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The first ever MNF game between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns on September 21 ended with a 31–21 Browns win. Key highlights include Browns' 2 1st-quarter touchdowns by Gary Collins and Bo Scott; Emerson Boozer of the Jets scoring 2 rushing touchdowns, each scored in 2nd & 3rd quarters; Homer Jones became the first player in MNF history to score a touchdown on a kickoff/punt return when he sprinted 94 yards to the end zone to begin the 2nd half, and Billy Andrews also became the 1st defensive player in MNF history when he score a touchdown on an intercepted pass from Joe Namath in the final closing minutes to seal the win.
In only the second MNF game on September 28, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson became the first quarterback to throw for 4 touchdown passes on Monday Night Football.
The October 19 game between the Washington Redskins and Oakland Raiders was originally scheduled as a head coaching matchup between Vince Lombardi of the Redskins and the Raiders' second-year mentor, John Madden. However, Lombardi died of colon cancer six weeks before the contest. In that game, Raiders running back Hewritt Dixon rushed for 164 yards and a touchdown. 13 years later, the Redskins and the Raiders (this time playing in Los Angeles) would meet in the Super Bowl, with the Raiders winning the game and the title 38–9.
The October 26 game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings was notable when for the 1st time in MNF history, a team (Rams) didn't score a touchdown in the entire game. The result was a 13–3 Vikings win. Also on that same day, the 1st fight between Muhammad Ali and Jerry Quarry ended on a 3rd-round technical knockout. This boxing match is significant because it marked the return of Ali to boxing since his suspension that would ultimately led to his confrontational match against Joe Frazier in the Fight of the Century. Howard Cosell (a noted boxing commentator himself) would provide updates on that fight. The Ali-Quarry fight would later be highlighted on ABC's Wide World of Sports.
Following their humiliating shutout in the November 16 game (which is also the 1st shutout in MNF history), the Cowboys would go on a seven-game winning streak, not losing until a deciding field goal in the final seconds of Super Bowl V against the Baltimore Colts. The St. Louis Cardinals, who completed a season sweep of the Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl would go 1–3–1 down the stretch to fall completely out of the playoffs and cost coach Charley Winner his job. As for the Cowboys, they would not be shutout for 15 years until the future Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears beat them 44–0.
The Colts and Packers simultaneously became the first teams to make their second appearances on MNF when they played each other. The Browns, Lions, and Rams were the only other teams to make two MNF appearances in 1970. The Browns became the first team in MNF history to win 2 games in 2 appearances, while the Rams became the first team to lose 2 games in 2 appearances. The only teams that did not appear on MNF in 1970 were the 49ers (who first appeared in 1971), the Saints and Patriots (who first appeared in 1972) and the Broncos and Bills (who first appeared in consecutive weeks in 1973).
The November 23 game became infamous when an intoxicated Howard Cosell slurred his way through the first half and vomited on Don Meredith's boots at halftime. Cosell left Franklin Field prior to the second half, leaving Meredith to finish the game with Keith Jackson.
Wide receiver Dave Smith of the Pittsburgh Steelers became a part of Monday Night Football lore with an infamous mistake in the October 18 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Smith was en route to scoring on a 50-yard pass play when he raised the ball over his head before reaching the end zone. Smith lost control of the ball, thinking he had already scored, with the mistake resulting in a touchback for the Chiefs.
The November 1 game between the visiting Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers ended in a 14–14 tie at County Stadium in Milwaukee. The first tie in the history of the Monday Night Football series.
The December 13 game saw the triumphant return of George Allen to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where he coached the Los Angeles Rams for five seasons (1966–70). Allen's new team, the Washington Redskins, clinched its first playoff berth since 1945 with a 38–24 victory over the Rams, also handing the NFC West championship to the San Francisco 49ers. Ironically, the 49ers ousted the Redskins from the playoffs with a 24–20 victory 13 days later. In addition, one of the contestants for an NFL punt, pass and kick contest shown during the game would be future Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
The October 25 game featured a moment of silence for Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes who died of a heart attack on the field at Tiger Stadium the previous day.
The 49ers made their MNF debut December 6 vs. Kansas City at home.
The Patriots were the other team to make its MNF debut in 1972, hosting the Colts November 6.
The October 9 game between the Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers at the Astrodome is infamous for an awkward off-field incident. During the game, which the Raiders won in a 34–0 shutout, ABC cameras had panned out and showed several fans leaving. A cameraman caught one of the few to stay in the game, who showed his disgust with the Oilers' performance by raising his middle finger, prompting Don Meredith to quip, "We're number 1 in the nation." The game was the first in the series' three-year history to pit two former AFL clubs against each other. After this game, the Oilers went the rest of the season winless, ending with a 1–13 record and again with a 1–13 record in the next season.
