The 2009 NFL Playoffs - NFC Wild Card Weekend in HDTV on NBC
Atlanta Falcons at Arizona Cardinals
Live from University of Phoenix, Glendale, AZ
NBC HD 1080i & DD5.1
4:30 PM ET

Tom Hammond, Cris Collinsworth will have the call, Tiki Barber serves as the sideline reporter.

From foxsports.com
John Czarnecki

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Cardinals will host their first playoff game since 1947 when the franchise was in Chicago. Turnovers have plagued the Cardinals the past two months, and that's what Atlanta will be striving to force. In the last seven games, the Cardinals have committed 16 turnovers — 10 of them in their own territory. Opponents have converted those turnovers into 10 touchdowns and two field goals, a major reason why the Cardinals lost four of their past six games, going from 7-3 to 9-7. Putting pressure on Arizona QB Kurt Warner, who was sacked only 26 times this season, will be critical if the Falcons are going to win. Atlanta DE John Abraham, who led the Falcons with 16 1/2 sacks, should be a handful for OT Mike Gandy. "Warner gets hit more than any quarterback in the league," Abraham said. "Our biggest thing is to keep the pressure on him and keep hitting him. We might not get the sacks, but we have to make sure we get him frustrated." Atlanta DEs Chauncey Davis and Kroy Biermann will rotate in place of injured Jamaal Anderson, who suffered a high ankle sprain against Minnesota on Dec. 21. Both players had sacks last week; the two have combined for six sacks, while Anderson has just two. Warner, who passed for 4,583 yards and 30 TDs, averages 37 attempts per game.

One big plus for the Arizona offense is the return of WR Anquan Boldin, who appeared to have fresh legs in practice this week after sitting out several games with a bum shoulder. "He moved around very well," coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "He looked very good. I'm glad I sat him." Also returning is OLB Travis LaBoy, who had four sacks during an injury-marred season. The Falcons can control the game's tempo with RB Michael Turner, who scored 17 rushing TDs this season while running for 1,699 yards in a career year. If Turner moves the pile, it will allow rookie QB Matt Ryan to pick his spots and utilize play action. Ryan was 6-0 this season in games in which he had a 100.0 or higher quarterback rating. WR Roddy White had a team-record season with 1,382 receiving yards, and he's a great deep threat, averaging 15.7 yards a catch. Plus, White has 29 third-down receptions, second-best in the NFL.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9021158/Countdown:-Previewing-Saturday%27s-wild-card-games

After 3 days of setup we are ready to drop the puck....er I mean kick off!

After 3 days of setup we are ready to drop the puck....er I mean kick off!

Yes, you folks have been busy.

Three set up days? I have to re-negotiate. :)

'cuse me SNF...didn't you guys had 20+weeks to get ready?:D:D:D

Have a good show!

Let's see...for me....yep, 20 weeks.

the roof is closed to make the crowd even louder.

See ya in Tampa! This is week 1 for me.:eek:

is it just me or is the pre-game audio bad

Is anybody having audio issues with the pregame?

Just switched to SD on D*.

WTF! Why is Matt Millen on the Pre-Game Show....you got to be kidding me? Yes, I am a Long Suffering Lions Fan and this is the ultimate slap in the face.

Game is SD on D* in Miami. I think this is because of an audio problem.

It wasn't the 0-16 season? He was a good at the TV game before the Lions debacle. I for one would like to see him get some respect back. Always liked him. Good player.

Edit: But I'm not a Lions fan :-)

The game just switched to HD. Audio problem fixed.

HD for kickoff in Detroit WDIV-DT NBC OTA. Looks and sounds good.

Looks pretty good. Watching on WSLS via Comcast in Blacksburg, VA.

rear audio seems a bit subdued....

bleh, looks like crap in Montgomery AL, nothing like watching a smear move acrossed the screen

bleh, looks like crap in Montgomery AL, nothing like watching a smear move acrossed the screen
Does your local NBC affiliate multicast?

rear audio seems a bit subdued....

Yeah, could be a little hotter.

looks like macroblocking crap as usual. WESH-DT 2.1 OTA in Orlando

Seeing quite a bit of artifacting "halos" around the players on the wide shots and when things move. Some macroblocking on fast motion closeups as well.

WBBH Ft. Myers with a weather subchannel via Comcast.

PQ seems worse than it should be with the weather subchannel only sucking ~2.5Mbps away from the main.

Viewing on a 42" 720p plasma.

WNBC-DT NY OTA

Not impressed. This is definately not like the SNF games of the past few weeks. I see a lot of swimming grass and it looks blotchy when there is action and the camera moves.

Does your local NBC affiliate multicast?
Yeah, I think they have 3 or 4 sub-channels. I realize that this is station by station dependant, but it still sucks.

