The 2007 NFL Playoffs
NFC Divisional Playoffs in HDTV on FOX
Seattle Seahawks (9-7 Division Champion) at Chicago Bears (13-3 Division Champion)
Live from Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
January 14, 2007
1pm ET

Today's game will be broadcast in 720p HDTV and Dolby Digital 5.1. Thanks in advance for posting all related comments here. Please include all pertinent info; source and provider, cities, station call letters, DBS, Cable, OTA.

From NFL.com, by Senior Analyst Gil Brandt

These teams met in October, with the Bears winning 37-6 on a Sunday night in Chicago. Shaun Alexander did not play in that game. Over the last two years, these teams have the two best records in the NFC with 49 wins between them … Seattle gives up 126 rushing yards per game, they are not as good on the road, and they seem to have trouble against physical teams. That said, the Bears have lost two straight divisional playoff games at home -- in 2005 and 2001. QB Rex Grossman was 17 of 41 in last year's playoff loss to the Panthers. He's been up and down all season, and if history means anything, this should be an up week.

Seattle needs WR Darrell Jackson to play -- he caught 10 TD passes in the regular season. Look for the Bears to be conservative and try to control the ball running and throwing short passes to TE Desmond Clark. They'll rely on return specialist Devin Hester for field position. Chicago misses DT Tommie Harris, and it really shows in pass defense.

I don't think Alexander will be a big factor in this game, but QB Matt Hasselbeck is the key since the Bears are struggling in pass defense. Chicago's special teams are very good, and Seattle sometimes struggles in that area.

I think this is a closer game than people think.

Pregame is up in EDTV from the studio, HDTV from the venue.

Weather for today's game:

38 degrees, feels like 31
Cloudy, with 40% chance of rain / snow showers by 3pm ET
Wind from NE, 9mph
79% humidity

I'm very psyched and extremely confident. Let's go Rex ... Let's go Bears!!!

Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
Make every play clear the way to victory!
Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly!

We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation,
With your T formation.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
And let them know why you're wearing the crown.

You're the pride and joy,
of all Illinois.

Chicago Bears, Bear Down!

It's up in 720p & DD5.1, on the FOX digital television network.

Go Bears!!!!

The picture is awesome.

Bears 7-0

Watching OTA. PQ is great.

Let's go Bears.

Looks pretty good here in Cleveland, WJW-DT via WOW cable. No subchannels.

The oranges on the Bears uniforms seem a bit off. Long shot of the crowd was a little grainy. I think the Saints game last night was a tad better.

I see they fixed the DLP Cam intro so it is actually HD and looks good now :D

GO BEARS!

On site report says it feels a lot colder than 31, more like 20.....

Good morning from icy Seattle.

KCPQ-DT seemed to get their house in order from yesterday's game. Much improved PQ during the fast motion stuff. :) I'll take 14.5-15.0 mb/s no problem.
OTA source looks good, Comcast looks identical to my eyes.

BTW, the field looks funny. The cameras on the wires above the field are awesome!

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/8113/blahlg4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Colors seem a bit over saturated on a lot of the cams, which I see quite a bit on Fox. KMSP-DT in Minneapolis OTA. Other than that looks pretty good for Fox.

Good morning from icy Seattle.

KCPQ-DT seemed to get their house in order from yesterday's game. Much improved PQ during the fast motion stuff. :) I'll take 14.5-15.0 mb/s no problem.
OTA source looks good, Comcast looks identical to my eyes.I'd be surprised if the other stations that were having problems yesterday haven't improved today too.

My guess: Due to the way the Splicer works, there was some setting the net was sending out yesterday, that affected some, not all, of FOX affiliates.

Colors seem a bit over saturated on a lot of the cams, which I see quite a bit on Fox. KMSP-DT in Minneapolis OTA. Other than that looks pretty good for Fox.

Yep, the whites on the Seattle uniforms are glaringly bright.

Cool reverb to break at end of quarter.

Cool reverb to break at end of quarter.
Joe Buck sounded like he was a rock star, I thought my processor was having a coronary....

