On Tuesday, ESPN officially announced their plans for the network’s Week 18 Monday Night Football doubleheader, which will air on Saturday rather than its traditional Monday evening.
The games, which begin at 4:15 PM ET and 8:30 PM ET on Saturday, January 8th, will be called by the regular MNF trio of Steve Levy, Brian Griese, and Louis Riddick (with Lisa Salters on the sideline) and the college football duo of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit (with NFL Live host Laura Rutledge on the sideline).
Additionally, both games will air across several networks, with simulcasts on ABC and ESPN+ and the Spanish broadcast on ESPN Deportes.
The matchups, along with Week 18’s Sunday Night Football game, have yet to be announced, though ESPN says they’ll both have “playoff implications.” The good news is that there aren’t any total eggs on the schedule – only three Week 18 games feature two teams currently under .500 (Washington-Giants, Bears-Vikings, Saints-Falcons), and the all-divisional slate ensures that if there’s a winner take all game, it’ll be in a great window. The most likely options for both MNF windows and the SNF window include Steelers-Ravens, Bengals-Browns, Chargers-Raiders, 49ers-Rams, and Chiefs-Broncos, with Cowboys-Eagles lurking as a dark horse.
Fowler and Herbstreit called the second half of ESPN’s Week 1 MNF doubleheader last season. The NFL game will come in a busy stretch for the pair, as they will also call the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Eve, the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, and the National Championship on January 10th.
ESPN also has an NFL Wild Card playoff game a week later, called by Levy, Griese, and Riddick on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN+. The ManningCast will air on ESPN2.
[ESPN]
