NFL TV Coverage Map Week 17: Full Breakdown of CBS, Fox Broadcasts

Dan Lyons | 1 Hour Ago

Sam Darnold and the Seahawks have the best record in the NFC, and face another playoff contender, the Panthers, on Sunday. / Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

The penultimate weekend of NFL football has arrived, and thanks to an extended Christmas slate (with three games streaming between Netflix and Prime Video) and a pair of Saturday games, there will be a ton of standalone matchups throughout the weekend.

Still, CBS and Fox will have plenty of action on Sunday, and the NFL playoff picture remains a bit murky with two weeks left to play. Five of the seven AFC playoff teams have locked up spots—the Broncos, Patriots, Jaguars, Bills and Chargers—with two more up for grabs. The Steelers and Texans are heavy favorites to make the postseason, but the Ravens and Colts remain alive.

The NFC playoff picture is similar, with the Seahawks, Bears, Eagles, Rams and 49ers clinched. The Packers are a heavy favorite to lock up a wild-card spot, though their NFC North rival Lions are still mathematically alive. The most remaining drama in the entire NFL comes from the NFC South, where the Buccaneers (7–8) and Panthers (8–7) are battling for the division.

Let’s take a look at the coverage maps for the Sunday afternoon slate of games.

What is an NFL coverage map?

Coverage maps show exactly which NFL games will be broadcast where around the country each Sunday.

Each week, every non-prime-time game (the games that aren't played on Thursday Night Football, Sunday Night Football or Monday Night Football) is broadcast on either CBS or Fox at 1 p.m. ET or around 4 p.m. ET. This means fans across the country will have at least two games available to each viewer every Sunday afternoon.

Every team playing will have its game broadcast in its local market (i.e. the Bengals will always be on in Cincinnati). But that still leaves another game to be broadcast, which is assigned by the network. And in the case that the local team is playing during primetime or is on a bye week, there will still be a game broadcast in the window they’d normally play.

Coverage maps depict which games are shown in which locations across the country. The maps are published courtesy of 506sports.

NFL coverage map Week 17

CBS single game window

With a tripleheader being played on Christmas Thursday and a pair of games on Saturday, all but one CBS game will be played in the 1 p.m. ET window, while Giants at Raiders kicks off at 4:05 p.m. ET.

CBS Week 17 coverage map. / via 506 Sports

COLOR	GAME	PBP	ANALYST
Red	Steelers @ Browns	Jim Nantz	Tony Romo
Blue	Seahawks @ Panthers	Ian Eagle	J.J. Watt
Yellow	Saints @ Titans	Andrew Catalon	Charles Davis, Jason McCourty
Green	Giants @ Raiders (LATE)	Kevin Harlan	Trent Green

Fox early game window

This coverage map covers the games being broadcast on Fox at 1 p.m. ET. Sunday afternoon’s Eagles at Bills game is a national broadcast on Fox at 4:25 p.m. ET. The gray section around Nashville indicates that the Titans have instituted their blackout rights for the Fox window that will air opposite of Tennessee’s local home game on CBS.

Fox Week 17 coverage map. / via 506 Sports

Fox coverage map key

COLOR	GAME	PBP	ANALYST
Red	Jaguars @ Colts	Joe Davis	Greg Olsen
Blue	Patriots @ Jets	Adam Amin	Drew Brees
Green	Buccaneers @ Dolphins	Kenny Albert	Jonathan Vilma
Yellow	Cardinals @ Bengals	Kevin Kugler	Daryl Johnston
Gray	No game (BLACKOUT)	N/A	N/A

Key NFL matchups in Week 17

The NFL’s Christmas didn’t quite play out as expected, with just two games in playoff contention split between the three games on Netflix and Prime Video, but there are still some important games as we get into the weekend.

The Packers play their second consecutive Saturday night game after last weekend’s devastating overtime loss to the Bears. Green Bay currently occupies the No. 7 seed at 9-5-1 and will need some real help to move into better playoff positioning, but it can clinch the NFC playoffs with a win. The Packers will host the Ravens, who are clinging onto their own dwindling playoff hopes. At 7–8, Baltimore is two games behind the Steelers in the AFC North, and face Pittsburgh on the road in the Week 18 season finale. First, they must survive a trip to Lambeau Field, though the trip may be less treacherous than usual, as the Packers’ top two quarterbacks are banged up after last week’s loss in Chicago. ESPN’s playoff prediction odds give the Ravens a 6.6% chance to make the postseason. Saturday night’s game kicks off at 8 p.m. ET and will stream on Peacock.

The Bears and 49ers both moved to 11–4 and clinched playoff berths in the NFC last week, but they have plenty of play for in their Sunday Night Football matchup in Santa Clara, Calif. With one more win, Chicago will lock up the NFC North and a top-two seed in the conference, and could take the top seed by winning out and the Seahawks dropping one of their final two games. San Francisco is a game behind Seattle in the NFC West but still in play to both win the division and claim the NFC’s top seed by winning out and the Seahawks dropping their game at the Panthers Sunday. Even if Seattle reduces the stakes by winning a bit earlier on Sunday, the the Bears and Niners are both peaking at the right time and should make for an electric matchup.

Whichever games you tune into, we hope you have a great holiday weekend full of football!

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