Eagles-Buccaneers: Start time, channel, how to watch and stream ‘Monday Night Football’

Coming off their mini-bye week, the Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0) tonight on a Monday Night Football broadcast that will look and feel a little different.

The game will air at 7:15 p.m. Eastern on ABC, not ESPN, which will instead broadcast Los Angeles Rams vs. Cincinnati Bengals as part of an overlapping doubleheader. As a result, there will be lots of cut-ins and updates back-and-forth between the two broadcasts, something that annoyed Eagles fans last season, especially when ESPN basically ignored a Birds touchdown.

It’s the second of three overlapping doubleheaders ESPN has on its scheduled this season. In Week 14, both games (Tennessee Titans vs. Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers at New York Giants) will start at 8:15 p.m. Eastern.

So why is the NFL experimenting with overlapping doubleheaders on Monday night? Ratings. Last week, ESPN averaged 21.8 million viewers across both games, up 6% compared to Week 2 last season.

The Eagles are scheduled for two Monday Night Football games this season — they’ll appear again in Week 11 when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs in their highly anticipated Super Bowl rematch on Nov. 20. That means another Kelce Bowl between Eagles center Jason Kelce and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who had Taylor Swift rooting for him on Sunday.

The Birds also have a third Monday game on their schedule, but it won’t be on ESPN. The Eagles will take on the Giants as part of an NFL triple-header on Christmas Day, but that game will air on Fox.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream tonight’s Eagles game on Monday Night Football:

Tonight’s Monday Night Football game between the Eagles and the Buccaneers is scheduled to kick off at 7:15 p.m. on ABC.

Back in the booth for their second season at ESPN (and their 22nd together calling NFL games) are Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, along with King of Prussia native Lisa Salters reporting from the sidelines at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

Over on ESPN, Rams-Bengals is scheduled to kick off at 8:15 p.m. Eastern. That game will be called by ESPN’s No. 2 team, featuring longtime college football announcer Chris Fowler and analysts Dan Orlovsky and Louis Riddick, a former Eagles executive. Laura Rutledge will report from Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.

Eagles-Buccaneers will also air on the radio on 94.1 WIP, where fans can listen to the familiar voices of Merrill Reese and former Eagles receiver Mike Quick. WIP host Howard Eskin will handle sideline reporting duties.

Eagles-Buccaneers will stream on ESPN+, the network’s subscription service.

The game also will stream on any so-called skinny bundle that carries ABC, including fuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and DirecTV Stream. Most offer a free trial.

You can also stream Monday Night Football on NFL+, the leagues subscription streaming service, which runs $6.99 a month.

If you’re looking to stream the game for free and you live in or around Philadelphia, your best option is using a digital antenna, since the game will air on broadcast television on 6abc.

Peyton and Eli Manning’s alternative Monday Night Football telecast, dubbed the “Manningcast,” is back on ESPN2 this season for the third straight year. But Eagles fans won’t see the brothers talking about the Birds tonight.

Because there are two overlapping games airing tonight on multiple networks, the network decided to skip the alternate broadcast to limit viewer confusion and maximize resources. The Manning brothers are scheduled to return in Week 4 on Oct. 2 when the Seattle Seahawks take on the New York Giants.

The Mannings do have at least one Eagles game on their schedule this season: The highly anticipated Super Bowl rematch between the Birds and the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11 on Nov. 20.

Here’s there “Manningcast” schedule this season:

The Eagles are scheduled to play twice this season on Monday Night Football, but there a chance the Birds could end up on ESPN a third time thanks to the NFL’s decision to expand flex scheduling.

The NFL will be able to flex games between Weeks 12 and 17 (there is no Monday Night Football game in Week 18). With games moving from Sundays to Mondays and vice versa, the NFL must notify teams no later than 12 days in advance of the game.

As with Sunday Night Football, the NFL only plans to flex out of a Thursday Night Football game if it ends up being a real dud. So far, the Week 12 matchup between the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings (a combined 0-6 to start the season) is looking like a potential flex candidate.

Staff writers Jeff McLane, EJ Smith, Josh Tolentino, and Olivia Reiner will be covering the action live on Gameday Central. Notes and observations about the game will be at Inquirer.com/Eagles. Don’t forget to subscribe to our free Sports Daily newsletter.

» READ MORE: Live coverage: Eagles vs. Buccaneers