Packers Only Average on Monday Night

Last week, the Green Bay Packers played on Thursday Night Football against the Chicago Bears and secured their first win of the season with a 23-10 victory. In week three of the 2012 season, the Packers will again be playing on a night other than Sunday. They will face off against the Seattle Seahawks this week on Monday Night Football, appearing on the program for the 20th consecutive season.

The Monday Night Football franchise has far more history than the NFL Network’s new Thursday night coverage, broadcasting its first game on September 21, 1970 with the Cleveland Browns topping the New York Jets 31-21. While the show was originally broadcast on ABC, a number of factors led to the franchise being taken over by ESPN in 2006, including the decision to make the Sunday night game the marquee game of the weekly broadcasting schedule.

Like Thursday Night Football, MNF is required to broadcast its games on the participating teams local broadcasting channels; however, because ESPN is featured on most cable packages, there is less controversy over its migration to cable broadcasting.

The Packers have historically enjoyed only limited success on Monday Night Football, holding a record of 27-28-1 since 1970. Including three games played on Monday prior to the MNF franchise, the Packers Monday night record climbs above .500 to 30-28-1. This meager Monday night record is not necessarily reason for panic though. The Packers most recent Monday night contest — last November 14 — resulted in a dominating 45-7 win against rival Minnesota.

While the Packers have enjoyed only limited success on Monday nights, the opposing Seattle Seahawks have the best MNF winning percentage of any team in the NFL, holding a record of 17-8 in 25 Monday night games. Here’s to hoping the Packers can take one step towards dethroning them this coming Monday.