NFL NationOct 27, 2025, 06:00 AM ETCloseNFL Nation is made up of 32 team-specific reporters who cover the NFL year-round across ESPN.com, ESPN television shows, ESPN Radio, ESPN+ and social media platforms. It was established ahead of the 2013 season.
Goff and Williams connect for an electric 70-yard Lions TD (0:40)Jameson Williams snags the pass from Jared Goff and turns on the burners for a 70-yard Lions touchdown. (0:40)
In the 55 years of “Monday Night Football,” few seasons were as memorable as 1985. That was the year the Chicago Bears roared through the NFL with perhaps the best defense in league history.
A young, gregarious rookie known as “The Fridge” was introduced to a national audience on MNF. And though the Bears won the Super Bowl that season, their perfection was blemished on a Monday night in Miami.
Not all moments were pleasant memories. That season also featured a horrific injury when Lawrence Taylor tackled Joe Theismann and broke his leg. The severity of the injury was evident by the emotion on Taylor’s face when he immediately motioned to the Washington sideline for medical aid for the quarterback. The career of the Super Bowl-winning quarterback ended that night.
Much has changed in the ensuing 40 years, and the Washington Commanders are building their own tradition, and the next step is Monday’s road game against the Kansas City Chiefs (8:15 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN).
In the meantime, here is a list of 32 memories, one for each team, as selected by NFL Nation reporters.
The Bills have suffered many memorable losses on Monday nights, but their win to start the 1974 season against the Raiders was among the memorable games in the history of Highmark Stadium, which will close after this season. The game featured three lead changes in the final two minutes, and the Bills won 21-20 after the Raiders’ George Blanda missed a 50-yard field goal attempt.
The Monday night season opener was the first game after O.J. Simpson ran for 2003 yards in 1973, becoming the first running back to eclipse 2,000 rushing yards. Simpson gained 78 yards in the win, but he was injured late in the first half and missed the wild finish. Bills wide receiver Ahmad Rashad caught two TD passes from Joe Ferguson (pictured). — Alaina Getzenberg
Players from the 1972 Dolphins team — the only team to complete an undefeated season in NFL history — are known to feverishly value the preservation of their accomplishment. A few of them were in attendance when the 12-0 Bears traveled to Miami in 1985. That Bears team eventually won Super Bowl XX by 36 points — but that night in Miami, the Dolphins won 38-24 over arguably the greatest defense in NFL history.
Dan Marino completed 14 passes for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns, two to Nat Moore (pictured) and one to Mark Clayton. Afterward, the ’72 Dolphins popped their traditional bottle of champagne to celebrate their record standing for at least one more season. Undaunted, the Bears recorded “The Super Bowl Shuffle” the following morning. — Marcel Louis-Jacques
The Patriots would have missed the playoffs with a loss, and they knocked the Jets into the wild-card spot.
”The way they performed and handled situations shows how much character these guys have,” Patriots coach Raymond Berry said that day. — Mike Reiss
A no-brainer: “The Monday Night Miracle” in 2000. The Jets beat the Dolphins 40-37 in overtime after trailing at the start of the fourth quarter 30-7. It’s tied for the second-largest fourth-quarter comeback in NFL history.
Jets QB Vinny Testaverde threw four of his five TD passes in the fourth quarter, including the game’s signature play — a 3-yard pass to 310-pound Jumbo Elliott (pictured) on a tackle-eligible playcall. Elliott made the juggling catch while falling down, the only reception of his 14-year career. — Rich Cimini
On Dec. 14, 2020, Lamar Jackson (pictured) provided a what-just-happened comeback for the ages in a 47-42 road win against the Cleveland Browns. Returning for the final two minutes after suffering leg cramps, Jackson threw a 44-yard touchdown pass and then calmly moved Baltimore into position for Justin Tucker’s winning 55-yard field goal with two seconds left.
Jackson, who was playing in his second game since testing positive for COVID-19, began experiencing cramps in his right arm with five minutes left in the third quarter. Then, Jackson felt cramps in his legs and hurried to the locker room with a trainer. But Jackson reemerged from the locker room to rally the Ravens after backup Trace McSorley was forced out of the game because of a leg injury.
“It’s going to be a game that goes down in history,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. — Jamison Hensley
Consider it the hit that sparked Cincinnati’s championship window. In 2020, in the early stages of TikTok’s popularity, Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was known for recording dances on the opposing team’s midfield logo and posting them on the social media platform. In a sparsely filled stadium during the pandemic, Bengals safety Vonn Bell (pictured) rocked Smith-Schuster on a reception over the middle, a few yards from the Bengals logo, and forced a fumble that Cincinnati recovered.
