It's not a must-win game for the Chargers on Sunday.

But Sunday night's nationally televised game against the Patriots (3-1) on NBC will go a long way toward determining when the Chargers (2-3) kickoff in November and December.

"I think a lot of people want to see this game," Al Michaels, the play-by-play voice of NBC's "Sunday Night Football," said of the Patriots-Chargers game that kicks off at 5:15 p.m. in Qualcomm Stadium.

"People want to see New England without Tom Brady. And this is the Patriots' first national exposure of the season.

"And people like watching the Chargers with LaDainian Tomlinson and all."

Sunday is the first meeting between the Patriots and Chargers since last year's AFC Championship Game, a game Michaels called, "An excruciating loss for the Chargers."

"But something is up with the Chargers," Michaels said. "We watched last week's game with Miami in our hotel in Jacksonville, and what I saw was an uninspired Chargers team. L.T. didn't look the same. He has always been full of life. I don't like to read too much into body language, but …

"Is it physical with him? Or is it something else? I wouldn't be surprised if he had a breakout game Sunday.

"As a network broadcaster, I want the stars to shine. The Chargers need a win, and New England wants to establish itself without Brady.

"I really think it will be a helluva game."

It's a game, however, the will help determine late-season kickoff times.

The Chargers are scheduled to host the Colts on Nov. 23 in an NBC Sunday night game.

Before the season, that looked like a safe bet, but the Chargers are 2-3 and the Colts are 2-2.

With Nov. 23 being a "flex week" for NBC, the network can opt out of that game if it looks like a dud.

And the Chargers play in Tampa Bay (3-2) on Dec. 21 -- another NBC "flex week" contest.

The network must make a decision 13 days before those games.

"I'm looking down the road, too," Michaels said. "The last game of the season (Dec. 28) is Broncos at Chargers (a game scheduled for 1:15 p.m. on CBS). I could see NBC picking that game up if it's for the AFC West title. It would be a very attractive game if a title is on the line."

For the last week, the network doesn't have to make a decision until the Sunday before.

"You try not to look too far down the road, but if you have a title game the last week of the season in San Diego, that's a pretty good deal," Michaels said.

The Chargers thought playing in prime time six times this season was a good deal. Now, that deal is in jeopardy.

More Michaels

Michaels, who has probably called 50 games over the years from Qualcomm Stadium and the names that preceded it, is on board for a new stadium in San Diego.

"Qualcomm Stadium still looks good on TV," Michaels said. "It lends itself to great aerial shots. And it sounds fantastic.

"It's still a big-time place. And in the twilight on a national game, it can be seductive.

"But the infrastructure isn't good. Behind the scenes, in places where the public doesn't go and the cameras can't see, the place isn't in good shape."

Michaels said that if you told him 20 years ago that Jacksonville, Nashville and Charlotte would have NFL teams with ultramodern stadiums and L.A. wouldn't have a team and San Diego's stadium would be on is last legs, "I'd have said you were crazy."

"Look at the stadiums in California," Michaels said. "The Bay Area has Candlestick Park, the Oakland Coliseum, Stanford Stadium and Memorial Stadium at Cal. Stanford and Cal have some historical value and are in nice settings, but they aren't functional for an NFL team.

"L.A. has the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl. The Coliseum isn't the right place for an NFL team, and the Rose Bowl -- despite its setting and a makeover -- isn't NFL quality.

"San Diego is such a great place. They need to get with it, get a stadium built -- like they did for the Padres -- and make sure the Chargers don't leave."

Sunday night facts

- Since NBC jumped back into the NFL prime time mix in 2006, the Patriots are 3-2 on NBC and 3-0 last season, including a 38-14 win over the Chargers. The Chargers are 4-1 on NBC.

- NBC's Sunday coverage starts at 4 p.m,. with "Football Night in America." Bob Costas is the host, working with Keith Olbermann, Dan Patrick, Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis, Tiki Barber and Peter King.

More NFL

- The NFL Network's "NFL Classic Games" tonight at 6 features the 2007 Chargers-Patriots AFC Championship game. There is a full replay at 11 p.m.

- Marshall Faulk has a one-on-one interview with Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler at 7 a.m. Sunday on "NFL Gameday Morning" on the NFL Network.

- Last Sunday's Chargers-Dolphins game on CBS drew a 24.3 rating and a 50 share of the audience in San Diego. In Miami, the game drew a 17.6 rating with a 27 share.

Big-game day

There are three college football games Saturday, matching top-25 teams, the best of which is the Red River Shootout, matching No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 5 Texas. Kickoff in Dallas on ABC is 9 a.m.

There are two good late-afternoon games -- No. 4 LSU at No. 11 Florida on CBS and No. 17 Oklahoma State at No. 3 Missouri on ESPN2.

Southern California football fans can find the Arizona State game against No. 8 USC at 12:30 p.m. on ABC. San Diego State hosts Air Force at 6:30 p.m. on the mtn.

