“The cool thing about Caleb Williams and the Chicago offense is that it gets better every single week.” – Devin McCourty on the Bears’ rookie quarterback
“Since the beginning of time, the Ravens have been all about defense – not anymore. They have the best offense in the NFL.” – Jason Garrett
“There is reason to be very, very excited in New England.” – Chris Simms on Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye’s first start
Peacock Sunday Night Football Final Streams Exclusively on Peacock Following Bengals-Steelers and Every Sunday Night Football Game During 2024 Season
STAMFORD, Conn. – October 13, 2024 – NBC Sports’ presentation of Week 6 of the 2024 NFL season continued tonight from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., with Football Night in America leading into coverage of Bengals-Giants on Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock.
Maria Taylor hosted FNIA from NBC Sports’ Studio 3 in Stamford, Conn. She was joined by former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, three-time Super Bowl champion Devin McCourty, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, NFL Insider Mike Florio, and fantasy sports industry pioneer Matthew Berry. Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy and two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison joined co-host Jac Collinsworth at the site of the game.
Mike Tirico (play-by-play), Cris Collinsworth (analyst), Melissa Stark (sideline reporter) and Terry McAulay (rules analyst) are calling tonight’s game.
Pre-game coverage included a conversation with TODAY Show correspondent and breast cancer survivor Jill Martin on-site at MetLife Stadium as part of the NFL’s “Crucial Catch” initiative promoting cancer prevention and early detection, as well as Harrison’s pre-game interview with Giants DL Dexter Lawrence and Taylor’s post-game interview with Packers QB Jordan Love.
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Following are highlights from tonight’s edition of Football Night in America on NBC and Peacock:
ON BENGALS
Dungy on the Bengals: “Their defense is struggling, but they feel good. They’re getting some of their pass rushers back on the defensive line. Cincinnati’s offense started out slowly…but these last three games, they’ve been lighting it up and the Giants are going to have their hands full on defense.”
Simms on QB Joe Burrow: “If they can block [Giants DL Dexter Lawrence] and Brian Burns up front, he is going to tear up this Giants secondary.”
ON GIANTS
Harrison on Giants head coach Brian Daboll: “He doesn’t say anything that he doesn’t mean. The players love him, and he’s just been great for them…I think he’s done a great job keeping this team together throughout all the adversity they’ve faced, but also with Daniel Jones. He’s playing a lot more consistently, so Daboll has done a great job with him.”
ON BEARS
McCourty: “The cool thing about Caleb Williams and the Chicago offense is that it gets better every single week.”
Simms: “[Caleb Williams] has got big-time talent. Their offensive coordinator Shane Waldron has done a great job getting the Bears in a groove...they found out a proper formula on the offensive side of the ball. Three weeks in a row, it’s about tying plays together. A lot of plays that start off looking the same that are different.”
Taylor: “They were sipping tea in London making it look easy.”
ON RAVENS
Garrett: “Since the beginning of time, the Ravens have been all about defense – not anymore. They have the best offense in the NFL. It’s a three-headed monster – Lamar Jackson is ridiculous, King Henry [Derrick Henry] behind him, and Zay Flowers...when you’re calling plays, if you have a given – something you know that you can call that’s going to be successful – everything else feeds from there. So, they have a given, handing it to the big guy and then the quarterback can keep it and then nobody can cover Zay Flowers. So they’ve got a lot of givens. Every time that ball’s snapped, they’re hard to defend.”
ON COMMANDERS
Simms on QB Jayden Daniels and the Commanders offense: “They’re never out [of a game]. I’m really impressed with the Kliff Kingsbury offense. And this quarterback, he’s as cold as ice, man. He is smooth, he doesn’t blink under the pressure, and he just refused to go away.”
ON LIONS
McCourty: “David Montgomery was a load for Dallas to try and handle today. Running through people, running over them – it was a party in the end zone today.”
Garrett on the 47-9 win against the Cowboys: “It was a bludgeoning. They ran the ball, they threw the ball, they had trick plays...they got after them every which way...they just kept pouring it on and on and on.”
