursday Night Football schedule, NFL Network's game telecast was the day's most-watched program on cable television.

*The kickoff times for each of the Saturday games - Philadelphia at Washington and San Diego at San Francisco - will be determined at a later date.

ABOUT NFL NETWORK

Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, fans Turn to NFL Network to receive information and insight straight from the field, team headquarters, league offices and everywhere the NFL is making news. Launched in 2003, NFL Network gives fans unprecedented year-round inside access to all NFL events, including the Super Bowl, Playoffs, regular season, preseason, Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame induction weekend, NFL Draft, NFL Scouting Combine, Senior Bowl, league meetings, minicamps and training camps.

Currently in more than 72 million homes, NFL Network has carriage agreements with each of the country's largest television providers including Comcast, DirecTV, DISH Network, Cablevision, Cox, Charter, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-Verse.

For fans on the go, all NFL Network programming can also be streamed live on the NFL Mobile from Verizon app (NFL.com/mobile), the NFL app delivered on XBOX from Microsoft, and through Watch NFL Network (NFL.com/watch), with participating cable and satellite providers. For more information, log on to NFL.com/nflnetwork. NFL.com is the exclusive internet home of NFL Network.

Follow CBS Sports and NFL Network on Twitter: @NFLonCBS and @NFLNetwork.

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