Week 5 of the NFL season is in the books and it was a fun one. There are no more undefeated teams after the Bills lost to the Patriots and the Eagles to the Broncos. There's also only one winless team remaining after the Titans' unbelievable comeback over the Cardinals and the Saints' hard-fought win over the Giants; the Jets dropped to 0-5 as the last team without a win due to a blowout loss to the Cowboys.
Beyond those notable win/loss column developments, Mac Jones led the 49ers to a crazy win over the Rams, Trevor Lawrence scored the most unlikely touchdown of the year to beat the Chiefs, the Dolphins blew a 17-point lead to Bryce Young's Panthers, and the Texans obliterated the Lamar Jackson-less Ravens.
It was quite an eventful series of games, with ramifications that will be felt long down the line this season. Week 6 already promises to bring similar ripple effects, mostly driven by the Bengals' acquisition of Joe Flacco ahead of their primetime clash with the Packers on Sunday afternoon. And with only two teams on bye this week (a decrease from four last week), there will be an extra game on the slate to enjoy.
Here's what the coverage map looks like for Week 6's schedule of NFL games.
What is the NFL Week 6 Coverage Map?
Coverage maps show exactly what games will be broadcast where around the country on Sunday.
Each week, every non-primetime game (in other words, 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 everywhere will have at least two games shown on their screens every Sunday afternoon during the season.
Every team playing will have its game broadcast in its local market no matter what (i.e. the Cincinnati 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.
Ergo, the coverage map shows that: what teams will be shown in what cities when the local team is not playing. Maps are all courtesy of 506sports.
Fox Single Game Window
Here's the coverage map for games being shown on Fox that kick off at 1 p.m. ET and 4:05 p.m. ET. Games kicking off at 4:05 p.m. ET are denoted as "LATE" on the key.
Fox Single Game Coverage Map Key
CBS Early Game Window
Here's the coverage map for games being shown on CBS that kick off at 1 p.m. ET.
CBS Early Game Coverage Map Key
CBS Late Game Window
Here's the coverage map for games being shown on CBS that kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET.
CBS Late Game Coverage Map Key
Key NFL Matchups in Week 6
The most significant matchup from Week 6 is the 49ers-Buccaneers contest, slated for a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff. Both teams are 4-1 to start the season, and while both teams have their flaws they are frontrunners in the NFC as of now. This meeting should be very entertaining but it will also end up meanignful as far as playoff positioning goes. Should Tampa Bay and San Francisco get to the end of the year around the same place in the standings Sunday's contest could determine seeding. It's too early to be worried about the postseason, per se, but both sides will definitely be aware of the ramifications a loss would come with.
The Chiefs-Lions game will be fun. Likely not as meaningful playoffs-wise as the above matchup, but fun nonetheless. Detroit is one of the more enjoyable teams to watch in the NFL with playmakers on both sides of the ball and Kansas City is always worth watching as long as Patrick Mahomes is under center. It'll be a battle between two talented and well-coached teams— a treat for Sunday Night Football.
It should all make for a good week of football.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL TV Coverage Map Week 6: Full Breakdown of CBS, Fox Broadcasts.