And UCLA is at Oregon for a 7:15 p.m. game on Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket.

Around the diamond

- The Red Sox-Rays ALCS opens tonight at 5:30 on TBS. Chip Caray will call the action with analysts Ron Darling and Buck Martinez. Craig Sager is the reporter. Ernie Johnson, Cal Ripken Jr., Dennis Eckersley and Harold Reynolds work the pre and postgame shows.

- The NLCS continues today at 1:30 p.m. on Fox. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are in the booth for the Phillies-Dodgers series with Ken Rosenthal and Chris Myers the field reporters. Jeanne Zelasko, Kevin Kennedy and Mark Grace work the pregame show from Fox's L.A. studios.

- ESPN Radio 800 will carry all games in the NLCS and the ALCS.

- The 15 first-round playoff games on TBS averaged a 2.8 rating and 4.3 million viewers, down 26 percent from last year.

Experts say the absence of the New York market -- the Yankees and Mets -- killed TBS. But the network had Boston and two teams in the lucrative Southern California market. More likely, the drop was influenced by the vice-presidential debate. Last Wednesday, three TBS games were seen by 5.3 million viewers. The next day, going head-to-head with the debate, three games drew 4 million viewers.

- ESPN and the new MLB Network will carry all 39 games of the World Baseball Classic in the spring. ESPN and ESPN2 have the rights to 23 of the 36 games in the 16-team tournament, including the March 21 and 22 semifinals and the March 23 final from Dodger Stadium. The remainder of the games will be on the MLB Network that launches Jan. 1. First-round games will all be played outside the U.S. Pool A (China, Chinese Taipei, Japan and Korea) will be played in Tokyo. Pool B (Australia, Cuba, Mexico and South Africa) will be played in Mexico City. Pool C (Canada, Italy, U.S. and Venezuela) will be played in Toronto.

Pool D (Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Panama and Puerto Rico) will be played in Puerto Rico. ESPN has the entire Tokyo pool, three games from Toronto and four from San Juan. San Diego's Petco Park will host six games March 15-19, but the U.S. -- if it advances -- will play in Miami.

- The 10 finalists for the 2009 Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum are headed by the late Joe Nuxall, who paced all broadcasters in the fan voting. Nuxall, who called Reds games, is joined on the ballot by Jacques Doucett (Expos), Tom Cheek (Blue Jays), Billy Berroa (Mets), Ken Coleman (Indians, Reds and Red Sox), Dizzy Dean (Cardinals), Lanny Frattare (Pirates), Tony Kubek (NBC), Graham McNamee (NBC) and Dave Van Horne (Expos and Marlins).

Local note

- How bad is San Diego State's football program struggling? Last week, the team's game at TCU was bumped off KOGO (600) to XTRA Sports 1360 because KOGO was covering the air show in Miramar. XTRA Sports has a good signal in the daytime, so coverage wasn't a problem. The problem is that the university's Web site had the game on KOGO.

Around the dial

- TNT will have coverage of Saturday's NBA exhibition game between the Suns and Nuggets. But there is a twist. The game will be played outdoors at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden near Palm Springs. The game that tips off at 7 p.m. is the first NBA game to be played outdoors in the U.S. Marv Albert will call the game with Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller. The new NBA season opens Oct. 28 with the Cavaliers-Celtics and Trail Blazers-Lakers playing a doubleheader on TNT.

- TNT has taped coverage of the 26th PGA Grand Slam of Golf at 4 p.m. Tuesday and 5 p.m. Wednesday. The event from the Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda. The four-man competition includes 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, 2008 British Open and PGA Championship winner Padriag Harrington and 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman. Verne Lundquist calls the event for TNT with analyst Ian Baker-Finch and course reporters Bill Kratzert and Jim Huber.

- There are a number of World Cup soccer qualifying matches on the Fox Sports Channel next week. But ESPN has both the U.S. matches -- at 4 p.m. Saturday against Cuba on ESPN Classic and Wednesday at 5 p.m. against Trinidad and Tobago on ESPN.

- The Women's Professional Soccer league that launches next year has signed a deal with Fox Soccer Channel for a Sunday night game of the week. The deal runs through the 2011 season with an option for 2012.

- The NCAA announced a cable TV package with the CBS College Sports Network for nine men's and women's Division II basketball games. The first men's game -- Chaminade at Dixie State -- is set for Jan. 3. The Jan. 31 game between Cal State L.A. and Cal State San Bernardino is also on the schedule.

- Saturday night college football ratings on ABC are up 21 percent from last year.

- ESPN has signed a five-year deal with the Big West Conference, calling for a minimum of 12 men's basketball telecasts and other conference events yearly. The agreement, which calls for games on ESPN2 and ESPNU, runs through the 2013-2014 season.

Staff writer John Maffei's TV/Radio Column appears every Friday. He can be reached at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com.