Only four teams have appeared more often than the Pittsburgh Steelers on the NFL’s iconic flagship scheduling window, “Monday Night Football.” If the Steelers beat the New York Giants on Monday, no team will have more victories on “MNF.”
A victory in the Week 1 Monday opener at MetLife Stadium would be the Steelers’ 49th on Monday night, matching the San Francisco 49ers for the most since the series began in 1970. A win also would allow the Steelers to tie the Raiders for second-most road victories on Monday Night Football (22). Dallas leads with 26.
The Steelers’ .667 Monday winning percentage trails only the Seattle Seahawks (.722 in exactly half as many games). Since Mike Tomlin became coach in 2007, though, the Steelers have been even better: They are 15-2 on Monday nights (.882). They have won eight in a row on “MNF.”
“With Monday night (games), you get a bonus day of preparation,” star linebacker T.J. Watt said on a video conference call with media Friday, “and I think coach Tomlin and the whole coaching staff and the players do a really good job of utilizing that extra day, that bonus day, to kind of hammer out any final details to go over the gameplan and make sure we are very detailed oriented.
“Especially with this being the first game of the season to have that extra day is going to be help us hopefully be a lot more effective and hopefully play a lot faster come Monday night.”
Four years ago, the Steelers also opened up on the road against an NFC East team on a Monday: a 38-16 win at the then-Washington Redskins.
The Steelers have won 18 consecutive Monday night games at Heinz Field, the past seven coming under Tomlin. That includes victories against the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins at Heinz Field last season.
The Steelers’ only other scheduled Monday night game this season is Dec. 21 at the Bengals.
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