Wow!!!

14-7

Well, Rex is certainly letting it all hang out today. Great throw & reception, and getting into the end zone.

Da Bears.

Except for the over-enhanced whites, exceptional PQ and sound OTA on WTTG/DC. Even the DLP-cam looks sharp!

Sounds windy. I feel his pain.

Great video and audio via TWC and Scientific Atlantic Explorer 8300HD (DVR) on 37 inch Sony tube. WRAZ, Raleigh.

Gorgeous Blackjack commercial!

WS

Watching on WJBK via Comcast in Detroit. It looks good here, great game so far.

KTVU via Comcast, SF/Bay area (Mountain View)

PQ is good, but not a "sharp" as yesterday's CBS game. Colors are good and do not appear overly saturated here, but there is not the "pop" of NFL broadcasts on CBS. SQ is also not as 'active', mostly front (R/C/L) activity with very little surround.

web

Not 100% sure if it's a national or local ad but the Ford ad sounds over modulated.

So what's the lesson here? Fox can only put together one quality broadcast a weekend? Even during the playoffs? Bleh.

Good picture from WTTG-5 Washington over Verizon.

So what's the lesson here? Fox can only put together one quality broadcast a weekend?No, because for the most part they were doing 4-6 per week all season that were fine.

I'd be surprised if the other stations that were having problems yesterday haven't improved today too.

My guess: Due to the way the Splicer works, there was some setting the net was sending out yesterday, that affected some, not all, of FOX affiliates.

Ah...thanks. So it's entirely possible it was a network issue or a combination network/local issue? Glad to see it was corrected either way.

No HD picture on Hartford Fox 61 :mad:

PQ - fantastic via OTA KPTV Portland, OR HDMI 42" plasma 720p

Points off Grossman's turnovers: 7

Just started watching the recording on my Dish Vip 622. I had no sound for the 1st quarter. Sound is back for the beginning of the 2nd quarter. I'm watching FOX in Los Angeles.

Is the stripe on the Bears pants really almost flourescent orange, because that is how it looks to me?

Granted the Bears orange and Illinois orange are probably different, but if I switch over to the hoops game on CBS none of the colors jump out at me like they do on FOX NFL games. All sporting events on CBS seem to be more natural and accurate where as FOX seems to crank up the color and contrast. To me it seems like a big box store trying to sell TVs, crank up the color, brightness and contrast.

KOKI-DT in Tulsa was having major signal dropouts all day. Looks like they might have it back up OK now. About 10 minutes ago they even lost their analog signal as well for several minutes.

Hope they have the bugs worked out now, both for the game, as well as the "24" premiere tonight!

WooHoo! Great looking game so far.

Yes, FOX is pumping out the bits today. KHON is over 15mb today, unlike the 12mb feed yesterday.

My guess: Due to the way the Splicer works, there was some setting the net was sending out yesterday, that affected some, not all, of FOX affiliates.The splicer is capable of rate shaping, although I'd be surprised if that was done intentionally by Fox. Downstream rate shaping or re-encoding is also possible.

for the most part they were doing 4-6 per week all season that were fine.I think it depends on how many feeds are going out at the same time. Fox uses aggressive stat muxing for the net feeds. On the playoff games it's the same game going everywhere, so more bandwidth is likely available.

Colors seem a bit over saturated on a lot of the cams, which I see quite a bit on Fox. KMSP-DT in Minneapolis OTA. Other than that looks pretty good for Fox.I haven't seen what cameras they are using, but many of the recent games have been Sony. They have alot of colorimetry control, and the saturation can be a result of that. I prefer it being a bit on the saturated side rather than pastel.

Phenomenal PQ on WTIC-DT via Comcast cable. Blows away yesterday's Fox game and rivals the CBS game yesterday.

No HD picture on Hartford Fox 61 :mad:
Must be a provider problem on your end or a glitch with the OTA transmitter. The Fox 61 feed via Comcast here in Middletown, CT has been up and running in HD for the whole first half (though it went black for a few minutes during the halftime coverage). Picture quality has been good as normal from them.

