List of Monday Night Football results (1970–89)
Day Date Visiting Team Final Score Home Team Stadium
Monday September 9 Washington Redskins 14-44 Dallas Cowboys Texas Stadium
Monday September 16 Pittsburgh Steelers 7-17 Cleveland Browns Cleveland Stadium
Monday September 23 Los Angeles Rams 35-24 Seattle Seahawks Kingdome
Monday September 30 Cincinnati Bengals 37-24 Pittsburgh Steelers Three Rivers Stadium
Monday October 7 St. Louis Cardinals 10-27 Washington Redskins Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Monday October 14 Miami Dolphins 7-23 New York Jets Giants Stadium
Monday October 21 Green Bay Packers 7-23 Chicago Bears Soldier Field
Monday October 28 San Diego Chargers 21-34 Los Angeles Raiders Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Monday November 4 Dallas Cowboys 10-21 St. Louis Cardinals Busch Memorial Stadium
Monday November 11 San Francisco 49ers 16-17 Denver Broncos Mile High Stadium
Monday November 18 New York Giants 21-23 Washington Redskins Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Monday November 25 Seattle Seahawks 6-19 San Francisco 49ers Candlestick Park
Monday December 2 Chicago Bears 24-38 Miami Dolphins Miami Orange Bowl
Monday December 9 Los Angeles Rams 27-20 San Francisco 49ers Candlestick Park
Monday December 16 New England Patriots 27-30 Miami Dolphins Miami Orange Bowl
Monday December 23 Los Angeles Raiders 16-6 Los Angeles Rams Anaheim Stadium
1980s -- 1985 NFL season
The September 19 Thursday night game is memorable for Bears quarterback Jim McMahon 's third quarter performance . Bears coach Mike Ditka elected not to start McMahon because of various ailments keeping him out of practice all week . ABC cameras kept showing McMahon begging Ditka to put him in the game . Finally , with the Vikings leading 17–9 , McMahon entered the game and threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Willie Gault on his first snap . The Bears immediately got the ball back at the Vikings ' 25-yard line on the next series on a Wilber Marshall fumble recovery , and McMahon hit Dennis McKinnon on the very first play for a touchdown . Then , on the very next series , McMahon completed 3 of 5 passes and another touchdown to McKinnon . For the third quarter , McMahon had taken seven snaps and completed five passes for three touchdowns . The October 21 game is memorable for rookie Bears defensive lineman William Perry scoring a rushing touchdown after entering the game as an extra backfield blocker . The October 28 game marked the final Monday night appearance at home for the Los Angeles Raiders until their return to Oakland in 1995 , as well as the final Monday night game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum until 2018 . In the November 11 game , a thrown snowball caused the 49ers to miss an extra point , a determining factor in the team 's one-point loss . The November 18 game between the Giants and the Redskins is infamous for Lawrence Taylor 's tackle that ended Joe Theismann 's career ; as Theismann ended up breaking his leg on the play . The December 2 game between the Bears and the Dolphins , when the Dolphins put an end to the Bears ' bid to match their undefeated season in 1972 , was and still is the highest rated game in Monday Night Football history .
Beginning in the 1970 NFL season, the National Football League began scheduling a weekly regular season game on Monday night before a national television audience. From 1970 to 2005, the ABC television network carried these games, with the ESPN cable television network taking over beginning in September 2006. Listed below are games played from 1970 to 1989.