The November 27 game saw the Miami Dolphins make their lone primetime appearance during their 17–0 season. The Dolphins had little trouble in dispatching the outclassed St. Louis Cardinals, one of nine games the Dolphins won that season against teams which won five or fewer games (the Cardinals finished 4–9–1 for the third time in four seasons, and did so again in 1973).
The December 11 game saw the New York Jets wide receiver Don Maynard set a new NFL record for pass receptions when he caught his 632nd reception, a record that stood until 1975 when Charley Taylor became the NFL all-time pass receptions record holder.
The Broncos and Bills were the last of the 26 teams of the merged NFL to make their first appearances on the program, but not against each other, rather, alone in consecutive weeks.
During what would be Don Meredith's final season of his first Monday Night stint, he was the center of three incidents in a three-week stand. In the Oakland-Denver game on October 22, Meredith famously quipped, "We're in the Mile High City, and so am I" (referring to his marijuana use at the time), followed by his drinking through the Buffalo–Kansas City game the following week. Finally, on November 5 during the Steelers-Redskins matchup, he referred to President Richard Nixon by the nickname of "Tricky Dick".
The October 8 game ended in dramatic fashion as Redskins safety Ken Houston stopped Cowboy running back Walt Garrison at the Washington one-yard-line as time expired to preserve a 14–7 Redskins victory.
The Minnesota Vikings entered the November 19 game in Atlanta with a spotless 9–0 record, but left with their first loss. The Falcons jumped out to a 17–7 halftime lead, then held on as the Vikings came up one yard short on fourth down at the Atlanta 39 with 55 seconds to play. The victory was the Falcons sixth in a row. The victory was sweet revenge for Falcons head coach Norm Van Brocklin, who was the Vikings' first head coach from 1961 to 1966, and quarterback Bob Lee, a Vikings backup from 1969 to 1972 (as well as punter from 1969 to 1971), and again in 1976 and '77.
The December 3 game between the Steelers and the Dolphins began with a 30–3 halftime lead for the Dolphins, highlighted by Dick Anderson's 4 interceptions, including two that resulted in touchdown scores. Pittsburgh added 3 touchdowns in the 2nd half. However, luck ran out in the closing minutes, as the Dolphins won the game 30–26, aided with a Bob Griese safety.
Only one home team lost out of the 13 games: Cleveland to Miami 17–9 on October 15 (the Raiders and Broncos played to a 23–23 tie in Denver a week later).
The season-opening contest in Buffalo on September 16 marked the start of a three-year stint for Alex Karras as a color commentator for the show. Karras had replaced Fred Williamson, who had originally replaced Don Meredith, but was dismissed after a poorly received effort during a few preseason contests. The Raiders' loss was their first on Monday Night, and would be their last until 1986.
The October 14 game between the Lions and 49ers marked the final Monday Night Football game ever at Tiger Stadium.
Facing huge competition from the October 28 CBS broadcast of the wedding of Rhoda Morgenstern on Rhoda and NBC's November 18 broadcast of The Godfather, ratings for Monday Night Football took a hit for those two contests. On that October 28, Pittsburgh defeated Atlanta for the 14th consecutive home team victory on Monday Night and the 15th consecutive without a loss. The streak was snapped the following week when Los Angeles won at San Francisco, the fourth of 10 consecutive Rams victories at Candlestick Park.
The November 25 game at Tulane Stadium marked the first time ABC broadcast a Monday Night game in the same facility which would host the Super Bowl at the end of the season. Ironically, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the New Orleans Saints in the MNF game, then came back January 12, 1975 and ousted the Minnesota Vikings on the same field to win their first championship in franchise history. In between, ABC telecast the final Sugar Bowl played at Tulane Stadium, with Nebraska edging Florida 13–10 on New Year's Eve.
After losing to the Steelers, the Saints did not return to MNF for five years.
From 1974 to 1977, the Monday night game aired on Saturday during the final week of the regular season. Previously, there had been no prime-time game in the season's final week.
The October 6 game marked the first regular season game ever played in the Pontiac Silverdome, the then-new home of the Detroit Lions. The Dallas Cowboys, who had missed the playoffs in 1974 for the first time in nine years, beat the Lions on their way to a 4–0 start to the season. The Cowboys would return to the playoffs in 1975, starting a new nine-year streak of playoff berths, and became the first NFL wild card team ever to play in the Super Bowl.
Following their surprising 34–31 victory at Dallas Nov. 10, Kansas City did not win another MNF game until 1991. The Chiefs-Cowboys game is best remembered for a diving one-handed touchdown reception by the Cowboys' Golden Richards at the back of the end zone.
The final Monday Night Football game of the season offered one of the least attractive contests in the six-year history of the program: The 1–11 San Diego Chargers hosted the 3–9 New York Jets, with the Chargers pulling an upset 24–16 victory.
