Why is Texans-Seahawks so late? NFL reason for Monday Night Football's kick-off time
19:30 ET, 20 Oct 2025Updated 19:37 ET, 20 Oct 2025
Sam Darnold
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Sam Darnold and top-wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba are ready for Monday Night Football(Image: Getty Images)
For the third time this season, ESPN is hosint a Monday Night Football doubleheader. The action-packed evening will feature the Tampa Bay Buccaneers going head-to-head with the Detroit Lions at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the Houston Texans squaring off against the Seattle Seahawks at 10 p.m. ET.
Just last week, ESPN simultaneously aired the Buffalo Bills-Atlanta Falcons game (7 p. m. ET on ESPN) and the Chicago Bears-Washington Commanders game (8:15 p.m. ET on ABC).
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This week, however, Walt Disney - the parent company of ESPN/ABC - has decided to air the games back-to-back. In Week 2, the second leg of ESPN's Monday Night doubleheader showcased the Los Angeles Chargers and the Las Vegas Raiders in a late-night showdown.
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For the additional game, ESPN will bring in its backup broadcasting team of Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky, and Louis Riddick for the Texans-Seahawks call, while Joe Buck and Troy Aikman take care of the Buccaneers-Lions commentary.
There are several reasons behind these changes. Disney recently negotiated a new deal with the NFL that increased its rights package to 23 games for the 2025 season.
With only 18 weeks in the season, there's a natural overflow, meaning ESPN has to lean into doubleheaders, including a Week 18 Saturday doubleheader. While the two early window games increase prime time viewership, the late-night game offers the network a chance to dominate West Coast ratings.
ESPN is still experimenting with the best scheduling formula, according to Burke Magnus, ESPN's president of content. In a 2023 interview with Richard Deitsch of The Athletic, he revealed that they're still figuring out "more about what optimizes best."
Magnus pondered, "The thought there is, can we combine total audience and do a little bit like we used to do in the old days of college football where we create a simultaneous national and regional appeal and use our networks to do that in a single window?" He added, "Then it combines to sort of like a super audience total number."
Dan Orlovsky serves as a color commentator on ESPN's b-team broadcast
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Dan Orlovsky serves as a color commentator on ESPN's b-team broadcast(Image: Getty Images)
The Houston team, with a 2-3 record, trounced the Baltimore Ravens 44-10 before taking a bye week. Third-year coach DeMeco Ryans expressed, "You always want to go into the bye week with a win," adding, "It's much better when you roll in with a win. We will get a chance to take a breather here and reset."
After a shaky start, Texans' quarterback CJ Stroud seemed to regain his footing in the team's significant victory. He confidently stated, "I think we'll be able to flip the script in these next couple of weeks to finish October really well,".
The 4-2 Seahawks clinched a hard-fought 20-12 road victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, thanks to another stellar performance from star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. His 162 yards boosted his NFL-leading tally to 696 for the season.
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"To consistently win over and over again when a defense, you know, is planning on trying to take him out of a game, it speaks volumes," Seattle receiver Cooper Kupp praised his teammate.