Hi. Well, the 2018 NFL regular-season schedule was officially disclosed on Thursday night and with that, we now have the schedule for Monday Night Football on ESPN. ESPN will televise MNF for the 13th straight year. MNF enters it's 49th season overall, an franchise that started way back in 1970. ESPN's NFL coverage will begin this year with two preseason games: New York Jets at Washington Redskins (August 16th) and Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts (August 20th) - both of the games aforementioned will start at 8:00 p.m. ET. ESPN's coverage will start with an MNF doubleheader on Monday, September 10th. The New York Jets and Sam Darnold play the Detroit Lions and Matthew Stafford in the first game (7:00 p.m. ET), and the Oakland Raiders and Amari Cooper host the Los Angeles Rams and Todd Gurley in the second game (10:15 p.m. ET). Overall, ESPN will carry two preseason games (August 16 & August 20), 16 MNF games: Week 1 doubleheader and one game every Monday theirafter (September 10 - December 24), a playoff game (January 5) & the Pro Bowl from Orlando (January 7).
Here's your 2018 MNF Schedule. The announcers for each game except for Week 1 Jets-Lions contest will be Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland & Lisa Salters.
Except for Salters, you may notice that the 2018 Monday Night Football broadcast team is brand new. Joe Tessitore becomes the new play-by-play announcer for the series, replacing Sean McDonough, who was moved back to his longtime role of calling college football games for the network.
With Jon Gruden moving on to become the head coach of then-Oakland Raiders (now Las Vegas Raiders), Gruden was replaced by Booger McFarland (analyst) and Jason Witten (analyst).
All games will kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET, unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, August 16th
Jets vs. Redskins - 8:00 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Monday, August 20th
Ravens vs. Colts - 8:00 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Regular Season:
Week 1 - Monday, September 10th (doubleheader)
Jets vs. Lions - 7:00 (Beth Mowins, Brian Griese, Laura Rutledge)
Rams vs. Raiders - 10:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 2 - Monday, September 17th
Seahawks vs. Bears - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 3 - Monday, September 24th
Steelers vs. Buccaneers - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 4 - Monday, October 1st
Chiefs vs. Broncos - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 5 - Monday, October 8th
Redskins vs. Saints - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 6 - Monday, October 15th
49ers vs. Packers - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 7 - Monday, October 22nd
Giants vs. Falcons - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 8 - Monday, October 29th
Patriots vs. Bills - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 9 - Monday, November 5th
Titans vs. Cowboys - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 10 - Monday, November 12th
Giants vs. 49ers - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 11 - Monday, November 19th
Chiefs vs. Rams - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
** NOTE: The Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Rams game was scheduled to be played in Mexico City, but later moved back to Los Angeles due to bad on-field conditions.
Week 12 - Monday, November 26th
Titans vs. Texans - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 13 - Monday, December 3rd
Redskins vs. Eagles - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 14 - Monday, December 10th
Vikings vs. Seahawks - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 15 - Monday, December 17th
Saints vs. Panthers - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 16 - Monday, December 24th (Christmas Eve)
Broncos vs. Raiders - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
(6) Colts vs. (3) Texans - ESPN | ABC, 4:30 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
* 2019 Pro Bowl - Sunday, January 27th
AFC vs. NFC (Orlando) - ESPN | ABC, 3:00 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Thanks to NFL Communications.
All games will kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET, unless otherwise noted.
- 2018 ESPN Monday Night Football Preseason & Regular Season Schedule | (All Times ET; Subject to Change)
Thursday, August 16th
Jets vs. Redskins - 8:00 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Monday, August 20th
Ravens vs. Colts - 8:00 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Regular Season:
Week 1 - Monday, September 10th (doubleheader)
Jets vs. Lions - 7:00 (Beth Mowins, Brian Griese, Laura Rutledge)
Rams vs. Raiders - 10:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 2 - Monday, September 17th
Seahawks vs. Bears - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 3 - Monday, September 24th
Steelers vs. Buccaneers - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 4 - Monday, October 1st
Chiefs vs. Broncos - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 5 - Monday, October 8th
Redskins vs. Saints - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 6 - Monday, October 15th
49ers vs. Packers - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 7 - Monday, October 22nd
Giants vs. Falcons - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 8 - Monday, October 29th
Patriots vs. Bills - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 9 - Monday, November 5th
Titans vs. Cowboys - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 10 - Monday, November 12th
Giants vs. 49ers - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 11 - Monday, November 19th
Chiefs vs. Rams - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
** NOTE: The Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Rams game was scheduled to be played in Mexico City, but later moved back to Los Angeles due to bad on-field conditions.
Week 12 - Monday, November 26th
Titans vs. Texans - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 13 - Monday, December 3rd
Redskins vs. Eagles - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 14 - Monday, December 10th
Vikings vs. Seahawks - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 15 - Monday, December 17th
Saints vs. Panthers - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Week 16 - Monday, December 24th (Christmas Eve)
Broncos vs. Raiders - 8:15 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
- 2018 ESPN Monday Night Football Postseason/Pro Bowl Schedule | (All Times ET; Subject to Change)
(6) Colts vs. (3) Texans - ESPN | ABC, 4:30 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
* 2019 Pro Bowl - Sunday, January 27th
AFC vs. NFC (Orlando) - ESPN | ABC, 3:00 (Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters)
Thanks to NFL Communications.
Looking forward to Jimmy G vs Aaron Rodgers in week 6.
ReplyDeleteYeah, except Jimmy G will be on the sideline, not in the game.
DeleteI bet ESPN wishes they had the option to flex games like NBC does. The struggling Giants play on MNF twice in the next month against the struggling Falcons and 49ers. The Bills have their first primetime home game since that blowout loss on SNF in 2007 to the 16-0 Patriots, and it looks like we might see a game similar to that in a few weeks.
DeleteThis looks like a decent schedule for MNF standards. I know ESPN complained about lack of quality matchups in the past. It's basically what SNF used to be when it was on ESPN, and NBC's SNF became the equivalent of MNF when it used to be on ABC.
ReplyDeleteI agree. This is a good schedule. Even the potentially bad matchups could be interesting. Jets-Lions features rookie qb Sam Darnold vs. veteran qb Matthew Stafford. The Bears could be a better team with improved qb Mitch Trubisky and coach Nagy. Seahawks still have Russ and Carroll, Redskins have Alex Smith, Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes, Giants have rookie rb Saquon Barkley, and Broncos have Case Keenum. The only "bad" matchup I see is the Steelers-Buccaneers in Week 3, only because Jameis Winston will not be able to play.
DeleteEven PIT-TB could be a good matchup, with or without Jameis Winston. The Steelers have shown many times in the Mike Tomlin era that they tend to play down to the competition. And of course we can't forget about the Raiders and former MNF color analyst Jon Gruden.
DeleteThe Jets-Redskins game was played on August 16th.
ReplyDelete