Week 9 of the NFL season approaches. It's shaping up to be a good one, as a pretty entertaining season continued on that pace in Week 8.
In one of the bigger surprises of the season the Patriots appear to be all the way back after spending several years in the cellar of the AFC. Drake Maye led his team to a complete beat down of the Browns—not the most significant achievement in light of Cleveland's struggles across the board this year but not at all a given based on recent seasons in New England. In the same division, the Dolphins stopped a potentially mortal slide down the standings with a big win over the Falcons in a game where Kirk Cousins did nothing to up his trade value. The Bears' momentum came to a crashing halt against a Ravens team missing Lamar Jackson (who returns on this week) and Jordan Love led the Packers to a road win over Aaron Rodgers's Steelers.
It was a fun week and leads into another slate of interesting matchups in Week 9. Let's take a look at the coverage map for Sunday afternoon's slate of games.
What is an NFL coverage map?
Coverage maps show exactly what games will be broadcast where around the country on Sunday.
Each week, every non-primetime game (in other words, the games that aren't played on , , or is broadcast on either CBS or Fox at 1 p.m. ET or around 4 p.m. ET. This means fans everywhere will have at least two games shown on their screens every Sunday afternoon during the season.
Every team playing will have its game broadcast in its local market no matter what (i.e. the Cincinnati Bengals will always be on in Cincinnati). But that still leaves another game to be broadcast, which is assigned by the network. And in the case that the local team is playing during primetime or is on a bye week, there will still be a game broadcast in the window they'd normally play.
Ergo, the coverage map shows that: what teams will be shown in what cities when the local team is notplaying. Maps are all courtesy of .
NFL coverage map Week 9Fox single game window
Here's the coverage map for games being shown on Fox that kick off at 1 p.m. ET and 4:05 p.m. ET. Games kicking off at 4:05 p.m. ET are denoted as "LATE" on the key.
COLOR
GAME
PBP
ANALYST
Red
Vikings @ Lions
Kevin Burkhardt
Tom Brady
Blue
Broncos @ Texans
Kevin Kugler
Daryl Johnston
Green
Panthers @ Packers
Adam Amin
Greg Olsen
Yellow
Saints @ Rams (LATE)
Kenny Albert
Jonathan Vilma
Orange
Jaguars @ Raiders (LATE)
Chris Myers
Mark Schlereth
CBS early game window
Here's the coverage map for games being shown on CBS that kick off at 1 p.m. ET.
COLOR
GAME
PBP
ANALYST
Red
Colts @ Steelers
Ian Eagle
J.J. Watt
Blue
49ers @ Giants
Kevin Harlan
Trent Green
Green
Falcons @ Patriots
Andrew Catalon
Charles Davis, Jason McCourty
Yellow
Bears @ Bengals
Spero Dedes
Adam Archuleta
Orange
Chargers @ Titans
Tom McCarthy
Ross Tucker
CBS late game window
This week there is no coverage map for the CBS late window because there is only one game being played—Chiefs vs. Bills. The game will be showed nationally on the network starting at 4:25 p.m. ET. Fans in search of another game must turn to Fox instead.
Key NFL matchups in Week 9
Both the most interesting and the most consequential contest this week is the Chiefs-Bills game. It's always entertaining when Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen go head-to-head. And, per usual, the contest should hold postseason ramifications. Neither team is bulletproof but both are likely to be jockeying for playoff positioning later this season and owning the tiebreaker by winning this matchup could wind up significant. Plus, it's a fascinating measuring stick as far as how well Kansas City has played recently and the issues Buffalo was showing before the bye week.
Next up is the Lions-Vikings game. The NFC North is a hotly-contested division and both teams need a win to keep pace with the 5-1-1 Packers. It is also the first game back for J.J. McCarthy after the young quarterback suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 2. How well he plays will continue to spark conversation about Minnesota's long-term plan for him and whether mistakes were made in choosing McCarthy over Sam Darnold. On top of all that Detroit is one of the most fun teams to watch every week and should have some fascinating offensive concepts to throw at Vikings coordinator Brian Flores.
Finally, the Colts-Steelers game is shaping up to be a fun one. Pittsburgh's defense has struggled of late. Conversely Daniel Jones has continued on an absolutely torrid pace, along with Jonathan Taylor and the rest of Indy's offense. It's shaping up to be a potential blowout—but playing on the Steelers' home turf is never easy and the Colts haven't been tested terribly often during their hot start. This game should tell us all we need to know about this pair of AFC playoff contenders.
Enjoy the games!