This was the first season that the Rams did not appear in one of the final two games of the season. The Rams played at home in the final Monday night game four of the first five seasons of Monday Night Football. Nevertheless, the Rams did play in the final game covered by the MNF team on Saturday, December 20, where they defeated the eventual Super Bowl champion Steelers. This season marks the first time that Johnny Pearson's Heavy Action was used for their opening theme.
This season saw the first Monday night overtime game since overtime was instituted for the regular season in 1974, as the Redskins kicked a field goal in the extra period to beat the Eagles 20–17.
The October 11 game marked the first time the Rams had ever been shut out at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in their team history. The 49ers sacked Rams quarterback James Harris 10 times, six alone by defensive end Tommy Hart.
The October 18 game featured Alex Karras singing a fight song written for the New York Jets by then-head coach Lou Holtz before the kickoff (which was repeated for the NFL Top 10 series in the episode on "Coaches Who Belonged in College").
1976 also marked the program using a new theme song for the introduction.
The September 4 game, the 1978 MNF season opener, was when Howard Cosell and the announcing crew was given a plate of nachos and Cosell began using the term 'nacho' for the duration of the game; this moment is notable for helping spread the popularity of the dish outside of its native Texas where it was invented.[109]
The September 18 game between the Colts and the Patriots featured a Monday Night Football-record 41 points scored between the two teams in the fourth quarter, 27 by the Colts. Colts running back Joe Washington had a memorable performance, scoring or helping score his teams' final three touchdowns. His catch of a touchdown pass tied the game at 20–20, and then he threw an option pass to Roger Carr to put the Colts ahead 27–20. After the Patriots tied it late, Washington returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for the winning touchdown.
The November 20 game between the Dolphins and the Oilers featured a memorable performance by Oilers' rookie running back Earl Campbell. Campbell rushed for 199 yards and four touchdowns in a nip-and-tuck game that was capped off by his 81-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. It was the first MNF telecast from the Astrodome since the infamous 1972 game versus the Oakland Raiders where a fan gave the middle finger to a camera.
The November 27 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers kicked off at 6 pm. Pacific time, just hours after San Francisco mayor George Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk were murdered at City Hall by former supervisor Dan White. NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, a former publicity director at the University of San Francisco, did not consider postponing the game. During the game, a large protest march to the steps of City Hall took place. A rarely discussed moment happened before the game just prior the national anthem. The stadium observed a moment of silence to honor the fallen mayor. Between that and the national anthem a truck backed into the stadium flag pole sending it crashing to the ground. It was a large wooden pole near the southern end zone. It shocked the crowd who were already uneasy from a very tragic day in San Francisco.
The September 4 opening game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots was stopped for more than five minutes in the second quarter to acknowledge former Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley, who was seated in a luxury box at Schaefer Stadium. Stingley had suffered a career-ending injury 13 months earlier that had left him a quadriplegic.
The October 1 game at Lambeau Field marked the first time ever that a Monday Night Football game had taken place in Green Bay. The three previous Packers home games in the series had taken place in Milwaukee (1970, 1971, and 1973). Two weeks later, the Jets hosted the first ever MNF game in New York City, and defeated the Vikings.
In the November 12 game between the Eagles and the Cowboys, barefoot Eagles kicker Tony Franklin booted a 59-yard field goal. It was the longest MNF field goal until Oakland's Sebastian Janikowski hit an altitude-assisted 63-yarder at Denver in 2011, tying the league record as it then stood, and is still the Monday night non-altitude assisted record.
In the December 3 Raiders/Saints game, Ken Stabler rallied the Raiders from a 35–14 deficit. He threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Cliff Branch for the winning score. Stabler later played for the Saints from 1982 through the first half of 1984. The loss ended up costing the Saints their first winning season, as they finished 8-8; New Orleans would not finish above .500 until 1987.
Dallas defeated Washington marking the first time that those teams opened up the Monday Night Football season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played their first game on ABC Thursday, September 11 at home versus the Los Angeles Rams, then played their first Monday night game at Chicago October 6.
The November 24 game was the one where New Orleans Saints fans, watching what would become a dreadful 1–15 campaign that season, began wearing paper bags over their heads and referring to the team as the "Aints". One night later, Sugar Ray Leonard defeated Roberto Duran in the famous 'No Mas' bout for the welterweight world boxing championship.
The December 8 game was forever remembered for Howard Cosell's announcement of the murder of John Lennon with three seconds left in the fourth quarter. ABC News' Nightline provided live coverage of Lennon's death shortly after the conclusion of the game.
The 2 teams that didn't participate this season were the eventual NFC championSan Francisco 49ers and the eventual AFC championCincinnati Bengals. Both teams later participated in the Super Bowl, where the 49ers won the game and the title 26–21. This was also the 1st time that the 2 eventual Super Bowl contenders didn't play in a Monday Night Football game.