The Bengals pulled off a massive upset behind third-string quarterback Ryan Finley, a win that showed the resolve of a club that reached the Super Bowl the next season. — Ben Baby
Wide receiver Gary Collins recorded the first MNF touchdown, catching an 8-yard pass from quarterback Bill Nelson, and linebacker Billy Andrews (pictured) converted a 25-yard pick-six to secure a 31-21 win. The rest is history. — Daniel Oyefusi
The Steelers beat the then-winless Miami Dolphins 3-0 on a miserably muddy night thanks to Jeff Reed’s game-winning 24-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. More than an inch and a half of rain fell from Sunday into Monday, and to make matters worse, the field had been resodded after Heinz Field hosted high school football championships a weekend earlier.
“The footing was bad, all of a sudden, you’d hit a water puddle and sink down,” Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward (pictured) said at the time. Before Reed’s winner, he missed a 44-yard attempt late in the third quarter, and the two teams combined for 11 punts, two fumbles and an interception in the lowest-scoring MNF game in history. — Brooke Pryor
The Texans’ most memorable outing on MNF was against the Chargers in 2013. Early in the third quarter, the Chargers took a 28-7 lead. But the Texans marched back thanks to quarterback Matt Schaub, who tossed two touchdown passes to cut the lead to one possession.
Then, Texans linebacker Brian Cushing (pictured) intercepted quarterback Philip Rivers’ pass and returned it for a touchdown to tie the score at 28.
The Chargers never recovered, and Texans kicker Randy Bullock sealed the largest comeback in franchise history with a 41-yard field goal. Schaub finished with 346 yards passing and three touchdowns while Hall of Fame wideout Andre Johnson had 12 catches for 146 receiving yards. — DJ Bien-Aime
Only Tom Brady has more career fourth-quarter comebacks — 46 — than Peyton Manning’s 43, and few of those rallies were more memorable than the stunner Manning (pictured) and the Colts put together against Tampa Bay on Oct. 6, 2003.
A pick-six by Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber extended the deficit to 35-14 with 5:09 remaining, but a remarkable rally resulted in the Colts tying the score with 35 seconds left. Indy scored 21 points in less than four minutes, then kicker Mike Vanderjagt won it in overtime with a 29-yard field goal. — Stephen Holder
The franchise’s first “Monday Night Football” appearance (Sept. 22, 1997) remains the most memorable, thanks mainly to Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher.
Steelers kicker Norm Johnson attempted a 40-yard winning field goal with six seconds to play in Jacksonville, but the snap was poor, defensive end Clyde Simmons blocked the kick, and safety Chris Hudson chased it down and scooped it up. That happened in front of Cowher, who took a step onto the field and acted like he was going to punch Hudson as he raced by for a 58-yard touchdown.
Cowher later apologized to Hudson, telling him that it was his instincts as a former special teams player that made him do that. — Michael DiRocco
Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck (pictured) is still known as “Mr. Monday Night’ 18 years after his stellar performance against the New Orleans Saints in 2007.
Bulluck gave himself the name before the game, then backed it up by intercepting three passes from Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees, helping the Titans to a 31-14 win. Brees turned the ball over five times, the most in his career.
In 15 career “Monday Night Football” appearances, Bulluck had six interceptions and 12 passes defensed. But the one against the Saints solidified his status as “Mr. Monday Night.” — Turron Davenport
The Broncos have played impressive Monday games, but Oct. 15, 2012, is still their premier MNF moment. The Chargers had a 24-0 halftime lead, and some in the locker room said Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning was loud and emotional in what was his first season with the team.
Manning completed 13 of 14 second-half passing attempts for 167 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Broncos also scored two defensive touchdowns in the second half — a 65-yard fumble return by cornerback Tony Carter (pictured, 32) and a 46-yard interception return by Chris Harris Jr. — as the defense forced five turnovers in the final two quarters en route to a 35-24 victory.
It was the first of the Broncos’ 11 straight wins to close the regular season, which they finished 13-3. — Jeff Legwold
A 1994 showdown early in the season between Joe Montana (pictured) and John Elway delivered on the hype — and gave fans more than they could’ve expected. Elway, as he had done many times in his career with the Broncos, led his teammates on what appeared to be a winning comeback drive, scrambling into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown, producing a loud roar inside Mile High Stadium.