Patriots-Giants game to air on three networks

NFL Fans now will get a chance to see history in the making.

The Saturday Night game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants - which was only going to air on the barely-distributed NFL Network - will also air now on NBC and CBS - both of which will simulcast the NFL network feed.

The last time NBC and CBS simulcast a football game together was the first Super Bowl (and was also known for a fight between the NBC and CBS crews - they had to erect a fence to separate them both.)

The game will also air on WWOR in New York and WCVB-TV in Boston (with a simulcast on WCVB's sister station, WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H). Those three stations had the rights to air the game beforehand (yeah, I bet WWOR and WCVB are real happy about this...)

The 15-0 Patriots have a chance to become the first 16-0 team in NFL history and rank as one of the most dominant sports teams in history. The last time any team in professional sports went undefeated was the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who went 14-0 and won Super Bowl VII against the Washington Redskins.

One thought: Did this move by the NFL was related to Senator John Kerry's threat to haul the league onto Capitol Hill for hearings if they didn't make the game available to the broadcast networks?

UPDATE: The game is also being carried in Canada on broadcast network CTV, and cable channels TSN and TSN HD.