Home teams won every game ABC aired after the month of September, a total of 14 contests.
This was the season in which a nine-week players’ strike forced the NFL to postpone seven regular season games. The September 20 game between the Packers and the Giants would be the last game played until November 21. The Packers-Giants game was the first Monday night game hosted by the Giants.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted their first Monday night game November 29 versus the in-state rival Miami Dolphins, the first regular season meeting between the teams since the Buccaneers' inaugural year of 1976. In 1980, the Buccaneers hosted the Los Angeles Rams in a Thursday night game on ABC.
In the January 3 game between the Cowboys and the Vikings, Cowboysrunning backTony Dorsett ran for 99 yards and a touchdown – still the longest running play from scrimmage in the NFL. Worth noting is that the Cowboys had only ten players on offense when the ball was snapped on that play, as fullback Ron Springs did not get onto the playing field in time after Minnesota kicked off to Dallas in the third quarter.
The Cowboys-Vikings game originally was scheduled to be played on Sunday, September 26 (Week 3), but was canceled due to the players’ strike, and then was among 14 canceled games rescheduled to a newly added Week 17 when the strike was settled. This resulted in the Cowboys playing three of their nine regular season games on MNF; the only other teams with two MNF games in the shortened season were the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins (incidentally, the November 8 game pitting the Chargers against the Dolphins in a rematch of "The Epic in Miami" was one of the games canceled as a result of the strike).
The San Francisco 49ers became the first reigning Super Bowl champion not to play a Monday night game, although they were featured in ABC games on other nights (one Thursday, one Sunday). Their scheduled Monday game (week 4 at Tampa Bay) fell victim to the strike.
The October 10 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals is remembered for the Steelers' Keith Gary grabbing the facemask of Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson on a first-quarter sack and twisting his head 180 degrees. Anderson was knocked out of the game and backup Turk Schonert threw three interceptions, two of which the Steelers returned for touchdowns in a 24–14 Steelers win.
The October 24 game between the Cardinals and the Giants is the only overtime tie in MNF history, as the Cardinals'Neil O'Donoghue blew three field goal attempts in the extra period, one of them from extra-point distance. It was also the first overtime game on a Monday night since Howard Cosell announced the death of John Lennon in 1980.
Both of the Redskins' regular season losses during the 1983 season came on Monday night (Week 1 at home to Dallas; Week 7 to the Packers in Green Bay) by a margin of 1 point in each game.
The September 6 Thursday special game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets was the first primetime game hosted by the Jets in New Jersey, after relocating from Shea Stadium to Giants Stadium. The Jets previously played a September 1977 game in New Jersey after a scheduling conflict with the New York Mets at Shea.
An early season snowstorm in the October 15 game at Denver caused the Packers to fumble on their first two plays. Both fumbles were returned for Broncos touchdowns. However, the 5-1 Broncos' offense could only muster an additional field goal as the 1-5 Packers scored two touchdowns in the second half and very nearly pulled an upset and also that game marked quarterback John Elway's Monday Night Football debut.
The October 21 Sunday special game between the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys started at 9:45 EDT (8:45 CDT) due to ABC covering the second 1984Ronald Reagan–Walter Mondale debate. This was the latest time a regular season NFL game started until 2006 – beginning that year, MNF on ESPN would air two games in week 1, the second kicking off after 10:00 pm EDT. The 1984 Saints-Cowboys game remains the latest NFL kickoff on a broadcast network.
1984 marked the third straight year in which the Cowboys played in both the MNF season opener and season finale. The Cowboys would open the MNF season again in 1985 and 1986 to complete a run of seven Monday night openers in nine seasons. However, they would not close the season on MNF again until 1995, a Christmas night game at Arizona.
The September 19 Thursday night game is memorable for Bears quarterback Jim McMahon's third quarter performance. Bears coach Mike Ditka elected not to start McMahon because of various ailments keeping him out of practice all week. ABC cameras kept showing McMahon begging Ditka to put him in the game. Finally, with the Vikings leading 17–9, McMahon entered the game and threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Willie Gault on his first snap. The Bears immediately got the ball back at the Vikings' 25-yard line on the next series on a Wilber Marshall fumble recovery, and McMahon hit Dennis McKinnon on the very first play for a touchdown. Then, on the very next series, McMahon completed 3 of 5 passes and another touchdown to McKinnon. For the third quarter, McMahon had taken seven snaps and completed five passes for three touchdowns.
The October 21 game is memorable for rookie Bears defensive lineman William Perry scoring a rushing touchdown after entering the game as an extra backfield blocker.
In the November 11 game, a thrown snowball caused the 49ers to miss an extra point, a determining factor in the team's one-point loss and also that game marked Wide Receiver Jerry Rice's Monday Night Football debut.
