Terrell Owens of the Dallas Cowboys by Scott Boehm/Getty Images Sport
The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles racked up big points on Monday Night Football, helping set a record for the most-watched cable telecast ever. The game - an explosive 41-37 win for the Cowboys - delivered 18.61 million viewers for ESPN. That tops the old record, held by a MNF game from last season. The New England Patriots victory over the Baltimore Ravens drew 17.52 million viewers on December 3, 2007.
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Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images
Aaron Rodgers' super-hyped debut as a starting quarterback put both the Green Bay Packers and ESPN in the winning column. Brett Favre's successor led the pack to a 24-17 win against the Minnesota Vikings, drawing 12.50 million viewers to Monday Night Football. The game was the night's top show - broadcast or cable - and surpassed July's Home Run Derby as the most-watched cable telecast of the year.
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Aaron Rodgers by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
The 39th season of Monday Night Football begins tonight with a doubleheader and a few new visual treats. In the first game, Aaron Rodgers makes his much-anticipated debut as a starter for the Packers when Green Bay hosts the Minnesota Vikings (Sept. 8, 7 pm/ET, ESPN). In the nightcap the Denver Broncos travel to the Oakland Raiders (10:15 pm/ET).
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New York Giants vs Washington Redskins by Rafael Suanes/WireImage.com
Gee, you think the NFL is trying to steal baseball's thunder? Today is MLB's opening day, but that didn't stop the NFL from announcing its prime-time schedule for Week 1. The season begins Thursday, Sept. 4, with Super Bowl champions the New York Giants hosting the Washington Redskins (7 pm/ET, NBC). The initial Sunday-night game will see the Chicago Bears visit the Indianapolis Colts (Sept. 7, 8:15 pm/ET, NBC), and Monday Night Football's season begins Sept. 8 on ESPN with a doubleheader: the Minnesota Vikings at the Green Bay Packers (7 pm/ET) and the Denver Broncos at the Oakland Raiders (10:15 pm/ET).
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This was a bizarre game for me. I feel like the score indicates this was a different game from the one I was watching: the score says the Vikings mounted 4 separate scoring drives and the Bears had 3; my eyes say neither of these offenses were capable of doing squat. If this had been a repeat of the 3 to 0 Mud Bowl between the Steelers and the Dolphins, I wouldn’t have been surprised (though I would have been surprised by any mud in this game since it was played indoors in Minnesota). But there were enough big plays, turnovers, and penalties to enable each of these teams to score, and the Minnesota Vikings scored more, leading to a 20 to 10 victory over the Chicago Bears.1st Quarter: The Bears managed to take the lead this quarter thanks to a fortuitous interception by Brian Urlacher. The ball was jarred loose and popped right into his hands. Thanks to two false start penalties, the Bears weren’t able to move much, but did manage to get a field goal, making it 3 to 0 Bears...
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Sad times in Atlanta on Monday: Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison and depicted in a courtroom sketch as wearing a cartoonish prison uniform (really? They still do the black and white stripes? Or was he wearing a throwback uniform?); Falcons owner Arthur Blank (a man who invented his very own type of stare) somehow has a five o’clock shadow only on his upper lip; and their team was ripped by the New Orleans Saints 34 to 14. The New Orleans Saints, on the other hand, looked impressive, despite the absence of star Reggie Bush (he’s out for the season), as they try to make a push for the playoffs1st Quarter: It looked like it might be a game after this quarter. I think I’ve typed this same sentence for every Monday Night Football game this season. If the NFL won’t let ESPN have a flex schedule, allowing them to swap out awful matchups like this one, then maybe the network should shorten the game to 15 minutes? They could have 4 games on Mondays ins...
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Patriots quarterback Tom Brady by Mike Ehrmann/WireImage.com
The undefeated New England Patriots' come-from-behind victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 3 was a ratings touchdown for ESPN. Monday Night Football attracted 17.52 million viewers for New England's 27-24 win, making it the most-watched cable telecast ever, trumping High School Musical 2’s record. Ratings peaked from 11:30 to 11:45 pm/ET, as the game was ending, with 23.9 million viewers.The Patriots are now 12-0 and will take their next step towards a perfect season on Sunday, when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers (Dec. 9, 4:15 pm/ET, CBS).In other football ratings news, the Nov. 29 game between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers drew 10.1 million viewers, especially impressive considering the NFL Network's limited availability.
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If you’re ever at a moment in your life where you’re feeling extremely unpopular, just think about the treatment Ravens coach Rex Ryan must be getting in Baltimore today. And over the next several days. This was a game the Baltimore Ravens could have (and should have) won, if not for a last second time out Ryan called to nullify a Baltimore stop of the New England Patriots on 4th and 1 late in the game. Instead Tom Brady and the Patriots took advantage of the second chance to win the game with 44 seconds left on a TD pass to Jabar Gaffney.1st Quarter: When I see the New England Patriots, I’m reminded of their great accomplishments from seasons past, and what they’re doing this season. When I look at the Baltimore Ravens, I am reminded that I need to start watching the first season of The Wire on DVD. I’ve heard great things about it. After this quarter, it looked like the Ravens were prepared to give the Patriots a fight, leading 7 to 3 at the end of it. But...
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If you sat through this entire game, odds are you no longer believe in God. Thanks to some of the ugliest weather conditions I ever remember seeing for an NFL game, this was one of the ugliest NFL games I ever remember seeing. Pop Warner was interviewed after the game and said “Jeez. That was terrible.” And he’s been dead since 1954. You figure he would have been happy just to see a game. In the end, the Pittsburgh Steelers overcame the muddy, rain soaked conditions (and the Miami Dolphins) and won, 3 to 0, on a field goal with 20 seconds left. The game was notable for reasons I wish I hadn’t witnessed: it was the first 3 to 0 game since 1993 (was I even born then?! Jeez. Oh wait. Yes I was. And drinking, too.); it was the first time in 64 years a game lasted that long without any scoring (I was not born yet). This game was hard for me to watch in more ways than one (I will elaborate).1st Quarter: It looked like the Dolphins might upset the Steelers when ex-Steel...
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This week’s matchup was all about the young quarterbacks as the Tennessee Titans and Vince Young visited Jay Cutler’s Denver Broncos. It was a pretty entertaining battle as both quarterbacks played well (though Vince did fall apart a little at the end as he tried to muster a comeback) and displayed the talents that should be tormenting opposing AFC teams for years. In the end, Cutler and the home team came out on top thanks to an unexpected amount of big plays, leading to a 34-20 victory. A request for ESPN: Please don’t do any more "skits" at the start of the game. This week’s was terrible. A blatant promo for the movie Hitman, it featured exploding footballs and paper jersey targets. I kept hoping the supply of footballs would go off early in his hand, but to no avail. Hank Williams Jr. does his best to get me ready for some football before every game, but then I see these skits and I’m not ready for football anymore. The game started and I realized I was ...
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