WNBC-DT NY OTA

Not impressed. This is definately not like the SNF games of the past few weeks. I see a lot of swimming grass and it looks blotchy when there is action and the camera moves.

This is not the SNF team. You'll see them doing the Colts @ Chargers, following. I'd guess (har har) this is the NBC Notre Dame team.

PQ is OK but not up to the new NBC standards. The HS All America game before this had better PQ. I'd have to agree with Ken H's guess that this is the Notre Dame group since they left the down marker positioning data visible on the main cameras, and that is usually present on the ND games but not SNF. KXAS Dallas via FiOS. Go Cards!

This is not the SNF team. You'll see them doing the Colts @ Chargers, following. I'd guess this is the NBC Notre Dame team.

Technically it's basically the same gear... Production wise, yep a whole different team.

Does your local NBC affiliate multicast?
I haven't looked in awhile so I manually tuned through the NBC .x stations. We have 3 subs, 1 not showing anything. I assume that is the defunct music channel, why is it still taking up space? Of the two that are broadcasting, one is the universally unnecessary weather channel the other is showing incredible 1970 ratings grabber "The Bold Ones". Which was so hot it lasted 8 episodes.

Is this John Gonzales directing?

Affirmative on that.

Is this John Gonzales directing?

From NBC Media Village

The Falcons-Cardinals game will be produced by Tommy Roy, who produced Super Bowl XXXII, the last NFL game on NBC prior to its return to the NFL in 2006. Roy also was executive producer for Super Bowls XXXII, XXX and XXVIII. John Gonzalez will serve as director. Gonzalez, currently the director for NBC's Notre Dame football broadcasts, directed four Super Bowls for NBC, including Super Bowl XXXII alongside Roy.

Interesting game, Falcons survived a few early mistakes and capitalized on a few Cardinals mistakes to take 17-14 lead going onto the 2nd half.

And now the Cardinals return the favor and take the lead back 21-17. Solid production.

I haven't looked in awhile so I manually tuned through the NBC .x stations. We have 3 subs, 1 not showing anything. I assume that is the defunct music channel, why is it still taking up space?Poor digital bandwidth management.

Cards are tearing it up. Surprising after the way they finished.

And now the Cardinals return the favor and take the lead back 21-17. Solid production.

Yep, the Falcon will find a way to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Watching on D* here in the South Atlanta suburbs. I don't see swimming grass, but the macro blocking is alive & kicking.

http://www.hdimage.org/images/hwn21j8u4sb7dpdhfu_camera_thumb.png (http://www.hdimage.org/viewer.php?file=hwn21j8u4sb7dpdhfu_camera.png)

Anyone have this problem? On one of the cameras, I'm getting this black thing on the top. My tv is cropping it from an OTA feed but I can see the artifacts of it on the top.

I capped this from my motorola STB via firewire so I'm getting full resolution (Feed Chicago WMAQ-DT via RCN QAM untouched around 11.67 Mbps)

Anyone have this problem? On one of the cameras, I'm getting this black thing on the top. My tv is cropping it from an OTA feed but I can see the artifacts of it on the top.It's not a mistake, it's info in the VBI, increase your overscan very slightly.

It's yellow line data.

Enjoyable game, Cards advance.

On to the Left Coast, Colts & Bolts.

Cards game looked very good to me on KNBC in LA. Very nice color renditioning (actually better than the A crew methinks), that stadium has fantastic lighting, looks phenomenal. NBC definitely does a good show. Although I experienced some lip sync issues especially on the postgame interview. I look forward to seeing what they do for the Super Bowl.

It's yellow line data.
I like when it's left in, it allows me to generate my own on-field graphics. :p

Thanks everyone. Hope you enjoyed the game
I am done for the year.
I pass it on to Wndel,Ed and Fred.

I like when it's left in, it allows me to generate my own on-field graphics. :pYeah, I always like to plug my alma matter, Screw U.

Thanks everyone. Hope you enjoyed the game
I am done for the year.
I pass it on to Wndel,Ed and Fred.

Nice work.

It's yellow line data.

yellow line as in first down marker yellow line? or something completely different

WTF! Why is Matt Millen on the Pre-Game Show....you got to be kidding me?Agree 100%. Must be a joke, because when it comes to pro football expertise, Matt Millen certainly is.

Although I experienced some lip sync issues especially on the postgame interview.Same on the bridge show replay.

I look forward to seeing what they do for the Super Bowl.I expect a stellar effort.

yellow line as in first down marker yellow line?
You got it.

yellow line as in first down marker yellow line?
The data is actually camera position and zoom info to allow the computers to know exactly where to put the line on the screen.

Take it away San Diego....