The December 2 game between the Bears and the Dolphins, when the Dolphins put an end to the Bears' bid to match their undefeated season in 1972, was and still is the highest rated game in Monday Night Football history.
The Sunday, December 7 game between the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys is remembered for Cowboys head coach Tom Landry being escorted off the field before the start of the 4th quarter due to Anaheim police learning of a threat on Landry's life. Landry would return after being fitted with a bulletproof vest.[265]
There was a player strike called after the completion of Week 2's games. As a result, all games for Week 3 were canceled but unlike the 1982 players' strike, owners decided to resume play with replacement players. Replacement players were used in games played from Week 4 until Week 6 (including the 49ers–Giants, Raiders–Broncos, and Redskins–CowboysMNF games). Once a new collective bargaining agreement ended the strike, regular players came back and played starting with Week 7.
The October 26 game between the Broncos and the Vikings was rescheduled because Game 7 of the 1987 World Series (which was also broadcast by ABC), which featured the Minnesota Twins, had to play at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome on Sunday night when the Vikings were originally slated to host the Broncos. Therefore, the game was moved to Monday night, and was played simultaneously with the Browns–Rams game. Coincidentally, the Browns had been slated to host the Broncos in the canceled Monday night game (in a rematch of The Drive). The Broncos-Vikings game, originally to be shown on NBC, was broadcast only in Colorado and Minnesota areas as part of ABC's Monday Night Football package. Meanwhile, the rest of the country saw the previously scheduled game: Los Angeles Rams at Cleveland, which turned out to be Eric Dickerson's last with the Rams.[287]
The September 12 game between the Cowboys and the Cardinals was the first game the Cardinals played in Arizona after relocating from St. Louis. The Cardinals did not return to MNF until the 1995 finale on Christmas Day, also against the Cowboys.
The October 3 game between the Cowboys and the Saints would be the final MNF game coached by Tom Landry, as well as for the Cowboys team as a whole until 1991.
The October 17 game between the Bills and the Jets would be the last game for Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau prior to Gastineau's sudden retirement; stated as being due to wanting to care for his mistress, actress Brigette Nielsen, following a uterine cancer diagnosis.
The October 9 game between the Raiders and the Jets was the first game for Art Shell as the Raiders head coach, becoming the first African-American NFL head coach in the modern era (Shell had been named interim head coach following the firing of Mike Shanahan).
The November 6 game between the Saints and the 49ers was originally scheduled for New Orleans but was switched with their October 8 game when the San Francisco Giants played in the NLCS.
The December 11 game between the 49ers and the Rams had John Taylor become the first player in NFL history to score two touchdowns of over 90 yards in a single game.
The December 25 game between the Bengals and the Vikings was the first NFL game played on Christmas Day since the 1971 divisional playoffs. (The Vikings also hosted one of the two Christmas Day 1971 playoff games, losing to the eventual Super Bowl VI champion Cowboys.)
1989 marked the first year in which the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys did not appear on Monday Night Football. The Dolphins appeared on ABC's Monday Night Football every year except for this year and the 2005 season, while the Cowboys did not return to MNF until 1991.
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." The Redskins had the last laugh, however, as these two teams met in the same stadium on the same network in the Wild Card playoffs – the first ever such game aired on ABC. The Redskins won 20–6.
With the 1990 season, a new practice featured the defending Super Bowl champions playing the first Monday Night game of the season. The practice was maintained through 2003 (except for 1994, 1995, and 2001). In the 1990 MNF opener, the San Francisco 49ers took on the New Orleans Saints on September 10 roughly seven months after defeating the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV in the same stadium, the Superdome.
The December 31 game started at 8 PM EST rather than 9 PM EST to allow New Year's Rockin' Eve to air as normal. The Superdome became the first and remains the only, stadium to host both the MNF opener and finale in the same season. Besides the New Orleans Saints, the only other teams to have played in both the MNF opener and finale in the same season have been the San Francisco 49ers in 1977, 1991, and 1994; the San Diego Chargers in 1981; the Dallas Cowboys in 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1995; and the Green Bay Packers in 2008. However, at least one of the games played by each of those other teams was on the road.
The November 25 game was the last MNF game played in the Los Angeles area (until 2018), the last appearance for the Los Angeles Rams before moving to St. Louis in 1995, and the last MNF game played in Anaheim, California. The Rams dropped to 0–4 in home MNF games against the arch-rival San Francisco 49ers, with previous defeats coming in 1976, 1989, and 1990; they also lost a Thursday night home game to the 49ers in 1982.
The November 30 game between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks marked the final Monday Night Football game at the Kingdome, which was the last MNF game in Seattle until 2002.
The September 6 game marked the first time in 10 years that the Washington Redskins hosted the Dallas Cowboys on MNF rather than visiting them. At the time, it was the most frequently seen match-up on the series, and it would be the last time these two teams played each other on MNF at RFK Stadium.