Here's the null packet situation in Cleveland. There's at least 3.5Mbps of null packets during game action. Would be nice to get the full deal.

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/7025/wjwclevelandbearsseahawzl9.th.jpg (http://img172.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wjwclevelandbearsseahawzl9.jpg)

That pass interference call was rubbish!

KCPQ-DT is still @ ~15mb/s, about 3 mb/s of null.

I see the bad Grossman is showing up. :)

The splicer is capable of rate shaping, although I'd be surprised if that was done intentionally by FoxNo, I'm saying there was some kind of issue, mistake, etc.

WNYW-DT NYC OTA http://img169.imagevenue.com/loc316/th_05110_Untitled_1_122_316lo.jpg (http://img169.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=05110_Untitled_1_122_316lo.jpg)

Doing my best Steve Raible.....TOUCHDOWN SEEEEEHAWKS!

Not a first down.


Hawks shoot themselves in the foot. Doh.

And then da Bears turn it over in the red zone. Doh.

Now they are playing ping pong...

Wtf! Arrrgh!

"here you take it!"

"No, I don't want it"

"here have it back"

:)

clipping...

Block in the back...nice try Chitown

No, I'm saying there was some kind of issue, mistake, etc.Sorry I wasn't clear. I agree that it could have been an error in how that splicer was configured. AFAIK that's done by Fox network, and I'd be surprised if Fox intentionally did that. It also could have been a regional feed at a lower bit rate. OTH, I wonder how many stations are using their confidence TT1280 IRD to decode the Fox HD net feed for re-encoding.

Should have done play-action.

Overtime here we go!!!!

And we go to OT in the Windy City.

Da Bears win it in OT!

Wow!

The paramedics have just showed up. I should be OK by next weekend.

Congrats to the Bears, for an exciting OT win.

The Ravens, the Eagles and the Seahawks all lose. Not a good weekend for you aviary fans.

Great game and PQ. Now for the AFC.

nice ot victory for the bears..Get ready for them Saints

Who was the moron that wanted to know what was longer, a 3/8, 1/2 or 5/8" cleat? He was so stupid that he didn't know he was stupid. I hope his grade school kid gives him a lot of grief when he gets home.

Who was the moron that wanted to know what was longer, a 3/8, 1/2 or 5/8" cleat? He was so stupid that he didn't know he was stupid. I hope his grade school kid gives him a lot of grief when he gets home.
That would be Joe Buck, making another statement only he found funny.

The picture is awesome.

Bears 7-0


I agree completely. I'm watching WAGA-DT 5.1 in Atlanta. This is by far the single best broadcast I have seen on my 42A10 720p set in my own house. It almost, but not quite, rivals my 360 HD-DVD add-on. No swimming grass, well saturated colors & very good resolution. I know that Grossman has a baby face, but he looks downright cherubic in some of those sideline shots of him.

I'm very impressed with FOX & will be especially critical next regular season, now that I have seen what they can do.

edit: Ok, I thought that the overly bright white on the Seahawks was just my TV, but I see others had it as well. Still a very nice broadcast by FOX.

Who was the moron that wanted to know what was longer, a 3/8, 1/2 or 5/8" cleat? He was so stupid that he didn't know he was stupid. I hope his grade school kid gives him a lot of grief when he gets home.Perhaps you should be looking closer to home for answers. The comment was obviously a joke, maybe a bad one, but a joke nevertheless.

I really don't listen to the announcers much. The 3/8, 1/2 and 5/8" thing made my ears pick up. Maybe someone could enlighten me as to how that could be funny.

Did the announcer just use the word "owned" talking about someone on the Pats against Merriman? LOL Thanks to the lovely ice storm, game is being broadcast in SD so they can put weather alerts up. Apparently the network got alot of calls about it, they put an explanation on the scrolling bar at the bottom of the screen.
Wrong thread, this is the NFC game thread.