Your guide to ever-changing cast covering the NFL

In NASCAR circles they refer to the "silly season" as the flurry of personnel moves and team-switching between the last race of one season and the start of the next. Sports television has its own silly season, especially when it comes to the broadcast partners of the National Football League.

Notable additions to the small screen this year include: Tiki Barber (NBC), Tony Boselli (FOX), Bill Cowher (CBS), Keyshawn Johnson (ESPN), Keith Olbermann (NBC), Bill Parcells (ESPN), Emmitt Smith (ESPN) and Barry Switzer (Fox). After enduring endless conference calls, interviewing many of the principals and digesting an orgy of football from the opening week, we think we've got a line on it. Below, we offer SI.com's broadcasting guide to the new NFL season:

CBS

James Brown deftly leads a CBS pregame show team that enjoyed a big opening week in the ratings. AP

Who we like: James Brown. We've said it before: Brown is the most ego-free broadcaster in sports television today, and his switch from Fox to CBS last year changed the dynamics of the pregame ratings race. Last week The NFL Today finished with a 3.2 overnight rating, up 14 percent from last year and 3.2 percent higher than Fox.

It's the first time since 1998 that CBS' pregame show beat Fox in Week 1, according to the Sports Business Daily. "The addition of James Brown was a home run in every aspect in terms of what it did to Fox's pregame show and our show," says CBS Sports and News president Sean McManus. "We were up in every category and they were down in every category for the most part."

What's new: Cowher. The former Steelers coach joins Brown, Boomer Esiason, Dan Marino and Shannon Sharpe on The NFL Today. He agreed to a two-year deal in February. "I can give an assessment, and I'll try to be honest," Cowher says. "It doesn't mean inwardly that I'm not pulling for [the Steelers]."

We're cool with him inwardly rooting for the Steelers, but we'd like him to be outwardly more interesting in the next few weeks.

On the hot seat: Esiason. Not that he's going anywhere, but his new gig replacing Don Imus on New York's WFAN Radio means that we're going to learn a lot more about Boomer Esiason than we ever thought we would. Is CBS concerned about one of its sportscasters offering political opinions and commenting on the news cycle?

"Initially, I'm not concerned," McManus says. "Obviously, we trust Boomer's instincts. Boomer is not just an ex-athlete. He knows a lot about politics and about the world. He has a lot of opinions. It's a great opportunity for Boomer and the cross-promotional opportunities for CBS Sports are terrific. We just hope he occasional mentions his Sunday job."

Week 1 highlight: A wicked shot by Esiason at newcomer Cowher. Said Esiason: "It must be good for Ben Roethlisberger to actually have a coach that will trust him."

Best game: Nov. 26: Baltimore at San Diego

Executive swagger: Says McManus: "I predicted our games would be higher rated in the afternoon window than the Sunday night game, and they were 13 percent higher last year."

Tweak at the competition: "Sunday Night might be football night in America, but Sunday afternoon is where the ratings are," McManus says. "The most important game is the late window on Sunday afternoon."

NBC

Who we like: From Cris Collinsworth to Bob Costas to Olbermann to Peter King (full disclosure: King works at SI.com!), there's plenty of broadcasting talent here with journalistic chops.

What's new: Just about everything when it comes to the Football Night in America studio show. Veteran producer Michael Weisman, who has seemingly been winning Emmys since the days of Desi and Lucy, was charged with fixing up a muddled pregame show that was torched by plenty of critics. As part of the reconstruction, NBC wisely jettisoned His Loudness (a.k.a. Sterling Sharpe) to bring in Barber, who isn't shy about expressing opinions (and isn't shy about selling Tiki Barber). Olbermann was added to handle highlights and free up Costas to counterpunch, which he does better than anyone.

"All the other shows look ahead. We get to look back, which is unique," Weisman says. "And this year it will feel like a live show as opposed to a scripted show."

The biggest hit or miss will be Olbermann's weekly "Worst Person In The NFL" feature. "It could be anybody from an official to a fan to a coach to Dick Ebersol, Weisman says. Trust us, it won't be Ebersol.

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