For the fifth straight NFL season, ESPN and ABC get the final game of Wild Card Weekend with Monday night’s showdown between the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Naturally, they’re pulling out all the stops for their final Monday night presentation of the year.
The company’s Monday Night Football crew, Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, and Laura Rutledge, will be on the call for ESPN and ABC.
Meanwhile, Peyton and Eli Manning’s ManningCast on ESPN2 returns one last time this season and features special guests, including one making his debut.
The Manning brothers will be joined by former Texans defensive end and current CBS NFL broadcaster J.J. Watt and former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
While Watt spent most of his NFL career with the Texans, his brother, T.J. Watt, plays for the Steelers. Couple that with Roethlisberger, who won two Super Bowls playing with Pittsburgh, and we wonder if we’ll see a lot of frustration from Houston fans watching at home over the broadcast’s POV.
The good news for them is that the Texans were 4-0 this season with Watt broadcasting one of their games. We’ll see if that trend continues in this version as well.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a ManningCast spokesperson said viewers can expect the Mannings to get Roethlisberger’s thoughts on Aaron Rodgers, Mike Tomlin, and becoming the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl.
ESPN is also planning tons of programming before and after the game from the Steel City. SportsCenter, NFL Live, and Monday Night Countdown will broadcast from inside Acrisure Stadium. First Take will broadcast live from Shorty’s GoodTimes Bar in downtown Pittsburgh. After the game, SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt will also broadcast on-site.
The company also announced Friday that Detroit Lions star Aidan Hutchinson will appear on ESPN’s Postseason NFL Countdown as a guest analyst.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.