The 2009 NFL Playoffs - AFC Wild Card Weekend in HDTV on CBS
Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins
Live from Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida.
CBS HD 1080i & DD5.1
1 PM ET


Jim Nantz, Phil Simms will have the call.

From foxsports.com
John Czarnecki

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Ravens were the first team to throttle Miami's wildcat formation back in mid-October in a 27-13 victory at Dolphin Stadium. They are planning to do the same thing, aggressively run-blitzing against the direct-snap offense.

The Dolphins gained just four yards in five Wildcat plays — also drawing a false-start penalty in another attempt — with their longest gain coming on a four-yard Ricky Williams end-around. The strategy from highly regarded defensive coordinator Rex Ryan was simple: Crowd the line of scrimmage, make the Dolphins' talented runners Williams and Ronnie Brown (27 yards on 13 carries) go sideways and time blitzes to stop end-around runs that simulate a conventional handoff. MBL Ray Lewis wound up leading the defense with 10 tackles as Miami gained just 71 yards on the ground.

For the season, Baltimore allowed only 81.4 yards a game. After that, Miami won nine of its last 10, while the Ravens won nine of their final 11 games. Dolphins mammoth NT Jason Ferguson strained his oblique in the opening series of that October game, and the Ravens dominated the time of possession and gained 139 rushing yards with Willis McGahee, rookie Ray Rice and Le'Ron McClain taking turns gashing Miami. That shouldn't happen today as Ferguson shores up everybody's gaps.

Both teams are in the top three in the NFL in turnover ratio, but the play that turned their first meeting was Ravens OLB Terrell Suggs' 44-yard INT touchdown return. Dolphins QB Chad Pennington wants to get WR Ted Ginn deep whenever he sees the blitz coming. But he also knows that the Ravens forced 34 turnovers, including an NFL-high 26 INTs, during the season and returned five interceptions for touchdowns. You can figure that Pennington will be extra cautious with the ball, and take the short pass whenever he can.

Baltimore's young offensive line is a strong run-blocking unit, and the Ravens want to focus on winning field position and keeping rookie QB Joe Flacco away from the Dolphins' pass rush. The Dolphins will use a lot of eight-man fronts against the run and hope CBs Will Allen and André Goodman can hold their own in single coverage against Derrick Mason.

Miami tied an NFL record by having only 13 turnovers this season, and Pennington has thrown the fewest interceptions in the NFL with seven, completing 67.4 percent of his throws for 3,653 yards and 19 touchdowns for a 97.4 quarterback rating. He was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year on Wednesday. Ravens CB Fabian Washington, their best coverage player, didn't practice because of a hyper-extended right big toe suffered against the Cowboys. The injury is similar to a turf toe.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9025970/Countdown:-Previewing-Sunday%27s-wild-card-games

Let's go Dolphins.

The game is up in 1080i & DD5.1, on the CBS digital television network.

Watching on D*. PQ looks fantastic. DD5.1 sounds great.

WWJ-DT CBS Detroit OTA, no subchannels. Looks and sounds great.

picture is good. as usual with CBS games. Chicago RCN QAM (OTA has no subchannels)

I am loving the aerial shots with the stadium jumbotron in them.

WCBS-DT via Cablevision.

Definitely not the best PQ from CBS. Soft during regular motion and frequent noticeable macroblocking during fast motion.

Would like to hear from OTA, Fios, or TWC WCBS viewers to see if it's a CV problem.

WCBS-DT via Cablevision.

Definitely not the best PQ from CBS. Soft during regular motion and frequent noticeable macroblocking during fast motion.

Would like to hear from OTA, Fios, or TWC WCBS viewers to see if it's a CV problem.

WCBS looks pretty good on D*. Long shots are not as good as closer ones.

KCBS channel 2 in Los Angeles on TWC looked good, but we just lost HD! :(

I really like the red bullseye they use to track the receivers and running backs. Nice and soft, very muted. The effect is just enough to convey the information but not bash the viewers eyes with a visual baseball bat. Props to CBS for being a little subtle and for the most part, not turning the NFL into a Nintendo game.

Just got HD back during the Miami TD pass. :)

Cox HD in Williamsburg, VA looks great. Looks even better with the new 100" screen :)

WCBS-DT via Cablevision.

Definitely not the best PQ from CBS. Soft during regular motion and frequent noticeable macroblocking during fast motion.

Would like to hear from OTA, Fios, or TWC WCBS viewers to see if it's a CV problem.
Shots with cloud overcast aren't too good, not unexpectedly. But even full sunlit images seem to have somewhat less crispness and a little more noise than the best from CBS or other 1080i sources. Images from NYC's TWC and RCN appear about the same. No blocking or motion artifacts here. -- John

Just got HD back during the Miami TD pass. :)Local issue. No loss of HD in Detroit.

The Dolphins played terribly. 5 Turnovers will always cost you the game.

The Dolphins played terribly. 5 Turnovers will always cost you the game.Yup.

wow 4 ints....favre was bad....oh that was pennington. :D

wow 4 ints....favre was bad....oh that was pennington. :D

it looked like Romo :D

WCBS-DT NY OTA
Posting late because I was taking down X-mas lights outside and was peeking in and out at the TV. It looked pretty good here.

WCBS-DT NY OTA
Posting late because I was taking down X-mas lights outside and was peeking in and out at the TV. It looked pretty good here.
ravens are going to the superbowl, you heard it first here.

ravens are going to the superbowl, you heard it first here.

I doubt it.. If they get past the Titans next week, they will be beat for a third time the following week by the STEELERS! (For the third time this year)

I doubt it.. If they get past the Titans next week, they will be beat for a third time the following week by the STEELERS! (For the third time this year)
i believe the third time will be the charm.

Looks like Ed Hochuli's body of work was good enough to warrant working a post-season game, because he did this game.

You can breathe a sigh of relief, because he won't be doing the Super Bowl. (Refs only get one game during the playoffs).

Note: neither will Mike Carey be doing the Super Bowl again. I think some rule is in place by the NFL not allowing refs to do the Super Bowl in back to back years.

Looks like Ed Hochuli's body of work was good enough to warrant working a post-season game, because he did this game.

You can breathe a sigh of relief, because he won't be doing the Super Bowl. (Refs only get one game during the playoffs).


You sure about the 1 game rule? They did mention during the broadcast that his team was the #1 rated ref group in the NFL this season.

Looks like Ed Hochuli's body of work was good enough to warrant working a post-season game, because he did this game.

You can breathe a sigh of relief, because he won't be doing the Super Bowl. (Refs only get one game during the playoffs).


nope....last year mike carey did the divisional game seahawks/packers & also did the super bowl.

they can only work 1 non super bowl playoff game but can then do the super bowl too.

nope....last year mike Carey did the divisional game seahawks/packers & also did the super bowl.

they can only work 1 non super bowl playoff game but can then do the super bowl too.

OK, thanks for the update. Since Mike didn't do wild card weekend, he's either doing this weekend (divisional) or next (conference championship). I still doubt he's doing the Super Bowl.

Sorry about harping on Mike Carey too much, but I know someone who works for him at the ski accessories company he owns here in San Diego when he's not doing his NFL duties.

oh just to clarify....they can do wc/div game + champ game if they graded in the top 3.

Good timing on this. Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback Column at si.com for today (01/05/2009) has an explanation of this - page 3 of his multi-page column. Also confirms my suspicion - no official can work two Super Bowls in a row (at any position).