HBO vs. CBS

(Which has the better NFL pregame?)

(Round 2 of the Matchup Tournament)

When it comes to handicapping the Matchup Tournament, prognosticators are right when they say “CBS’ NFL Today will go as far as Deion Sanders takes it. On paper – which is where the Matchup is played – Sanders can bring CBS to the promised land.”

On the NFL Today and HBO’s Inside The NFL, there are four main broadcasters. HBO’s Bob Costas is better than CBS’ Jim Nantz. CBS’ Boomer Esiason is slightly superior to HBO’s Cris Carter, while Dan Marino on CBS is better than Marino on HBO. (Just kidding, it’s a push.)

This leaves Sanders matched up with HBO rabble-rouser Cris Collinsworth in a classic WR-DB battle.

Collinsworth earns the edge because he has never lobbied for anyone’s job or dumped buckets of ice water on Tim McCarver’s head, which means HBO advances to next week’s Matchup Bowl I for an all-cable showdown with ESPN for pregame show supremacy.