Week 1 started with a bang on Thursday night, with the Baltimore Ravens losing by the length of a big toe to the Kansas City Chiefs. The nail-biter whets the appetite for football after such a long off-season, and hopefully, Week 1 gets bookended with another banger on Monday.
Monday Night Football will be an exciting matchup between a current NFC elite team and a potential AFC elite team as the San Francisco 49ers play host to the New York Jets.
This piece will break down the final Week 1 game, highlighting the matchups, start times, and key players to watch.
The NFL opened the season with the AFC Champion at home and will end Week 1 with the NFC Champion at home. The 49ers were one overtime away from opening the 2024 season as Super Bowl champions and bringing the bulk of their roster back to try and finish their story.
San Francisco is probably the most talented team in the league as they had seven players make either the first- or second-team All-Pro rosters last season.
As for the Jets, they are coming off of a disappointing season that was highlighted (lowlighted?) by new Jet quarterback Aaron Rodgers playing only four snaps before tearing his Achilles in Monday Night Football Week 1 last year. One year later, he will be playing on the same timeslot on the same day of the week as he looks to prove to the New York faithful he was worthy of the signing.
When and How Can I Watch The Game?
The first 2024 Monday Night Football game is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. Eastern on Monday night. How you watch it will depend on how you typically consume television.
If you have cable or satellite, you can watch the season's first Monday night game on ESPN or ABC. If you are partial to Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, and Bill Belichick, tune in to ESPN2 to watch the Manningcast version of the game. If you cut the cord, the game will also be broadcast on the ESPN+ app, starting at a monthly rate of $10.99.
Additionally, if you consume live television through other streaming sites (such as Hulu+, YouTubeTV, or Sling), ESPN and ABC are usually streamable. The costs of those apps vary.
Who is Going to Win?
The 49ers will play host to the Jets this week and will also be the odds-on favorite. The betting line has San Francisco favored by 4.5 points.
It has the making for a close game, though. For the 49ers, the team is immensely talented on both sides of the ball and has been for quite some time. Now that Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams have ended their contract dispute, the team should be well-stocked to compete against a very frisky Jets defense.
Christian McCaffrey, however, has been limited with some leg injuries in recent weeks, which may make the team a little more one-dimensional on offense than they would like to be.
Alternatively, the Jets have had one of the top defenses in the league for a few years at this point. Head coach Robert Saleh has been one of the premier defensive minds in the league for quite some time and will be facing off against the 49ers for the first time since leaving their defensive coordinator position to be New York's coach.
Rodgers is likely to be rusty as he hasn't had game action in a year, but having talented running back Breece Hall and wide receiver Garrett Wilson should provide him the support needed to have the offense be at least competent. The game should be a fascinating way to end Week 1.
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