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Monday Night Football Picks and Predictions

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant


by Alan Matthews - 9/19/2017

When I was very young, I fell for the allure of the Dallas Cowboys. They were America's Team, after all. The stars on their helmets, the good guys against the bad guy Steelers in those Super Bowls. Now? Can't stand them. But I will give the most valuable sports franchise on the planet credit for one thing: it's always interesting.

New Orleans Saints running back Adrian Peterson


by Alan Matthews - 9/7/2017

Week 1 of the season is great for many reasons, and one of them is the only scheduled Monday night doubleheader of the year (there will be a second one in 2017 because Christmas falls on a Monday). I have always lived in the Eastern Time Zone. And as an adult, I generally base my Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights during fall/early winter around the NFL games - thus essentially ignoring the wife. So I can't even imagine all the free social time that West Coast people have those nights during football season since all games end by about 9 p.m. local time. Week 1 is usually their only chance to watch a prime-time NFL game for the year (there are always 10:30 ET NCAA games).

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott


by Alan Matthews - 12/22/2016

The NFL doesn't want teams on short weeks heading into the playoffs, so there are no Monday night games in Week 17. Thus this week's Lions-Cowboys matchup is it on MNF for 2016. Although I keep hearing there might be an MNF first-round playoff game whenever the league adds a third wild card in each conference. That could happen this offseason. If so, that means only the top seed in the AFC & NFC would get a first-round bye, and it would add two extra games -- i.e. more cash -- in the wild-card round. I think that's a good idea, actually.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton


by Alan Matthews - 12/15/2016

Believe it or not, it's already the penultimate Monday night game of the 2016 regular season because the league doesn't want any teams playing on Monday in Week 17 and thus having a short playoff week -- or just having nothing to play for that night and rendering the game unwatchable.

Joe Flacco Baltimore Ravens


by Alan Matthews - 12/8/2016

We had a marquee matchup in the Thursday night game in Week 14, one in the Sunday night slot, and we cap it off with another stellar game on Monday night in a potential playoff preview as Baltimore visits New England -- and those two know each other well from previous postseasons. I can promise you this game will be much more interesting than last week's ugly Colts-Jets Monday game in which I stupidly leaned the Gang Green at home. Bad week to stop sniffing glue!

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck


by Alan Matthews - 12/1/2016

Not a great Monday night matchup this week as both the Colts (5-6) and Jets (3-8) have disappointed this season after both just missed out on the playoffs in 2015. The good news is that the final three MNF games of the 2016 season look pretty interesting and all include at least one likely playoff team.

Carson Wentz Philadelphia Eagles


by Alan Matthews - 11/24/2016

The last time the Green Bay Packers missed the playoffs was in 2008 when Aaron Rodgers finally replaced Brett Favre as the team's starting quarterback. Rodgers had his first-year starter growing pains but obviously has become one of the best QBs of his era and of all time.

Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler


by Alan Matthews - 11/17/2016

Let's not get into an election argument here, and it doesn't matter to me whether you voted for Trump or Hillary. But I think even the most ardent Trump backers had to be a bit taken aback by some of the things he has said about Mexicans. Whether he actually deports all those illegal immigrants and builds a wall we will have to see.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton


by Alan Matthews - 11/10/2016

I thoroughly enjoy handicapping the NFL and certainly get more right than wrong over the course of a season. But, man, sometimes it's amazing how backward things can go. For example, in last Monday night's game between the Bills and Seahawks, I thought it had a chance to be the lowest-scoring MNF game of the season between two clubs who like to pound the ball, chew clock and win with defense. So of course they combined for 66 points.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson


by Alan Matthews - 11/3/2016

This year's Monday night schedule has left plenty to be desired, but this week's matchup between Buffalo (4-4) and Seattle (4-2-1) starts a stretch where every Monday game the rest of the way looks pretty interesting as of now, other than probably Colts-Jets on Dec. 5.

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler


by Alan Matthews - 10/27/2016

The Chicago Bears are one of the flagship and most popular franchises in the NFL and they probably always will be. But I really wish the NFL would somehow allow ESPN's Monday Night Football to have flex scheduling like NBC's Sunday night does. I say this once a year and it probably won't happen.

Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler


by Alan Matthews - 10/20/2016

I'm not going to delve into the NFL's sagging TV ratings this season again other than to say the Monday Night Football games have largely been blowouts between one decent team and one bad one. Last week's 28-3 Cardinals win over the Jets -- I recommended Arizona -7 and going under the total, so that worked out well -- is a prime example.

New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick


by Alan Matthews - 10/13/2016

I'm sure you have read where NFL TV ratings are down across the board this year. I don't think we have hit some sort of bubble and that the crazy presidential election has played a big role. I'm not into politics at all, but I've been watching a lot more CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, etc., instead of football at times to see what stupid thing Donald Trump says or does next.

New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham


by Alan Matthews - 9/29/2016

Remember last year there was a long stretch of "Monday Night Football" games that had terrific endings? It seemed we saw something new and dramatic every week on the ESPN telecast. This season through three weeks? A total dud so far. Every game has been decided by at least 13 points, which was the score of last Monday's 45-32 win in New Orleans, one of the lowest-rated MNF games ever because it was opposite the presidential candidates' debate.

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones


by Alan Matthews - 9/22/2016

I don't happen to think the Saints are very good and that they are going to miss the playoffs again because of their defense, as usual, but that New Orleans crowd figures to be a bigger advantage than usual on Monday night against Atlanta.

St. Louis Rams Running Back Todd Gurley


by Alan Matthews - 9/8/2016

Let me just say a few things right off the bat about the Monday nightcap in Week 1 between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium, host of last year's Super Bowl: 1) I'm fairly confident I won't be previewing a game for either of these two teams the rest of 2016 as neither is really all that interesting and both are likely to finish below .500 -- the 49ers well below;

Denver Broncos Quarterback Brock Osweiler


by Alan Matthews - 12/24/2015

It hasn't been a very good season of "Monday Night Football" in terms of matchups featuring two good teams at once. But there have been some crazy finishes and it seems like nearly every MNF game came down to the final possession. Let's hope that continues in this week's MNF finale in probably the best on-paper matchup of the year: Cincinnati at Denver

Detroit Lions Wide Reciever Calvin Johnson.


by Alan Matthews - 12/16/2015

I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong, which hopefully isn't too frequent, but I was definitely wrong on the New Orleans Saints this season and was to a lesser extent on the Detroit Lions. They are the rather uninspiring Monday night matchup this week.

Odell Beckham Jr New York Giants


by Alan Matthews - 12/10/2015

Has this been the best year of "Monday Night Football" or what!? Oh, some of the matchups have been lousy on the surface. But the endings have been sensational. For example, I had little interest other than from a betting/fantasy/Survivor perspective for last Monday's game between Dallas and Washington, both with losing records. But it was another wild last-second ending thanks to the stupidity of Redskins punt returner/knucklehead DeSean Jackson. It was the seventh straight MNF game to go down to a final possession. So this week's game between the Giants and Dolphins has plenty to live up to.

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant


by Alan Matthews - 12/3/2015

I'm going to stop criticizing the "Monday Night Football" matchups that look terrible on paper, because last week's game between lousy Baltimore and lousier Cleveland turned out to be very entertaining, at least in the final few minutes. But this week's MNF game between Dallas and Washington again features two losing teams. The Cowboys (3-8) can officially start planning for next season even though they are just two games out of the lead in the sorry NFC East.

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