The September 13 game was the last win for the Cleveland Browns (who had won the very first MNF game in 1970) on the ABC program, and last win overall until 2008.
The October 18 game marked the first of nine meetings between the Los Angeles Raiders and Denver Broncos on MNF over an 11-year span, seven of these games being played in Denver.
During the January 3 game, the Philadelphia 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 San Francisco 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.
Both Wild Card playoff games featured a thrilling comeback victories by Green Bay and Kansas City after both being down 17–7 in the third quarter in their respective games.
ABC was unable to air the opener of the Dallas Cowboys, the previous season's Super Bowl champion, after the NFL guaranteed Fox it would have the Cowboys' game at Pittsburgh for its main doubleheader game. It was Fox's first Sunday of televising NFL games after gaining the NFC package from CBS.
The October 31 game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears was played in a driving rain with wind gusts up to 36 mph. Coincidentally, it also marked the 11th anniversary of the death of former Bears player, coach and owner George Halas. At halftime, the Bears retired the #51 jersey of legendary linebacker Dick Butkus. The game was played four hours after American Eagle Flight 4184, scheduled to land at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, crashed into a field in Roselawn, Indiana, killing all 64 passengers and four crew members aboard.
The November 7 game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys included a fight between several players from both teams, including safety James Washington grabbing and swinging a cameraman's tripod.
The November 21 game was the first for Jeff Fisher as coach of the Houston Oilers. He would remain with the franchise through the end of the 2010 season, by which point they had become the Tennessee Titans. This was also the last MNF game for the Oilers before their move to Tennessee in 1997 and their name change to the Titans in 1999, and the last one in Houston until 2008.
The December 12 game would be re-matched later that month in the Wild Card playoffs in the same stadium, on the same network, and would be the last NFL appearance for Joe Montana.
The December 19 game between the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints was the first NFL start for Larry Allen, who replaced Erik Williams after he suffered season-ending injuries from an automobile accident. Allen provided a memorable play early in the game when Saints linebacker Darion Conner intercepted a Troy Aikman pass and looked to be on his way to a breakaway touchdown. However, the 325-pound Allen surprisingly ran Conner down from behind short of the end zone. Larry Allen would play 14 seasons in the NFL and is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The 49ers became the first, and remain the only, team to win the Super Bowl after losing the MNF season finale. Coincidentally, Super Bowl XXIX was also televised by ABC.
Though the Oakland Raiders played two Monday Night games last season as well as one previous game this season, the November 4 game versus Denver marked the Raiders' first home Monday Night game in Oakland since December 7, 1981.
The September 22 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jacksonville Jaguars (playing on Monday night for the first time in their short history) had one of the craziest endings in MNF history. The Jaguars were up 2 with almost no time left and the Steelers attempted a game-winning field goal. The Jaguars blocked it and Chris Hudson returned it the other way for a touchdown. During the return, Steelers head coach Bill Cowher cocked his fist back like he was going to throw a punch at Hudson when he was running down the Steelers sideline for the winning score. The extra point was finally kicked about 15 minutes after ABC signed off.
The September 29 game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers was the Panthers' first MNF game in franchise history and the first MNF game in Charlotte.
The October 27 game between the Chicago Bears and the Miami Dolphins was rescheduled because Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, which featured the Florida Marlins, had to play at Pro Player Stadium on Sunday night, when the Dolphins originally were slated to host the Bears. Therefore, the game was moved to Monday night and was played simultaneously with the Green Bay Packers-New England Patriots game (a rematch of Super Bowl XXXI, the only time MNF aired a rematch of a Super Bowl from the year before and the last Super Bowl rematch until the Denver Broncos-Seattle Seahawks game in 2014). The Bears-Dolphins game, originally to be shown on Fox, was broadcast only in the Chicago and Miami areas as part of ABC's ''Monday Night Football.'' The rest of the country saw the previously scheduled game: a Super Bowl rematch between the Packers and the Patriots.[477][478] After the conclusion of the Packers game, viewers were not taken to the conclusion of the close Bears win but instead went to local news. Because the Bears-Dolphins game was intended to be played Sunday on Fox (which aired Super Bowl XXXI, at the time Fox's highest-rated program ever, and would have aired the Packers-Patriots game if it was played on Sunday afternoon as well), this marked a rare time in history where the Dolphins wore their white jerseys in a nighttime home game.
The November 10 game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles was the infamous game in which a fan had fired off a flare gun in Veterans Stadium, leading to the introduction of the court in the stadium.
The December 15 game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos is remembered for Jerry Rice's return from a torn ACL suffered in Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, (however he suffer a cracked kneecap on a touchdown catch in the second quarter and missed the remainder of the season) and the jersey retirement ceremony for Joe Montana. The game is also well known for an incident where Broncos linebacker (and former 49er) Bill Romanowski spitting in the face of 49ers wide receiver J.J. Stokes.
