Why ESPN’s Monday Night Football announcers are calling Cowboys-Eagles on Saturday night

The NFL bumped up two games from Sunday’s slate to Saturday as part of the Week 18 regular season finale. ESPN got both games and is simulcasting them on ABC. The early Chiefs-Broncos game gave viewers a treat with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit calling the game from the booth, Laura Rutledge serving as the sideline reporter, and John Parry working as the rules expert.

The doubleheader wraps with an 8:15 p.m. kickoff in Philadelphia between the Cowboys and Eagles. That game will feature the Monday Night Football crew — Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Louis Riddick, and Lisa Salters — on the call. Parry will be be pulling double duty as the rules expert for that game as well.

There is no Monday Night Football in the final week of the regular season, but this year the playoffs will bring a little something extra. With the expansion of the playoffs to 14 teams the league has elected to move one of the six Wild Card round games from Saturday to Sunday. ESPN will get the Monday game and have Fowler and Herbstreit on that call. They likely will have another game with the MNF crew on the call. The Monday game will be the same game Peyton Manning and Eli Manning broadcast one more ManningCast for the season. It’s not clear what game will be assigned that slot.