On Monday night, four NFL teams will see action under the lights as the league puts “Monday Night Football” on both ESPN and ABC. The New York Jets will play the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium, while the Cincinnati Bengals face off against the Denver Broncos.
Seeing two “Monday Night Football” games at the same time might give NFL fans a sense of overload. The league wanted to increase the number of games on television, and they successfully achieved that.
Why Are There Two ‘Monday Night Football’ Games?
When Disney acquired the NFL package, the league wanted 23 games on TV per season. Well, since there are only 18 weeks in a season, those extra games had to go somewhere. The decision was reached to put them on “Monday Night Football” in overlapping start times.
So, the Jets will go to Miami and play Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins on ESPN. The kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m. Eastern. ESPN college football announcer Chris Fowler will be on the call with analysts Louis Riddick and Dan Orlovsky. Katie George and Peter Schrager will be on the sidelines.
back together again pic.twitter.com/9fXF8QLFKD
— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 29, 2025
The Jets and Dolphins entered their Monday night game still looking for their first wins in the 2025 NFL season. New York hopes that running back Breece Hall can get the offense going behind his starting quarterback, Justin Fields. Getting the offense in gear is important for the Jets.
Tagovailoa will hope to play a big role in getting the Dolphins into the win column. He has had his troubles so far in the 2025 NFL season, but having a stellar game under the TV lights will go a long way toward improving the Dolphins’ season and giving them their first victory.
The Bengals-Broncos game will be on ABC, with kickoff at 8:15 p.m. Eastern. Joe Buck will be on the call, and Troy Aikman will be alongside as an analyst. Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge report from the sidelines.
The Bengals have a tough road ahead, as they will be without starting quarterback Joe Burrow for three months due to an injury. Jake Browning now sits as the QB1 for the Bengals. As for Denver, Bo Nix hopes that he can play well enough to exploit the Bengals’ defense.
Nix has shown an ability to get the Broncos offense cooking with his sharp decisions from the line of scrimmage. The Denver defense will look to get Browning off his stride and struggling from the get-go.
Like the Broncos, the Bengals want to reach the NFL playoffs when the season ends. Getting victories early in the season will help in that endeavor.
