The Big Lead

Monday Night Football: Giants and Vikings are In the Running for Worst Monday Matchup Ever

By Jason Lisk

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The New York Giants were expected to be better than this. They faltered to 8-8, but with an offense that had Eli Manning, Victor Cruz, and Hakeem Nicks, they were expected to be in contention for the NFC East again.

The Minnesota Vikings were expected to be better than this. They reached the playoffs at 10-6 a year ago, and even though they did so with a stretch of games where they were an underdog, they were still more mediocre than bad. Or so we thought of both.

Instead, we have a matchup where the Minnesota Vikings are 1-4– and have the best record of the two teams. Tonight’s matchup is arguably one of the worst ever on Monday Night Football, based on current season results. Neil Paine of Pro Football Reference provided a list of the lowest combined win percentages entering a Monday Night Football game, week 7 or later. Guess where this one ranks?

  1. Minnesota Vikings (1-4) at New York Giants (0-6), 10-21-13 [1-10 combined, 0.091 win pct]
  2. New York Jets (3-9) at San Diego (1-11), 12-15-75  [4-20 combined, 0.167 win pct]
  3. New York Giants (3-7) at Houston (1-9), 11-21-94  [4-16 combined, 0.200 win pct]
  4. Baltimore (1-6) at New England (2-5), 11-6-72  [3-11 combined, 0.214 win pct]
  5. Cincinnati (1-5) at Pittsburgh (2-4), 11-2-70  [3-9 combined, 0.250 win pct]
  6. Chicago (1-5) at Detroit (2-4), 10-19-81  [3-9 combined, 0.250 win pct]
  7. Buffalo (3-3) at Indianapolis (0-6), 10-20-97  [3-9 combined, 0.250 win pct]
  8. Carolina (2-8) at Philadelphia (3-7), 11-26-12  [5-15 combined, 0.250 win pct]
  9. San Francisco (4-11) at Atlanta (4-11), 01-02-00  [8-22 combined, 0.267 win pct]
  10. Green Bay (3-10) at Baltimore (4-9), 12-19-05  [7-19 combined, 0.269 win pct]

Are you ready for some football? A Monday Night party?