''NFL Matchup'' is a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL) preview show that airs every week during the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...

and

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

. At various times, the official name was based on the current sponsor in the format '' ponsor NameNFL Matchup''. Since 2017 it is known simply as the ''ESPN NFL Matchup'', and it is produced utilizing commentary and footage from

NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries for and about the NFL, as well as ...

. During 2008-2009 NFL season, it aired every Sunday during the season on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

at 3:00am

Eastern time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small ...

(ET), then re-aired at 7:30am ET. Over the years the air-times have varied, typically with an initial showing on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

on Saturday morning, and the show being re-aired Sunday morning on ESPN. In 2019, it began airing on ESPN2 sometime around 6:30 to 7:00AM ET on Saturday, depending on other programming, then re-aired on Sundays twice on ESPN, with the first showing, depending on other programming, at 3:00 to 4:00AM ET, and the second showing typically at 6:30AM ET. Additional special air-times take place during the playoffs and for other specially scheduled NFL games.

Format

Unlike '' Sunday NFL Countdown'', ''

NFL Primetime ''NFL Primetime'' is a sports television program that has aired on ESPN since 1987. The show is presented similarly to ESPN's own ''SportsCenter'', featuring scores, highlights, and analysis of every game of the week in the NFL. When it debute ...

'', ''

Monday Night Countdown ''ESPN Monday Night Countdown'' (officially ''Monday Night Countdown presented by Subway'') is an American pregame television program that is broadcast on ESPN, preceding ''Monday Night Football''. When it debuted in 1993 as ''NFL Prime Monday'', ...

'', ''

NFL Insiders ''NFL Insiders'' was a National Football League studio show, that aired Monday through Friday at 3:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. The football-themed show replaced ''NFL 32'' on August 5, 2013. The program was one of the only NFL-related studio programs ...

'', and ''

NFL Live ''NFL Live'' (stylized as ''NFL Live presented by Autotrader'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American National Football League (NFL) studio show, currently airing Monday through Friday at 3:00 p.m ET on sports cable channel ESPN. Formerly know ...

'', ''NFL Matchup'' gives fans an in-depth look at the NFL by breaking down the strategy and tactics—the "X's and O's", after the symbols commonly used by coaches to diagram plays—of every pro football game. The program's analysts do this through the exclusive use of team-supplied coaching footage, the same video coaches and players use each week to prepare game plans and

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " ...

History

The show started in 1984 as ''Monday Night Matchup'' with Chris Berman as host with

Allie Sherman Alex "Allie" Sherman (February 10, 1923 – January 3, 2015) was an American football player and coach who played 51 games in six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a quarterback and defensive back, and afterward served as head coa ...

, former Giants coach, and

Steve Sabol Stephen Douglas Sabol (October 2, 1942September 18, 2012) was an American filmmaker. He was the president and one of the founders of NFL Films, along with his father Ed. He was also a widely exhibited visual artist. Sabol was born in Moores ...

providing analysis. From 1993 to 2003, it was hosted by Mark Malone, ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and o ...

'' anchor

Stuart Scott Stuart Orlando Scott (July 19, 1965 – January 4, 2015) was an American sportscaster and anchor on ESPN, most notably on ''SportsCenter''. Well known for his hip-hop style and use of catchphrases, Scott was also a regular for the network i ...

and finally,

sideline reporter

Suzy Kolber Suzy Kolber (; born ) is an American football sideline reporter, co- producer, and sportscaster for ESPN. She was one of the original anchors of ESPN2 when it launched in 1993. Three years later, she left ESPN2 to join Fox Sports, and rejoined ...

