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NFL: Why Is There No Monday Night Football Doubleheader in Week 1?

In case you thought you were just seeing things, there won’t be an NFL Monday Night Football doubleheader in Week 1. It’s something that fans will be missing. However, at least football is back. This week things got started in the league, and there were some solid Sunday games. Heading into Monday night, what can we expect?

The NFL has changed things around in recent years. Last year, the doubleheader format was abandoned, and there was a special Week 18 Saturday doubleheader added to the schedule. While that Saturday schedule will remain for those teams looking to clinch in the last week, Mondays are going to return to the old format, but with new additions.

Tonight, there will only be one Monday Night Football game, plus the ManningCast. The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks are going to face off. The Broncos grabbed Russell Wilson in the offseason, and the QB looks to play against his old team for the first time. That game gets started at 8:15 p.m. EST.

NFL’s New MNF Model – Less Doubleheaders

When the NFL brings back the doubleheader, it won’t be a 7 o’clock game followed by the West Coast’s 10 o’clock game late in the night. Instead, starting in Week 2, we will see two games staggered that overlap, according to CBSSports. And, no regional demarcation.

So, next week it is going to be the Tennessee Titans against the Buffalo Bills. Then we get the Philadelphia Eagles against the Minnesota Vikings on September 19. Those games kick off at 7:15 p.m. EST with the Titans-Bills game on ESPN. Then ABC will air the Vikings-Eagles game at 8:30 p.m. EST. A little channel flipping will be required.

After the Week 2 doubleheader schedule, there won’t be another such night until Week 8. That’s going to actually start with a Sunday morning game in London between the Broncos and Jaguars that will have the “Monday Night Football” moniker.

Then we’ll have the doubleheader in Week 18 on that Saturday.

So, there really won’t be but a few doubleheaders on Monday Night Football this NFL season. For those of you that usually use that late game to fall asleep on the couch before you actually fall asleep in your bed, you’ll have to look for a new program.

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