NFL Wild Card Weekend on ESPN and ABC

Mac Nwulu

January 4, 2018

Tennessee Titans at Kansas City Chiefs, Saturday at 4:20 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC and ESPN Deportes
Saturday and Sunday Editions of Postseason NFL Countdown and NFL PrimeTime
Wild Card Live Pre-Game Special on Twitter with Katie Nolan and Clinton Yates

ESPN and ABC Kick Off NFL Wild Card Weekend: Titans vs. Chiefs (Saturday, 4:20 p.m. ET)

ESPN and ABC will kick off the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend when Alex Smith and the AFC West champion Kansas City Chiefs host Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, Jan. 6, at 4:20 p.m. ET. ESPN’s Monday Night Football play-by-play voice Sean McDonough and analyst Jon Gruden will call the game from Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City with sideline reporters Lisa Salters (covering the Chiefs) and Adam Schefter (Titans).

Titans-Chiefs will also be streamed live on the ESPN App, and for the first time, ESPN’s NFL game will be available via mobile phones. Additionally, the game will be televised in Spanish on ESPN Deportes with commentators Eduardo Varela, Pablo Viruega and reporter John Sutcliffe.

Postseason NFL Countdown Shows on Saturday (12 p.m. on ESPN and 3 p.m. on ESPN and ABC)

Wendi Nix will host a special, one-hour Postseason NFL Countdown on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN with analysts Ryan Clark and Louis Riddick.
Suzy Kolber hosts the 3 p.m. edition from Kansas City on ESPN and ABC, joined by analysts Matt Hasselbeck, Randy Moss, Charles Woodson and Steve Young from Arrowhead Stadium, leading into the Titans-Chiefs AFC Wild Card game.

Reporters at Saturday’s games:

Titans at Chiefs (Dan Graziano)
Falcons at Rams (Josina Anderson)

Saturday’s Postseason NFL Countdown features (3 p.m. show):

Kareem Hunt: Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt sits with MNF’s Jon Gruden to discuss his breakout NFL rookie season, rushing for 1,327 yards.
Marcus Mariota: In advance of his first NFL playoff start, Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota joins Countdown’s Matt Hasselbeck to look back at his 2017 season and ahead to what he hopes will be the Titans’ first playoff win since 2003.

Wild Card Live with Katie Nolan and The Undefeated’s Clinton Yates on Twitter

ESPN’s Katie Nolan and Clinton Yates will host Wild Card Live, an exclusive, live pre-game show on Twitter beginning at 3:30 p.m. (at the @ESPN and @ESPNNFL accounts). Wild Card Live will build up to the AFC Wild Card showdown between the Titans and Chiefs on ESPN and discuss the other NFL storylines and games of the playoff weekend. The special presentation builds on the success of ESPN’s previous six-episode CFP Rankings Reaction show, which reached 5.75 million viewers on Twitter – with a growing audience for each successive episode, peaking at 3.5 million for the final show on Dec. 3.

ESPN’s NFL Programming Lineup on Saturday, Jan. 6:

Time (ET)	Show	Networks
4 a.m.	*NFL Matchup* Sal Paolantonio, Louis Riddick and Greg Cosell	ESPN and ESPN App (re-air, ESPN2 at 9:30 a.m.)
11 a.m.	*NFL Championship Chase: Wild Card Weekend*	ESPN2 and ESPN App
12 p.m.	*Postseason NFL Countdown* Wendi Nix, Ryan Clark and Riddick	ESPN and ESPN App
3 p.m.	*Postseason NFL Countdown* Suzy Kolber, Matt Hasselbeck, Randy Moss, Charles Woodson, Steve Young and Adam Schefter	ESPN, ABC, ESPN App and WatchABC
4:20 p.m.	*NFL Wild Card Game:* *Tennessee Titans – Kansas City Chiefs* Sean McDonough, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters and Schefter	ESPN, ABC, ESPN App and WatchABC
	*Titans – Chiefs* Eduardo Varela, Pablo Viruega and John Sutcliffe	ESPN Deportes
7:25 p.m.*	*SportsCenter*	ESPN
12 a.m.*	*NFL PrimeTime* Trey Wingo, Clark and Jeff Saturday	ESPN and ESPN App

*Time is approximate.

Sunday, January 7:

Sunday’s Postseason NFL Countdown (10 a.m. / ESPN)

Sam Ponder hosts ESPN’s three-hour NFL pregame show with analysts Matt Hasselbeck, Randy Moss, Rex Ryan and Charles Woodson; plus NFL Insiders Louis Riddick, Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter.

Reporters at Sunday’s games:

Bills (Sal Paolantonio) at Jaguars (Jeff Darlington)
Panthers at Saints (Dianna Russini)

Features include:

Bills Team Building:Bills head coach Sean McDermott employs an unusual team-bonding strategy – getting players to answer questions from teammates in meetings, such as “Who is the most important person in your life?” Sometimes the stories are emotional. Other times, funny. But what is consistent is the result. The players leave the room with a new connection and appreciation for their teammate, reports Jeff Darlington.
Sacksonville: As the top-ranked Jacksonville Jaguars defense led the league in sacks, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry declared 31-year-old Jaguars defensive end Calais Campbell the “Mayor of Sacksonville.” Jac Collinsworth reports.
Sean Payton Conversation: Countdown reporter Dianna Russini sat with Saints Super Bowl-winning coach Sean Payton for a one-on-one conversation in which they discuss the emergence of the New Orleans running game, quarterback Drew Brees’ high-level performance at 39 years of age, and Payton’s message to the team after his own controversial actions in the loss to Atlanta in early December.

NFL PrimeTime (8 p.m. / ESPN)

Mike Greenberg joins analysts Clark, Jeff Saturday and Tim Hasselbeck to review the day’s game in the Wild Card Sunday edition of NFL PrimeTime.

ESPN Digital