This season was notable because it featured the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the first time since 1983 when the team lost to the Green Bay Packers on December 12 of that year. The team played two Monday night games in 1998 losing to the Detroit Lions in Week 4 but beating the Green Bay Packers in Week 14. Ironically, the December 1983 game was the second and final Monday night game played at Tampa Stadium though ABC would air Super Bowl XXV played at the stadium. The December 7 game versus the Packers was the first Monday night played at Raymond James Stadium and came just about 5 days shy of 15 years after the previous game hosted in Tampa.
The October 5th game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers proved to be the coming out moment for wide receiver Randy Moss in his MNF debut. He caught 5 passes for 190 yards and 2 scores in the Vikings' victory.
The December 14 game between the Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers, marked Lions running back Barry Sanders' final appearance at Monday Night Football.
The December 21 game between the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins, marked Broncos quarterback John Elway's final appearance at Monday Night Football.
The December 27 game between the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, marked Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino's final appearance on Monday Night Football.
The January 3 game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons, marked 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice's final appearance at Monday Night Football with the 49ers.
The September 4 game marked the first MNF appearance for the previous season's Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams since moving from Los Angeles in 1995, and the first MNF game in St. Louis in fourteen years.
The October 16 game was the first actual Monday night game in Nashville, making the Hank Williams Jr. opening theme even more appropriate as Nashville is a hotbed for country music, which Willams plays. This was also the first MNF game for the Tennessee Titans since their move from Houston to Tennessee in 1997, at which time they were still known as the Oilers (they were renamed as the Titans in 1999).
In overtime of the November 6 game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers, Packers wide receiverAntonio Freeman slipped on the wet grass, while Vikings cornerbackCris Dishman deflected the pass at the 20-yard line. The ball bounced off Freeman's shoulder, he rolled over, and it fell into his chest and right hand without touching the ground. While Dishman agonized over what he thought should have been an interception, Freeman stood up and ran for the end zone, scoring the game-winning touchdown. The play was replayed and allowed. Al Michaels was quoted as saying in reaction to the game-winning play: "He did WHAT?"
The December 4 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots at New England was the first Monday Night Football telecast at an outdoor Northern stadium after Thanksgiving. Previously, late-season prime time games were reserved for stadiums in the South or West Coast, or domed stadiums. Cold weather prime-time telecasts became routine in later years and this was the last Monday Night Football game at Foxboro Stadium.
The September 17 game between the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens (what would have been the Ravens' first appearance on Monday Night Football and the first Monday night game to take place in the city of Baltimore since 1978) was rescheduled to January 7 as the entire slate of week 2 games were postponed after the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center and The Pentagon.
The September 24 game was not only the first Monday Night Football game since the attacks, it was also a rematch of one of the most significant games in the program's history; a game between the Washington Redskins and the Green Bay Packers. 18 years before at Lambeau Field, the Redskins and Packers combined for 95 points, more than any other Monday night game before or since (the Packers won 48–47, on a last second Jan Stenerud field goal).
The October 8 game between the St. Louis Rams and the Detroit Lions was the last Monday Night Football game at the Pontiac Silverdome, also the last Monday Night Football game in Detroit until 2011.
The November 5 between the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders, Broncos kicker Jason Elam recorded the 20,000th point scored in Monday Night Football history when he kicked a field goal in the Broncos' 38–28 loss to the Oakland Raiders and also that game marked wide receiver Jerry Rice's Monday Night Football debut with the Raiders and the final Monday Night Football appearance for Broncos running back Terrell Davis.
Due to Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve falling on Mondays in 2001, the NFL did not schedule games for those days. Instead, ABC aired Saturday night games on those weekends. The former weekend also had games on CBS and Fox that Saturday, marking one of the few times (until 2006) that three different over-the-air networks aired NFL games on the same day. In future seasons when Christmas Eve fell on a Monday, the matchup would feature two teams on the west coast.
First home MNF for the Ravens since relocation from Cleveland to Baltimore BAL win: AFC No. 5 seeded Wild Card, NYJ AFC No. 6 seeded Wild Card, SEA eliminated BAL loss: NYJ AFC No. 5 seeded Wild Card, SEA AFC No. 6 seeded Wild Card, BAL eliminated[573]
During the October 14 game between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, wide receiver Terrell Owens pulled out a Sharpie following a touchdown and autographed the football. Also it was the first Monday Night Football game at Seahawks Stadium, the first Monday Night Football game in Seattle since 1992, and the first Seahawks game as an NFC team since leaving the AFC.
