Is there a Monday Night Football game this week?
Monday Night Football is a weekly staple for the NFL. Unlike many sports, the league singles out a time on Mondays when no other games are played during the regular season to feature two teams going at it for the entire country to see. However, Weeks 17 and 18 are different beasts. This week and in Week 18, there will be no Monday Night Football game at the typical time.
Here's a look at what's going on with the program as the regular season begins its swan song over the next eight days.
The program was moved from its typical time of 8:15 PM EST on Monday to Saturday, December 30, at 8:15 PM EST. The reason for this is that on New Year's Day, the college football playoff will be taking place on Monday during the typical time slot. ESPN will air both games throughout the day instead of Monday Night Football.
The matchup for Monday Night Football on Saturday will be the Detroit Lions taking on the Dallas Cowboys. The program will still be called "Monday Night Football" but it will be called a special edition of the program taking place on a different day.
The college football regular season is wrapped up, so the only football taking place on Saturday will be the showdown between the Lions and Cowboys.
Playoff implications for Monday Night Football's Saturday showdown between Dak Prescott and Jared Goff
The quarterbacks have both clinched a playoff spot for the 2023 postseason. At this point, both teams are playing for a better seed to raise the potential number of home playoff games after the regular season wraps up. Dak Prescott's Cowboys currently sit in the fifth seed while the Lions sit in the third seed.
The Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers all have the same record at 11-4. The Cowboys trail the three teams at 10-5. With a win on Saturday, Dak Prescott can essentially unseat the Lions from the race from the number one seed in the NFC.
In order to secure the top seed, the Cowboys would need to win their division over Jalen Hurts and with a win over the Lions, Dak Prescott would take the lead in the race for the moment. Whether the lead holds into Week 18 depends on whether the Eagles can defeat Kyler Murray who's been working on overcoming an illness.