, who became the first woman to host an NFL show. Since the 2004 season '' Sunday NFL Countdown'' and ''

'' correspondent

Sal Paolantonio Sal Paolantonio is a Philadelphia-based bureau reporter for ESPN. Since joining ESPN in 1995, Paolantonio has become a staple in their NFL coverage, as he contributes to shows such as ''SportsCenter'', ''NFL Live'', '' Sunday NFL Countdown'' (f ...

has served as the host. Alongside him were

Ron Jaworski Partner owner , highlights= * Pro Bowl (1980) * Bert Bell Award (1980) * Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame ;NFL record * Longest touchdown pass: 99 yards (tied) , statlabel1= TD– INT , statvalue1=179–164 , statlabel2=Yards , statvalue2=28,19 ...

and

Merril Hoge Merril DuAine Hoge (; born January 26, 1965) is a former professional American football player. He played eight seasons at running back for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears, retiring after the 1994 season. Since 1996 he had been a ...

. Jaworski, who also appeared on

's '' Sunday NFL Countdown'', joined

in 1990 after a 17-year career as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

, most notably with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

. The show fits Jaworski style of breaking down the X's and O's of the football gridiron game. Hoge joined

in 1996, where he serves as an analyst on ''

'' and

ESPNews ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News", stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns ...

''Football Friday'', as well as ''NFL Matchup''. He is a former fullback and an eight-year veteran, serving five of those years as a starter for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. Television tape was used until 1994, when game film was used. The program converted to a high-definition presentation for the 2011 season, though some game footage camera angles (which are mainly used internally by coaching staffs, and rarely by television networks during game broadcasts except in a few circumstances) remained provided to ESPN by the NFL in

standard definition Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...

for a short while after. With ''

Jim Rome is Burning ''Jim Rome Is Burning'' (originally titled ''Rome Is Burning'' and often abbreviated as ''JRIB'') is a sports conversation and opinion show hosted by Jim Rome. Debuting on May 6, 2003, as ''Rome Is Burning'', it was originally a weekly show in pri ...

'', which ended at the end of January 2012 never converting to HD, ''NFL Matchup'' was both the final ESPN program to convert to HD and the last still utilizing some SD presentation outside of rare ''SportsCenter'' highlights still in that format. After both Jaworski and Hoge were laid off by the network in April 2017, ESPN NFL insider

Louis Riddick Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ...

and

Greg Cosell Greg Cosell is an NFL analyst and a senior producer at NFL Films. He is the nephew of late broadcaster Howard Cosell. Cosell is highly regarded by NFL insiders for his football knowledge. Born in Queens, New York, Cosell attended Amherst Colle ...

, the original co-creator of the show, were named the new co-hosts of the program. In 2018, Riddick was replaced by

Matt Bowen Matthew Jeremy Bowen (born 9 March 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia international and Queensland State of Origin representative , he played in the National Rugb ...

Personalities

Current

: (Host, 2004–present) *

Darius Butler Darius Jermaine Butler (born March 18, 1986) is a former American football free safety. He played college football at Connecticut. Butler was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He has also played for t ...

: (Analyst, 2022–present) *

: (Analyst, 2017–present)

Former

Chris Berman Christopher James Berman (born May 10, 1955), nicknamed "Boomer", is an American sportscaster. He has been an anchor for ''SportsCenter'' on ESPN since 1979, joining a month after its initial launch, and hosted the network's '' Sunday NFL Count ...

: (Host, 1984–1987) *

: (Analyst, 2018–2021) *

: (Analyst, 1998–2016) *

: (Analyst, 1990–2016) *

: (Host, 1999–2003) * Mark Malone: (Host, 1998) * Charles Mann: (Analyst) *

Chris Myers Chris Myers (born ) is an American sportscaster. He has covered the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, the NCAA Final Four, The Masters, the U.S. Open, the Triple Crown, the Olympics, and the Daytona 500. Early life and care ...

(–1997) *

: (Analyst, 2017) *

: (Analyst, 1984–?) *

: (Analyst, 1984–1992) *

: (Host, –1998) *

Phil Simms Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who spent his entire 15-year professional career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is currently a television sport ...

: (Analyst)

References

External links

IGN: EA Sports NFL Matchup
{{National Football League on television and radio ESPN original programming 1993 American television series debuts 2000s American television series 2010s American television series Matchup Matchup