The NFL Likes The Giants On Monday Night Football

The NFL Likes The Giants On Monday Night Football — On the Road

by Chase Stuart on May 24, 2019

I originally wanted to write today about the Dallas Cowboys, and whether them being labeled America’s Team was reflected in their appearances on Monday Night Football. The Cowboys have been on MNF a whopping 83 times since the program began in 1970, just one behind the Miami Dolphins for the most in the NFL. The 49ers, Broncos, Redskins, Steelers, and Bears all have between 70 and 75 appearances, too.

Then I wondered: do the Cowboys usually play at home or on the road on MNF? As it turns out, it’s usually on the road. Dallas has played 43 road games on Monday Night Football, as have the Raiders, two teams that NFL fans love to hate. But it’s the New York Giants that have the most road games on Mondays with a whopping 47. That stands in stark contrast to just the 19 home games the Giants have had on Monday nights. The table below shows the MNF data for all 32 teams. The Giants have played, on average, 0.57 more road games than home games per season on MNF, easily the most in the league. Meanwhile, the Dolphins — perhaps because Miami is a good location for a night game — have played 0.57 more home MNF games per season than road MNF games.

Team	Years	MNF Games	MNF Gm/Yr	Home Games	Home Gm/Yr	Road Games	Road Gm/Yr	Diff
Miami Dolphins	49	84	1.71	56	1.14	28	0.57	-0.57
Dallas Cowboys	49	83	1.69	40	0.82	43	0.88	0.06
San Francisco 49ers	49	75	1.53	39	0.8	36	0.73	-0.06
Denver Broncos	49	73	1.49	37	0.76	36	0.73	-0.02
Washington Redskins	49	72	1.47	38	0.78	34	0.69	-0.08
Pittsburgh Steelers	49	71	1.45	30	0.61	41	0.84	0.22
Chicago Bears	49	70	1.43	31	0.63	39	0.8	0.16
Oakland Raiders	49	69	1.41	26	0.53	43	0.88	0.35
New York Giants	49	66	1.35	19	0.39	47	0.96	0.57
Green Bay Packers	49	65	1.33	26	0.53	39	0.8	0.27
Minnesota Vikings	49	64	1.31	27	0.55	37	0.76	0.2
Los Angeles Rams	49	63	1.29	30	0.61	33	0.67	0.06
Philadelphia Eagles	49	63	1.29	35	0.71	28	0.57	-0.14
New York Jets	49	54	1.1	24	0.49	30	0.61	0.12
New England Patriots	49	50	1.02	21	0.43	29	0.59	0.16
Baltimore Ravens	23	23	1	7	0.3	16	0.7	0.39
Kansas City Chiefs	49	45	0.92	22	0.45	23	0.47	0.02
Los Angeles Chargers	49	45	0.92	28	0.57	17	0.35	-0.22
Buffalo Bills	49	44	0.9	17	0.35	27	0.55	0.2
Atlanta Falcons	49	42	0.86	23	0.47	19	0.39	-0.08
New Orleans Saints	49	42	0.86	31	0.63	11	0.22	-0.41
Tennessee Titans	49	41	0.84	23	0.47	18	0.37	-0.1
Houston Texans	17	14	0.82	5	0.29	9	0.53	0.24
Indianapolis Colts	49	40	0.82	19	0.39	21	0.43	0.04
Seattle Seahawks	43	35	0.81	25	0.58	10	0.23	-0.35
Cincinnati Bengals	49	35	0.71	14	0.29	21	0.43	0.14
Detroit Lions	49	35	0.71	21	0.43	14	0.29	-0.14
Carolina Panthers	24	17	0.71	11	0.46	6	0.25	-0.21
Cleveland Browns	46	31	0.67	21	0.46	10	0.22	-0.24
Jacksonville Jaguars	24	15	0.63	11	0.46	4	0.17	-0.29
Arizona Cardinals	49	26	0.53	17	0.35	9	0.18	-0.16
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	43	22	0.51	13	0.3	9	0.21	-0.09

This year, the Giants play two MNF games: one on the road in Philadelphia, and one where the Cowboys come to town.

New York has played 11 Thursday Night Football games; 7 of those have been on the road (and the team travels to Foxboro for its TNF game in 2018). And the Giants have played 30 of 53 Sunday Night Football games on the road.

With the Giants being in the country’s biggest media market, it’s no surprise that the NFL wants them on Monday Night Football pretty frequently. But unlike with the Dolphins, I am not sure if I have a great explanation for the team’s general primetime home/road split. All told, including 2019, the Giants will have played 85 of 131 primetime games — 65% — on the road during this 50-year period.

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