NFL Schedule Release: Ranking the best Monday Night Football games

A Monday night party…as the longtime theme song has asked football fans for several decades. The NFL has released their full schedule for the 2023 season, meaning fans can look ahead to who their favorite teams are playing, and when the games are taking place. We’ll rank the Monday Night games the league has penciled in for the upcoming season, starting from worst all the way to first.

This has the potential to get ugly for NFL viewers and Patriots fans. It remains to be seen whether Mac Jones truly has what it takes to be the quarterback of the New England Patriots long term, and he’ll get as stiff a test as it gets going up against Kansas City. It’s possible that head coach Bill Belichick will have a defensive scheme ready to flummox the Chiefs, but it’s a lot to ask.

This matchup can conveniently labeled the “Davante Adams Bowl”, as the All-Pro wide receiver will go up against the team that drafted him for the first time. While that angle might set Adams up to have a huge night, there’s a chance that this game could be something of a dud if both teams play things close to the vest.

Fans of the Panthers are hoping that Bryce Young will help turn their franchise around, but it might take a few weeks for him to settle in. Carolina plays on Monday Night Football in the second week of the season, against a division rival with a strong defense. There’s also a chance Saints running back Alvin Kamara might be suspended early on in the season.

If this game were played in 2022 instead of 2023, there would be a lot of appeal and name value here. However, the Bucs are hoping to retool their roster in the wake of Tom Brady’s retirement, and it feels like they’re going to need a few turnovers to keep a game with Philadelphia remotely close.

The fortunes of this game center around the coaching job Sean Payton does in Denver, and how quarterback Russell Wilson is able to bounce back from a disastrous season. Even if the Broncos are more formidable than they were a year ago, their record may not reflect their improvement due to their position in a tough division.

There are a lot of ways this game could fall flat, and it’s somewhat surprising that the NFL would schedule it in primetime so late in the year. Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has had difficulty staying on the field, and the Titans might have elected to see what rookie Will Levis can do under center at this point.

The potential talent on the field can keep this game exciting, and both teams will be motivated to play well in an NFC North divisional tilt. However, the Bears may come into this contest with a lackluster record, which might dampen the enthusiasm of a national audience, even if Justin Fields is having a monster campaign.

A rematch of the 2022 Super Bowl won by Los Angeles seems intriguing on paper, if the Rams can have better health luck than they did a year ago. It’ll also be interesting to see how the Bengals try to match up with Cooper Kupp, who they couldn’t contain during that game. If Los Angeles can hang in this game or even win it, it’ll be a huge boost for their fortunes.

As impressive as the Giants were last season, their games were not the most scintillating to watch. New York took care of the football, and slowly marched the ball down the field while playing great defense. If Jordan Love is not able to play serviceably for Green Bay, this contest might come down to who connects on the most field goals.

The Lions have done a lot to raise their national profile, and the league has taken notice by awarding them a home game on Monday Night Football. This is an intriguing matchup depending on how the teams elect to approach the game, but a win might help Detroit establish itself as a serious playoff contender.

There are a lot of ways this game can go, and most of it will have to do with the production of Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson. He gets somewhat of a pass for his lackluster 2022 campaign after having been away for so long, but will need to start earning his massive fully-guaranteed deal. This game is an excellent place to start.

NFL fans at large support the comeback story of Seattle quarterback Geno Smith, who never “wrote back” when the league thought his days as a starter were finished. However, it might be a lot for Seattle to travel across the country against a defense that is becoming sturdier by the year. Pete Carroll is one of the best coaches in the NFL though, and may have a trick up his sleeve.

This game might mean a lot to the Bengals for seeding purposes, but Jacksonville and emerging quarterback Trevor Lawrence will have a golden opportunity to show that they can compete with the best teams in the AFC. The presumed return of wide receiver Calvin Ridley will help them immensely in the firepower department.

The 49ers are close to must-see TV anytime they’re featured in a prominent window, but this game will serve as a huge litmus test for Minnesota. They had trouble protecting quarterback Kirk Cousins against some of the best defenses in the league last year, and will need to improve in that area if they hope to beat San Francisco.

This game has the potential to be thrilling, if quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Justin Herbert can play up to their respective ceilings. A lot of the intrigue around this game might involve who is available from a health perspective, as both these teams battled injuries and attrition in 2022. Two embattled coaches will also do battle in Mike McCarthy and Brandon Staley.

This may not seem like one of the premier games on paper, but there’s an excellent chance that both the Cowboys and Lions will need to win this game for playoff ramifications in the NFC. This could serve as a tiebreaker between two teams trying to secure a wild card, or a last ditch effort for one of them to make a play for their division.

In case you haven’t heard, the Jets are now must see TV since their acquisition of future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers. This is a nifty game, from the standpoint that Justin Herbert one day hopes to carve out a career like Rodgers’, while the veteran will be looking to prove he can still lead a team to the promised land.

Baltimore and San Francisco are two of the best coached teams in the league, and it’ll be fun to watch John Harbaugh match wits against Kyle Shanahan. These teams have had two of the most potent rushing offenses in the NFL, and it might be the team who connects on a play action shot down the field that wins this contest.

The Monday Night Football schedule kicks off with an absolute doozy of a game, as AFC East rivals will square off at MetLife Stadium. Buffalo has been the class of the division since Tom Brady took his talents elsewhere, and the Jets will hope to show that they are ready to do some damage this season.

The best Monday Night game figures to take place in Week 11, as a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl will take place at Arrowhead Stadium. The Eagles and Chiefs played one of the best Super Bowls in recent memory, and both teams have the ability to put up 35 points, or come up with a humungous defensive stop.