Garrett on DE Aidan Hutchinson’s injury: “It means a lot…an incredibly productive player, but more than that, he’s the heart and soul of this football team. And if you ask me, ‘Who’s the one player who represents everything that Dan Campbell’s trying to build in Detroit?’ It’s Aidan Hutchinson...if you love football, watch this guy play. He’s what every coach wants, he’s what every teammate wants to be on their team.”
ON COWBOYS
Garrett on the Cowboys’ struggles at home after 47-9 loss to Detroit: “They were 16-1 at home the last two years. They were dominant...the common factor in all of those games was they started fast in the game, they played ahead. Then they turned their rushers loose...now, they’ve gotten behind in every game. The injuries are real, but the Cowboys are not physical on either side of the ball right now. On offense, they can’t run it, they’re not controlling the line of scrimmage. Everything is on Dak [Prescott] every time the ball is snapped and they can’t stop the ball on the other side.”
McCourty: “Right now, Dallas’ defense just looks soft out there. It’s not everything being schemed up. It’s David Montgomery running over people, they’re grabbing at his jersey. They’re just not a tough football team right now.”
ON PACKERS
Simms on Jordan Love and the Packers offense: “They’re one of the best running teams in football, and they make you defend the whole field. So you creep up, you try to stop the run, you don’t want to be overpowered, and then this guy at quarterback [Jordan Love], he throws the ball down the field.”
ON BUCCANEERS
Florio on the Buccaneers’ week as a result of Hurricane Milton: “It’s been a strange week for the Buccaneers. They relocated to New Orleans on Tuesday because of Hurricane Milton - 350 people and 30-plus pets made the trip out of Tampa Bay. [Buccaneers WR Chris] Godwin said that with all the uncertainties and all the unknowns, the practices, the meetings, and the game became the escape for them from all the uncertainty they were dealing with.”
ON PATRIOTS
Simms on QB Drake Maye’s first start: “Definitely encouraging. There were a lot of good things to see from Drake Maye. Physically, we know he can run, he can make plays that way and he’s got a big arm, and they made a lot of explosive plays with that big right arm today…This is what I really like – extending plays, running, or just buying time and keeping the eyes down the field to throw the ball…There is reason to be very, very excited in New England.”
ON BROWNS
Dungy on if it’s time for a QB change in Cleveland: “They can put Jameis Winston in now if they want to, but it still doesn’t make up for when you have bad penalties, when you have turnovers, when you have mistakes and your defense isn’t playing great – it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is.”
Harrison on possibility of replacing Deshaun Watson with Jameis Winston: “This team is in desperate need of a spark. I think they should give Jameis Winston an opportunity. You can’t tell me that [Deshaun Watson] has the belief of all of those guys in the locker room. He doesn’t, because every week they have to answer questions about Deshaun Watson and what he has going on. It’s been a distraction, it continues to be a distraction and they need to move on. If I was on that team, I wouldn’t want to go out there and play on a 1-5 team and you’ve got this guy running around. He’s got to go home and take care of his business at home so we don’t have to deal with that stuff in the locker room.”
ON CHARGERS
Simms on the Chargers’ win vs. Denver: “[Justin] Herbert and the Chargers had a really good offensive gameplan against this really good Broncos defense. They ran the ball, they got the ball out of his hand quickly so the pass rush and blitz couldn’t get there so they could dominate time of possession.”
Garrett: “This is Jim Harbaugh’s style of football. You run the football. Big, strong offensive line, keep handing it to these guys. It just quiets the defense. All those pressures go away. And by the way, Justin Herbert’s still your quarterback.”
Florio on Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh: “Jim Harbaugh said after the game he had an atrial flutter on the sideline. Had an IV and a magnesium pill in the locker room. He actually had a procedure in 2012 for an irregular heartbeat and he said he’ll be following up with a cardiologist tomorrow.”
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Peacock Sunday Night Football Final, an NFL post-game show produced by NBC Sports, streams exclusively on Peacock following every Sunday Night Football game during the 2024 season. The show is hosted from the game site by Jac Collinsworth, Harrison, and Dungy, who will provide instant reactions to each Sunday game along with highlights and interviews.
-- Football Night in America --