At halftime of the October 28 game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles, the last of the fourteen clues from the ABC television series Push, Nevada was revealed. By taking the appropriate letters (5th, 1st, 9th, 1st, 5th, 7th, 4th, 1st, 2nd, 7th, 5th, and 2nd) from twelve of those clues, the world "VONGEYELNAIL" was formed. Replacing the 5th, 6th, and 7th letters in the word would change it to "VONGILNAIL", translating it into the phone number 1 (866) 445–6245. The first person to call that number, Mark Nakamoto, won the grand prize of $1,045,000. It was also the final Monday Night Football game played at Veterans Stadium.
The November 11 game between the Oakland Raiders and the Denver Broncos marked the 500th Monday Night Football game. In commemoration, ABC used various themes and images of varied opens during commercial bumpers.
Under a new NFL policy, the NFL officially adopted a Thursday night game to open the season (something that was done for the first time the previous season), and no Monday night game in Week 17. The change was designed to maximize opportunities for scheduling between Week 17 and the opening week of the playoffs; in this way, no team could be disadvantaged by potentially having only four days between their final regular season game and a playoff game. Also, the ratings for the last game of the regular season were often low, and the game usually had no playoff meaning (the most likely reason for the scheduling move). To compensate for losing the opening night game (which was successful enough to be upgraded from cable to network television after only one year), ESPN got the Week 17 game that used to be on Monday Night, and aired it on Saturday.
The season saw two improbable comebacks occur. The New York Giants led their game with the Dallas Cowboys 32–29 with 10 seconds left. An out-of-bounds kickoff allowed the Cowboys to quickly get into field goal position and force overtime. The Cowboys' Billy Cundiff tied an NFL record with seven field goals as the Cowboys won 35–32. Three weeks later, the Indianapolis Colts trailed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35–14 with 3:43 remaining. They scored three touchdowns in the closing minutes and won 38–35 in overtime after an unsportsmanlike "leaping" call negated a field goal miss by the Colts. Ironically, Simeon Rice, the player charged with "leaping", would later play for the Colts in 2007.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Philadelphia Eagles game was the very first regular season game at Lincoln Financial Field, the third straight year that Monday Night Football opened with a stadium's first ever regular season game (following Invesco Field at Mile High in 2001 and Gillette Stadium in 2002).
The Green Bay Packers–Oakland Raidersgame was played the day after the death of the father of quarterback Brett Favre. In an inspiring performance, Favre threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns in the Packers' rout.
The Miami Dolphins pulled off a classic upset over the New England Patriots on December 20. Trailing 17–28 with 3:59 left, the Dolphins drove 68 yards to score on Sammy Morris' 1-yard run with 2:07 remaining, and then on a third down play, Tom Brady threw as he was being sacked by Jason Taylor. The ill-advised, off-balance pass sailed directly to linebackerBrendon Ayanbadejo, giving Miami a first down at the Patriots' 21 with 1:45 to go. Three plays later, A. J. Feeley threw for the game-winning score, a 21-yard pass to Derrius Thompson on fourth-and-10 with 1:23 left. The Dolphins wore orange jerseys for only the second time in team history.
This marked the final season for Monday Night Football on ABC.[634] 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 for Monday night with a special start time of 7:30 P.M. EDT, though the Giants were still the road team. (Usually, the only time the Giants are the road team in their own stadium is when they play the New York Jets.) ABC held a telethon to raise money for victims of the hurricane during the broadcast. At 9 P.M., ABC viewers outside New York and New Orleans moved to the Washington Redskins-Dallas Cowboys game, while the Giants-Saints game aired on ESPN (the inverse was true for the New York and New Orleans markets). This could be considered the pilot episode of the ESPN series as well. When the Giants-Saints game was over, the New York and New Orleans markets were switched to the Redskins-Cowboys for the conclusion of that game.[635][636][637][638][639]
The October 10 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Diego Chargers, marked Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's Monday Night Football debut and the final MNF appearance for Drew Brees with the Chargers before moving to the Saints in the 2006 offseason.
The record for largest Monday night victory was tied and later broken during the season. The Seattle Seahawks' 42–0 win over the Philadelphia Eagles 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 Seahawks' win over Philadelphia was in the midst of a bad season for the Eagles and ended up leading to NBC getting flexible scheduling built into its Sunday Night Football schedules.
The Atlanta Falcons became the first team to win three home games on Monday night, beating the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, and New Orleans 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 Monday Night Football telecast, when they played the Cleveland Browns. Also this marked the final Monday Night Football game at Giants Stadium.
ABC's final NFL broadcast until 2016, Super Bowl XL between the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers, was plagued by controversial calls made by officials. The calls later reviewed by the NFL were all found to have merit; therefore not changing the outcome of the game. Had the Seahawks won, they would have been one of a handful of teams to beat both Pennsylvania-based NFL teams on ABC in the same season.
