The first week of the NFL regular season wraps up tonight with a Monday Night Football double-header, featuring the New Orleans Saints at the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Chargers at the Denver Broncos. Both games will be airing on ESPN, as well as the WatchESPN app.
The Saints and Vikings will kick things off at approximately 7:10pm ET, as former Vikings star Adrian Peterson makes his return to Minneapolis. Peterson, who spent his first 10 seasons with the Vikings, signed with the Saints this off-season and is expected to play a key role in Drew Brees' high-powered offense.
That said, New Orleans head coach, Sean Payton, says you shouldn't expect the team to go out of their way to get AP the rock tonight.
Per ESPN,
"I can't recall handing the ball to Tim Hightower and thinking to myself, ‘He's back at Arizona, let's get him in the game,'" Payton said. "Some of it is just a feel for how the game is flowing. But we try to put the best plan together as we can. I think that with Adrian, obviously he's an important part of what we're doing as a running back. So we don't sit in there and say, ‘Well, it's Minnesota, and therefore it's this, this and this.'
Minnesota will also be inducting Vikings legend Randy Moss into the Vikings Ring Of Honor tonight.
According to OddsShark, the Vikings, playing at home, are favored by three points tonight.
- Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
- Location: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- TV: ESPN
- Streaming: WatchESPN
- Odds: Vikings favored by 3 points. The over/under total is 48 points.
As for the second game in tonight's Week 1 Monday Night Football double-header, the divisional matchup between the LA Chargers and Denver Broncos is scheduled to get underway at 10:20pm ET. Both teams are coming off disappointing seasons, as the Broncos finished 2016 with a 9-7 record, while the Chargers came in last in the AFC West with a 5-11 mark.
Tonight's game will feature two of the most exciting pass rushers in former NFL Defensive player of the year, Von Miller and the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year, Joey Bosa. Not to mention, Denver's pair of lock down corners, Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib.
Check out the full details for the Chargers vs Broncos game below.
- Time: 10:20 p.m. ET
- Location: Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
- TV: ESPN
- Streaming: WatchESPN
- Odds: Denver is favored by 3 points. The over/under total is set at 42 points.