BRONCOS TURN TO CUTLER AS THEY HOST FIRST PLACE SEAHAWKS ON "NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL"

BRONCOS TURN TO CUTLER AS THEY HOST FIRST PLACE SEAHAWKS ON "NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL"

NBC's Collinsworth: "They weren't going to the Super Bowl with Plummer so why not make the move?"

NBC's Madden: "There's a lot more wrong with the Denver Broncos than Jake Plummer."

NEW YORK � November 29, 2006 � Rookie quarterback Jay Cutler will make his first NFL start as the Denver Broncos (7-4) host Shaun Alexander and the first-place Seattle Seahawks (7-4) on "NBC Sunday Night Football," Sunday at 8:15 p.m. ET, presented in high definition. NBC's coverage kicks off at 7 p.m. ET with the "Football Night in America" studio show, a complete recap of the top stories in the NFL, with highlights, analysis and reports from around the league.

Al Michaels (play-by-play), John Madden (analyst) and Andrea Kremer (sideline reporter) will call all the action. Bob Costas (host) and Cris Collinsworth (co-host), analysts Sterling Sharpe and Jerome "The Bus" Bettis, and reporter Peter King of Sports Illustrated, comprise the "Football Night in America" studio team.

This week on "Football Night in America," Kremer interviews Cutler on the pressure of his first-ever start and the transition from college to the NFL.

COLLINSWORTH ON MOVE TO CUTLER:

"Jay Cutler was just so good in practice they couldn't keep him out anymore. He kept making these throws during practice that all the players and coaches kept looking at Shanahan like 'when are you going to get this kid in the game?' They weren't going to the Super Bowl with Plummer, so why not make the move?"

MADDEN ON CUTLER:

"I would go with the veteran. It's so easy to say this guy who hasn't played can come in and play. Cutler is the quarterback of the future. I don't know if you have to do it right now. There's a lot more wrong with the Denver Broncos than Jake Plummer."

The Broncos selected Cutler out of Vanderbilt with the 11th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. Cutler holds the school record for passing yards and touchdown passes and in his senior year, was named SEC Player of the Year. After starting the season 7-2, Denver has lost two in a row, prompting the move from Jake Plummer to Cutler. The Broncos last played on Thanksgiving night, a 19-10 loss to the Chiefs.

The defending NFC champion Seahawks have survived injuries to offensive stars RB Shaun Alexander, last season's NFL MVP, back after breaking a bone in his left foot in Week 3, and QB Matt Hasselbeck, who returned on Monday after sustaining a right knee injury (strained MCL) in Week 7. The Seahawks defeated the Packers this week and maintain sole possession of first place in the NFC West.

NBC SNF PACING AHEAD OF 2005

Sunday's Colts blowout of the McNabb-less Eagles drew a 9.7 national rating and 15 share. Through 12 games, NBC Sunday Night Football is averaging an 11.2 rating/18 share, up 2 percent from the 2005 MNF average on ABC through 12 telecasts. NBC SNF is averaging 17.5 million viewers, up 5 percent from MNF at this point last season (16.7 million).

Driven by Sunday Night Football, NBC is projected to finish the November sweep up 12% in 18-49 and up 9% in total viewers versus November 2005 while the other three major networks are all projected to finish down versus year-ago results. This is NBC's biggest non-Olympic sweeps performance in two years. The projected 12% gain year-to-year is NBC's biggest increase in a major sweep month, excluding Olympics, since May 1995, and biggest for a November sweep in People Meter history (dating back to September 1987). It's also the biggest year-to-year gain for any network in November since CBS in 2001.

NBC's Sunday November Adults 18-49 average of a 6.0 is the highest rating for any night on any network. NBC doubled its 3.0 Sunday average for November 2005 to earn the network's highest Sunday rating for a November sweep in 10 years.

ABOUT FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING:

The NFL this season is implementing for the first time in its history a primetime "flexible scheduling" element on Sundays in Weeks 10-15 and in Week 17 to ensure quality matchups with playoff implications in those weeks and give surprise teams a chance to play their way onto Sunday Night. The NFL will announce the flex game no later than 12 days prior, except for Week 17, which will be announced no later than six days before, to ensure that the final regular season Sunday Night game has playoff implications.

"FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA" STUDIO

The "Football Night in America" studio, just down the hall from the famed Studio 8H, home of "Saturday Night Live," was built in the former studio home of first the Philco Television Playhouse (1948-1955) and later for game shows Concentration (1958-1973) and Jeopardy (1964-1975), and talk shows Donahue (1984-1996) and The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1996-2002), and shares the "SNL" control room for the football season. The "Football Night" set was designed and built by Jeremy Conway, the former set designer for "Sex in the City." Two 103" high definition Panasonic plasma screen televisions � roughly the size of a queen-size mattress � are two of the set innovations.

"NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL"

"NBC Sunday Night Football," the premier primetime game of the week, is preceded by the "Football Night in America" studio show, which kicks off NBC's regular season coverage each Sunday at 7 p.m. The unprecedented six-year NFL deal includes innovative flexible scheduling and continues through the 2011 season with Super Bowls in 2009 and 2012. NBC has assembled the most honored broadcast team ever: Joining Al Michaels, the commentator called "TV's best play-by-play announcer" by the Associated Press, and John Madden, the most honored NFL broadcaster of all time with 15 Emmy Awards, are Bob Costas, the most honored studio host of all time with 19 Emmy Awards, who will host NBC's "Football Night in America" studio show alongside co-host Cris Collinsworth, the most honored studio analyst in history with six Emmy Awards; and analysts Sterling Sharpe, a five-time Pro Bowler and Jerome Bettis, one of the most popular players in recent NFL history. "NBC Sunday Night Football" coverage also includes sideline and feature reporter Andrea Kremer, whom the Los Angeles Times has called "the best TV interviewer in the business of covering the NFL." Peter King, who covers the NFL for Sports Illustrated and is considered one of the country's foremost NFL reporters, serves as a reporter for the "Football Night in America" studio show.

NBC'S REMAINING 2006 NFL SCHEDULE
(Sunday coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET with "Football Night in America" studio show)
Sunday, Dec. 3 � Seattle at Denver*
Sunday, Dec. 10 � New Orleans at Dallas*
*Flexible Scheduling Weeks 10-15
Monday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day) � Philadelphia at Dallas
Flexible Scheduling Week 17