The One Person Who Can Save the NFL on CBS

The One Person Who Can Save the NFL on CBS By Craig Ellenport      CBS SportsFebruary 21, 2014 12:07 pmThis week’s announcement that Dan Marino and Shannon Sharpe are out as studio analysts on CBS Sports’ NFL Today show is just part of the major reshuffling of the network's talking heads.That news coincided with the news that future Hall of Famer and just-retired tight end Tony Gonzalez was joining the studio show.But don’t forget that CBS will also be experiencing some major changes in the broadcast booth.The biggest headline made by CBS Sports this winter was the new deal with the National Football League for Thursday Night Football.In addition to shelling out $275 million for those rights, CBS has committed its No. 1 broadcasting team – Phil Simms and Jim Nantz – to Thursday nights for the entire season (which includes games both on CBS and NFL Network).Will Simms and Nantz go straight from their Thursday night game to wherever CBS’ top Sunday game is being played just three days later? According to one CBS insider, the current thought – not set in stone – is that Simms and Nantz would only handle double duty on weeks in which CBS has the national doubleheader, or about half the season (with FOX getting the national Sunday game the rest of the time).So when Simms and Nantz are not working Sundays, which CBS crew will work that top game? Last year, the No. 2 team was Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf – but Dierdorf has retired.The No. 3 team at CBS last year was Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts. Do they get bumped up? Fouts had a brief stint doing national games when he was on “Monday Night Football” in 2000-01. You may have forgotten about that because he was slightly overshadowed by the other new member of his broadcast team… Dennis Miller.Just as free agency will heat up soon in the NFL, there will still be some movement in the broadcast booth as well. It’s entirely likely CBS can find a new top team, or at least a new partner for Gumbel.There’s also the question of adding another body for the studio. With Marino and Sharpe out and Gonzalez in, there’s room for another talent (though the trio of Gonzalez, Boomer Esiason and Bill Cowher alongside James Brown seems like it’s enough). Will the network look to some of the talent from its new CBS Sports Network shows? Someone like former Ravens and Jets linebacker Bart Scott? Such a move would hardly resonate among viewers.Former Raiders exec Amy Trask would be better than Scott – not only bringing a women’s voice to the show but also adding a veteran front office perspective.Of course, the talent in the studio and the broadcast booth won’t mean much at all to CBS’ NFL success if the talent on the field doesn’t produce. And we’re not talking about their camera crews.Coming off an embarrassing loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII, the best team in the AFC – even with Peyton Manning at the helm – doesn’t look as sexy as it did just a few months ago. After Manning and Tom Brady, what else does the AFC have left to offer a national audience? Andrew Luck is a great quarterback but are the Colts a national draw? The AFC teams with the biggest national base are the Steelers, who are in rebuilding mode, and the Raiders, who have been rebuilding for the better part of the 21st century. And regardless of records, the Jets still take a backseat in New York to the NFC’s Giants.The NFL’s schedule makers must take care. Imagine a week in which the Patriots play Sunday night on NBC and the Broncos play Monday night on ESPN. The ratings for CBS’ Sunday games would hit an all-time low.Perhaps there is one great hope for CBS this season: The Houston Texans make Johnny Manziel the top overall pick in the draft and he starts on Day One. Then the new campaign begins in earnest:“CBS: The official home of Johnny Football!”There, that’s the ticket.Johnny Manziel goes for a new perception: maturity http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2014/02/21/johnny-manziel-nfl-scouting-combine-jarrett-bell/5712923/ Johnny Manziel responds to height concerns: ‘I play like I’m 10-feet tall’ http://nfl.si.com/2014/02/21/johnny-manziel-2014-nfl-combine/ Johnny Manziel admits receiving counseling at Texas A&M http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/johnny-manziel-talks-about-counseling-at-texas-a-m-022114