Is Cassel ready for prime time?

Plot has shifted in Patriots-Colts clash

The Patriots are back in prime time Sunday night (Channel 7, 8:15) against the Colts in Indianapolis, and "Football Night in America" cohost Cris Collinsworth thinks quarterback Matt Cassel is ready.

"He's gotten better and better each week," said Collinsworth. "[Coach] Bill Belichick and the Patriots have done a great job of nurturing him. I am real interested to see him this week. It's a step up in competition against a big-time quarterback in what is sure to be a playoff atmosphere. I think, because of that, this game becomes more intriguing without Tom Brady, not less."

"Football Night in America" airs at 7 with host Bob Costas and cohosts Collinsworth, Keith Olbermann, and Dan Patrick.

Despite the Colts' 3-4 record, Collinsworth believes they can turn their season around.

"It feels like the whole world has been flipped upside down with the Colts fighting for their playoff lives," he said. "I still feel like they have a seven-, eight-, nine-game winning streak in them. This is a championship team that I could see making a big run and this is the game that could propel them."

As for the Patriots, Collinsworth said it was a tribute to the organization that they are ready for any contingency.

"They lose Brady and a quarterback who essentially hasn't played since high school steps in and they keep on winning," he said. "They've lost [Laurence] Maroney and [Sammy] Morris as well. Nothing seems to stop them."

Series ratings hit bottom

A small-market team and a short series often guarantees low television ratings in this age of fractured audiences. The World Series added to that double whammy the discombobulating impact of a long rain delay and a suspended game.

The Philadelphia Phillies' five-game victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Fox drew record-low ratings. The Series averaged an 8.4 rating and 14 share, the network said yesterday. That's down 17 percent from the previous low, a 10.1 for the Cardinals-Tigers series in 2006.

"This World Series got off to a solid start last week and was poised to build momentum as we expected it to," Fox Sports president Ed Goren said. "The rain delay on Saturday and suspended game on Monday, combined with only going five games, obviously worked against the Series reaching its maximum viewership potential, but even with that, Fox was No. 1 most nights, posted some of its best nights in many weeks, and was No. 1 last week in prime time."

Game 5 was the first suspended game in World Series history, starting Monday and concluding two days later. The final innings Wednesday earned an 11.9/18, and the entire game averaged a 9.6/14, the highest of the Series.

Final drive

If you like politics with your pro football, tune into the halftime show of Steelers-Redskins on "Monday Night Football" (8:30, ESPN) for Chris Berman's election eve interview with Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Democratic nominee Barack Obama. The candidates, who are making last-minute stops on the campaign trail, agreed to participate via satellite from ESPN's studio in Bristol, Conn. The session will be taped and will air at approximately 10:15. It isn't a coincidence the Redskins are the home team. "We worked with our partners at the NFL to schedule a 'Monday Night Football' game in Washington on this special night and this presents a unique opportunity for John McCain and Barack Obama to reflect on the last few months and address a large prime-time audience on the final day of the campaigns," said Norby Williamson, ESPN's executive vice president/production.

Air and sea

Tomorrow, CBS College Sports Network will open the door to a different kind of look at Navy football. It's senior day and the Midshipmen are hosting Temple at 3:30 p.m. at Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo will wear a wireless microphone throughout the contest. His comments will be incorporated into the broadcast . . . NBC will air live HD coverage of the Notre Dame-Pittsburgh game tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. in South Bend, Ind. Tom Hammond will handle play-by-play and Pat Haden will serve as analyst. Alex Flanagan, a reporter for the NFL Network, joins as a sideline reporter . . . NESN will show the Harvard-Dartmouth game tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. followed by "Eight: Ivy League Football and America" at 4 p.m., which tells the story of the role Ivy League schools play in American football. The 90-minute documentary is narrated by two-time Tony Award-winning actor Brian Dennehy (Columbia 1960) and features interviews with Academy Award-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones (Harvard '69), Penn State coach Joe Paterno (Brown '50), and others.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.