Next Monday night, ESPN hopes the winning scores occurs with the replacement refs missing that the offensive team has 14 men on the field. It would make for another good night for SportsCenter.

From USA Today:

(SC) drew a 5.0 overnight. and that, says ESPN executive vice president NorbyWilliamson, could make it the most-watched SportsCenter ever when all TV markets are included in a national rating. (At least that’s true, says ESPN as it combs through its ratings history, for SportsCenter shows that lasted at least an hour. The 5.0 overnight translates into 5% of households in the 56 urban TV markets measured for overnights.)

This could be interesting, given Donovan McNabb’s history in Philly.

From the release:

Comcast SportsNet, the leader in local sports and the official cable home of the Philadelphia Eagles, welcomes former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to the network’s Eagles coverage team.  McNabb will appear every Thursday on “Daily News Live” throughout the season, starting this Thursday, Sept 27th.  This is in addition to his role as a studio analyst for the NFL Network.

McNabb played 13 seasons in the NFL, 11 of those with the Eagles.   He was the Eagles’ first round draft pick in 1999, and the second overall pick.   With McNabb under center, the club posted 10 or more wins in 8 seasons. In addition, the Eagles went to the postseason 8 times, won the NFC East 5 times, played in 5 NFC Championship Games, and reached the Super Bowl in 2004, before losing to the New England Patriots.

McNabb, a six-time Pro Bowl QB, is considered one of the finest players in Eagles franchise history. His 4,746 pass attempts, 2,801 completions, 32,873 passing yards, and 216 TD passes are franchise records. Donovan led the club to more wins (92), postseason games (16) and postseason victories (9) than any other QB in team history.

McNabb joins former Eagles including Brian Westbrook (Daily News Live and Eagles Extra), Leonard Weaver (Eagles Pregame Live), Ike Reese (Eagles Postgame Live) and Brian Baldinger (Eagles Extra) on Comcast SportsNet’s Eagles programming. Current Eagles running back LeSean McCoy appears every Friday on “SportsNite” and answers fans questions on CSNPhilly.com.

Subscribers can wake up to Warren Sapp Sunday morning. Oh joy.

Time Warner reaches 15 million homes, while Bright House is in 2.5 million. So yes, this is a big deal for all involved.

The official release:

NFL Network reached multi-year agreements with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, the country’s respective second- and sixth-largest cable providers, for carriage of NFL Network and the NFL RedZone channel, it was announced today.

NFL Network and NFL RedZone will debut in Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks homes beginning this Sunday September 23, with full launch before Thursday, September 27

“We’re delighted to have reached an agreement for NFL Network and NFL RedZone that provides a good value to our customers,” said Melinda Witmer, Executive Vice President and Chief Video and Content Officer for Time Warner Cable. “The additional games this year and the proven appeal of NFL RedZone will certainly prove to be a draw for our customers.  We look forward to a long and productive relationship with the NFL.”

 “We thank our customers for their patience while a fair deal was reached for all involved,” said Steve Miron, CEO, Bright House Networks. “It is especially rewarding to say yes to our customers who have requested NFL Network’s award-winning coverage.”

“We are excited to work with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks to bring fans football 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” said NFL Network President and CEO Steve Bornstein. “Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks subscribers will be able to enjoy our weeklyThursday Night Football schedule, our award-winning Sunday NFL GameDay shows,NFL Total Access, NFL Films programming and much more.  In addition, the NFL RedZone channel is a truly exciting way to enhance your Sunday football viewing experience each and every week.”

Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks are major cable providers in the home markets for 12 NFL teams (Buffalo, Carolina, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Kansas City, New York Giants, New York Jets, San Diego and Tampa Bay). For Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks,NFL Network will be available on the Digital Basic and Sports Pass tiers, and NFL RedZone will be available to Sports Pass customers.

NFL Network is the home ofThursday Night Football — 13 primetime NFL regular season games from September through December — and is the destination for all that happens around the sport of football. NFL Network airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and provides viewers with more than 2,500 hours per year of original programming, including: NFL Total Access, NFL GameDay, the new four-hour NFL AM weekday morning show,Top 10, Playbook, NFL Replay, NFL Classic Games plus the Emmy award-winningSound FX and America’s Game.

NFL Network also features every NFL preseason game, the Senior Bowl, plus more coverage of the NFL Draft, Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremony, NFL Scouting Combine and Super Bowl than anyone else.

The extraordinarily popular NFL RedZone, produced by NFL Network,whips around every NFL game on Sunday afternoons, delivering the touchdowns and most exciting moments as they happen and in high definition. When a team goes inside the 20-yard line, fans see the crucial plays live. The channel keeps fans up-to-date in real time, switching from game to game with live look-ins, highlights and a chance to see every important play. For more information on NFL RedZone, visitwww.nfl.com/redzonetv.

Considering all the testimonials and tributes to Steve Sabol, you would think he would have more than a bust at the NFL Hall of Fame. Rather, he and his father, Ed, would have their own wing.

Instead, Ed had to wait until his 94th birthday before the doors of Canton opened to him last year. Steve, who died Tuesday, won’t be on hand for his induction.

That’s beyond terrible, considering all that Steve did in shaping the image of the league with his work for NFL Films.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter summed up the feelings of so many of us: “Nobody was more responsible for making the NFL what it is than Steve Sabol.”

Yet Steve Sabol remains on the outside.

From what I’ve heard, it is tougher to get someone inducted as a “contributor,” which is why it took so long for Ed Sabol, the NFL Films founder, to get his day. Clearly, that’s a situation that needs to be rectified.

Look no further than what happened to Steve Sabol.

He deserved to have his day at Canton, and we all deserved to hear his induction speech. You just know it would have been truly memorable.

A sad day for fans of NFL Films. Steve Sabol helped transform the way we watch football.

