Monday Night Football results (1990–present)

Beginning in the 1970 NFL season, the National Football League began scheduling a weekly regular season game on Monday night before a national television audience. From 1970-2005, the ABC television network carried these games, with the ESPN cable television network taking over beginning in September 2006. Listed below are games played from 1990 to the most recent season.

1990s

1990 NFL season

The November 12 game between the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles is known as the infamous "Body Bag Game", in which Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan promised a beating so severe, that the Redskins would have to be "hauled off in body bags."

1993 NFL season

During the January 3 game, the Eagles missed a game-winning field goal as the overtime period expired, which would have left the game a tie. However, a penalty against the 49ers allowed a re-kick, and the Eagles were granted one untimed down. On the second attempt, the field goal was good and the deadlock was barely averted, preserving the fourth of what would eventually be seven consecutive tie-free seasons.

1996 NFL season

1999 NFL season

2002 NFL season

2005 NFL season

This marked the final season for "Monday Night Football" on ABC. An impromptu doubleheader was scheduled on September 19 when the New Orleans Saints scheduled Sunday home opener with the New York Giants was rescheduled due to Hurricane Katrina's extensive damage to the Louisiana Superdome. The game was moved to the Giants' home field at Giants Stadium (though the Giants were still the road team) for Monday night with a special start time of 7:30 PM EDT. ABC held a telethon to raise money for victims of the hurricane during the broadcast.

The record for largest Monday Night victory was tied and later broken during the season. The Seattle Seahawks 42-0 win over Philadelphia tied the record set in the Miami Dolphins' 45-3 victory over the New York Jets in 1986. Two weeks later, the Baltimore Ravens bested the margin in their win over the Green Bay Packers, crushing them 48-3.

The Atlanta Falcons became the first team to win three home games on Monday night, beating the Eagles, Jets, and Saints. The final "Monday Night Football" game on ABC saw the New England Patriots beat the Jets 31-21; this was the same score the Jets were defeated by in the very first "MNF" telecast, when they played the Cleveland Browns.

According to ESPN.com news services, "ESPN's telecast of the New York Giants' 36-22 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday, October 23, 2006 was viewed by the largest audience in cable history.

The game, featuring two of the NFL's biggest rivals, was seen in an average of 11,807,000 homes, based on a 12.8 rating. That translates to 16,028,000 viewers (a cable ratings point represents 923,000 households).

The previous record for cable television was the debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in November 1993, between then-vice president Al Gore and Ross Perot, [which aired on CNN's "Larry King Live"] ."

"We've never believed the acronyms NAFTA and "MNF" belonged in the same sentence, and we're thrilled to have established "MNF" as the home of cable's biggest audience ever," said Norby! Williamson, ESPN executive vice president for studio and remote production. "That fans have responded with the record is very rewarding and a vivid reminder of the power of Monday Night Football."

The nine most-watched programs ever on ESPN (as well as being 9 of the top 10 most-watched programs ever on cable, excluding breaking news) are:
* the aforementioned October 23 game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys (16.028 million viewers),
* the September 25 game between the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints (14.9 million viewers),
* the October 16 game between the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals (14.23 million viewers),
* the December 16 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Indianapolis Colts (14.22 million viewers),
* the September 18 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jacksonville Jaguars (13.3 million viewers),
* the October 2 game between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles (12.9 million viewers),
* the November 27 game between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks (12.7 million viewers),
* the first ever "Monday Night Football" game on ESPN - the September 11 game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Washington Redskins (12.6 million viewers).
* and, the October 9 game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos (12.5 million viewers), which attracted more viewers, during the television week of October 9-15, 2006, than NBC's "Sunday Night Football" Raiders-Broncos matchup on October 15, 2006. [cite web|url=http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003283407|publisher=Mediaweek|date=October 18, 2006|first=Marc|last=Berman|title=The Programming Insider|accessdate=2006-10-26]

2007 NFL season

The November 26 Miami Dolphins-Pittsburgh Steelers game was the least productive game ever to be played in Monday Night Football's 38-year history; Steelers kicker Jeff Reed kicked the game winning field goal with 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter as the Steelers won by a score of 3-0. The game was marred by a heavy thunderstorm which delayed kickoff for about 20 minutes and was compounded by the play of local high school football championships that preceding weekend, which left the field in less than desirable shape. That game also marked the return of Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter to Pittsburgh where he won a Super Bowl with the Steelers in 2006.

The December 3 New England Patriots-Baltimore Ravens game finished with 17.5 million viewers, topping the debut of corporate sibling Disney Channel's premiere of the High School Musical 2 movie as the highest-rated cable television program of all-time.

2008 NFL season

On September 8, Aaron Rodgers debuted as the starting quarterback for the Packers in their victory over the Vikings. It was the first game since September 20, 1992 in which Brett Favre was not the team's starter.

The September 15 game was the highest combined score in the 98 meetings between the Eagles and Cowboys, and the second-highest score in the first half of any MNF game.

ee also

*"Monday Night Football" results (1970-1989)
*"NBC Sunday Night Football" results (2006-present)
*NFL Network "Run to the Playoffs" results (2006-present)

References

* "Total Football II,", Edited by Bob Carroll, Michael Gershman, David Neft and John Thorn, Harper Collins Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-06-270174-6.