From Roger Goodell:

“Steve Sabol was the creative genius behind the remarkable work of NFL Films,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “Steve’s passion for football was matched by his incredible talent and energy. Steve’s legacy will be part of the NFL forever. He was a major contributor to the success of the NFL, a man who changed the way we look at football and sports, and a great friend.”

From the NFL Network obituary:

 Few men in the League have ever had a longer run. None has ever had a better one. He was the game’s first quintuple threat. An Emmy-winning auteur who won statuettes for cinematography, editing, writing, directing and producing. The only man ever to be so honored.

But it wasn’t hardware that Steve loved, it was the game. And he saw it as no one ever had. Through the eyes of an artist. With an unerring eye for detail, and a pitch perfect ear, Steve quickly transformed NFL Films from simple chroniclers of the game, to epic myth makers. And he did it, as all great artists do, by taking chances.

Super slow motion, wireless mics on players, reverse angle replays, follies films, and custom composed musical scores. All that’s standard stuff today, but before NFL Films it was unheard of. But then, Steve never thought like a sports filmmaker, he thought like a Hollywood storyteller. Big, bold, honest, and, funny. Those were the hallmarks of Steve’s work. And Steve himself.

From the New York Times obit:

“I may have started it, but he has been the engineer behind it,” Ed Sabol said of his son in a 2008 interview. “He comes up with these great ideas and is a great student of the game.”

Of the sports Emmy Awards won by NFL Films – 107, including two this year — Steve Sabol was cited by name on more than a third.

The films have impressed Hollywood. The director Ron Howard said in an interview with The New York Times in 2000 that NFL Films highlight reels had had a real impact on how movies are made, “particularly montages.” The director Sam Peckinpah once told Steve Sabol that he got the idea for the classic slow-motion gunfight scene in the 1969 movie “The Wild Bunch” after watching a Super Bowl highlights film Mr. Sabol had made.

He used film, not tape, for greater clarity. He interspersed the smacks and whistles with the sounds of a 60-piece orchestra playing Tchaikovsky. He highlighted emotional themes like comebacks and underdogs. He persuaded players and coaches to wear microphones. He made some of the first funny films of players’ “bloopers.” And he wrote scripts, often rhyming ones.

In a film review of the Oakland Raiders 1974 season, he wrote: “The autumn wind is a Raider, pillaging just for fun. He’ll knock you around and upside down and laugh when he’s conquered and won.”

And there is all sorts of reaction on Twitter:

Rich Eisen:

All of us here at @nflnetwork are crestfallen and mourn the loss of the genius and iconoclast Steve Sabol. May he rest in peace.

Peter King:

Steve Sabol always refused to name his favorite player of all time: “It’s like asking me to name my favorite noodle in a spaghetti dinner.”

Mike Tirico:

He did not play or coach or own a team but few have impacted the NFL like Steve Sabol. So sad to lose this legend.

Bonnie Bernstein:

When you think of the NFL, you think of NFL Films. When you think of NFL Films, you think of Steve Sabol.

Joe Theismann:

RIP my good friend Steve Sabol. U meant so much to so many.

Andrea Kremer:

My heart breaks w/ news of passing of my former boss & dear friend Steve Sabol. Profound impact personally & professionally to so many.

More to come.

I’d like to throw a flag at the replacement referees: 15 yards for slow play.

Or make that 15 minutes.

Brad Biggs in the Chicago Tribune writes the average game time for Sunday’s opener was 3 hours, 14 1/2 minutes.

From Biggs:

The Bears’ game went 3 hours, 25 minutes, and all non-overtime games before the Sunday night Steelers-Broncos meeting averaged 3 hours, 14½ minutes. The Redskins-Saints game lasted 3:42 because there were two extended injury delays. Six games lasted 3:18 or longer.

That’s up considerably from the average that it is in the 3:06 neighborhood. The reason seems clear: the replacement refs were extremely confused, taking longer to sort out penalties, etc.

The ultimate in confusion took place in the Seattle-Arizona game when the referees lost track of timeouts for the Seahawks. The incident gave former NFL referee Mike Pereira a chance to vent during the Fox Sports telecast.

Elsewhere, the new refs went flag happy. There were 18 penalties in the Green Bay-San Francisco game, slowing down the pace considerably.

I can’t imagine the networks were pleased with the slow play. They like the games to fit in a neat 3-hour window, or close to it. Viewers tend to hit the remote when games drag on.

You can sure the NFL is sensitive to the situation. They’ll demand the replacements pick up the pace.

Or better yet, the league should just settle with the regular officials.

He’s back–at least in commercials. Peyton Manning, the endorsement king, already has had plenty of air time with all of his various commercials.

However, for the networks, the big payoff comes if Peyton Manning can become Peyton Manning again on the field.

In the very fortunate department, NBC lands his first regular-season game since 2010 with Pittsburgh at Denver Sunday. The game was slated for primetime prior to Manning signing with the Broncos in the spring.

So you can figure two elements were in play: The NFL had a hunch the quarterback would go to Denver; or Tim Tebow would be the starting QB for the Broncos. Never underestimate the Tebow factor.

NBC obviously is thrilled to have Manning’s return. Even though it’s early, I asked NBC Sports chairman Mark Lazarus if it is possible the game could set a new Sunday night ratings record of 27.6 million viewers.

“We know the anticipation will be there,” Lazarus said. “If the game holds up, and he has a great game, there’s always a chance. But it is difficult to predict.”

CBS definitely will be paying close attention. The network, which has the AFC package, will cash in if Manning returns to form. Houston-Denver already is slated for the national afternoon doubleheader slot for week 3, and Denver-New England–Manning vs. Tom Brady–is down for week 5.

And there’s much more down the line, if Manning is Manning. A big if, to be sure.