Cardinals’ Most Unforgettable Monday Night Football Moments

In the 1960's NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle came up with the idea of playing a football game outside of the traditional Sunday periods to catch the eyes of more Americans during a prime TV viewing time slot.

A few experimental games were played in the late 60s before Rozelle struck a deal with a struggling ABC and sold the rights to what has now entered the American lexicon as Monday Night Football, one of the consistently highest rated programs on American television.

Since the Arizona Cardinals moved to the desert in the 1988 season, the team has participated in this American tradition a total of 18 times with the nineteenth coming up on Monday, November 3 in Dallas.

Interestingly enough, the Cowboys are tied with the San Francisco 49ers as the most frequent opponent in these games for Arizona with these two former division rivals matching up for the last game of the NFL week a total of seven times in 37 years.

Tomorrow night's game will see the Dallas Cowboys take the lead with 8 all-time Monday Night games against the Cardinals.

So in these past near four decades of Monday Night games for Arizona, some have certainly been more memorable than others.

Let's take a trip down memory lane and remember some of the best, maybe some of the worst, and the most infamous moments in Cardinals Monday Night history:

First Monday Night Football Game in Arizona

1988 - Cardinals vs Cowboys | L 17-14

Sep 1986; St. Louis, MO, USA; FILE PHOTO; St. Louis Cardinals head coach Gene Stallings on the sidelines during the 1986 season at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Herb Weitman-Imagn Images | Herb Weitman-Imagn Images

The Cardinals gifted Dallas one of their only three wins for the 1988 season in a Week 2 Monday Night game in Sun Devils Stadium.

At the end of the first half, Arizona was down 10-7 and had the chance to kick a 42 yard field goal to tie the game heading into the locker room. Instead, head coach Gene Stallings decided to try a trick play on the field goal attempt.

Kickers aren't usually known for their high level open-field athleticism and Cardinals' kicker Al Del Greco was certainly no exception. He made it about halfway to the end zone before being tackled.

Arizona went on to to lose that game by the margin of points lost on the ill-fated fake field goal attempt, three points.

Their Biggest Win

2020 - Cardinals at Cowboys | W 38-10

Oct 19, 2020; Arlington, Texas, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake (41) runs for a touchdown as wide receiver Andy Isabella (17) and Dallas Cowboys cornerback Anthony Brown (30) trails the play in the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-Imagn Images | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Fittingly enough, the Cardinals biggest Monday Night win in franchise history came just a few years ago when the team traveled to Dallas and delivered a nationally broadcast beatdown on the Cowboys.

This was the season that Dak Prescott severely injured his ankle early in the year so Arizona faced his backup that year, Andy Dalton, and took advantage in a major way.

In the leadup to this game much was made about Kyler Murray's undefeated record in AT&T Stadium as one of the most prolific quarterbacks in Texas high school football history and he continued his streak with this 28 point victory.

The Cardinals took advantage of two Ezekiel Elliot fumbles and Kenyan Drake had one of his best performances with the team putting up 164 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. The game had plenty of explosives like an 80 yard bomb to Christian Kirk and a 69 yard house call from Drake.

One to Forget

2022 - Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers | L 38-10

Cardinals Mexico Cit — Nov 21, 2022; Mexico City, MEXICO; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) react following the game at Estadio Azteca. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Flip the score from the team's biggest win and you get the Cardinals worst Monday Night loss in franchise history, a 28 point drubbing in Mexico City.

Arizona was 4-6 going into this game and had a fairly difficult road to hoe to get back to playoff contention, but the road was still available nonetheless.

The collapse of the 2022 season began with this game where the 49ers took advantage of the absence of Kyler Murray and came away with a convincing win on their way to an NFC Championship game appearance.

The most notable aspect of this outing, however, was probably the groping accusation against Cardinals' offensive line coach Sean Kugler which led to him being immediately fired by the team and sent home the morning before the game.

They Are Who We Thought They Were

2006 - Cardinals vs Bears | L 24-23

Denny Gree — Dec. 10, 2006; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green during the game against the Seattle Seahawks at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images © 2006 Mark J. Rebilas | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

"But they are who we thought they were! And we let them off the hook!" - Dennis Green

Very possibly the most infamous words in the history of the franchise, the post-game blowup of then head coach Dennis Green has gone down in NFL history.

The 2006 Bears came to Arizona undefeated and nearly universally feted by the national sports media, something that ate away at Green and the Cardinals who were coming into the game at 1-4 with a lot to prove.

The Cardinals held a comfortable 20 point lead at the half but allowed the Bears to storm back with 21 unanswered points in the last two quarters. Everything that couid go wrong, did.

Edjerrin James fumbled the ball and Bears cornerback Charles Tillman returned it for a touchdown. The legendary Devin Hester then returned a punt 83 yards to take a one point lead late in the fourth quarter.

Matt Leinart actually did an admirable job leading a drive into field goal range for a go ahead kick that would have given Arizona a two point victory, but kicker Neil Rackers missed the 40 yard attempt.

The post game press conference with Denny Green was explosive and riddled with profanities. A bit less than three months later he was fired and never worked in the NFL again.

And... The Most Impactful

2022 - Cardinals vs Patriots | L 27-13

Kyler Murray AC — Dec 12, 2022; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) is carted off after an injury against the New England Patriots during the first quarter at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Chow-Imagn Images | Michael Chow-Imagn Images

The outcome of this game is only notable in that it was part of the 7 game skid to end the 2022 season that led to the firing of Kliff Kingsbury.

The true impact of this game, the element that has been a part of the calculations of this front office and coaching staff ever since was the non-contact ACL tear that quarterback Kyler Murray suffered on the first drive.

That injury kept Murray out of the starting lineup until Week 10 of the 2023 season. By that time a new coaching staff was in place under Jonathan Gannon but the absence of their starting quarterback meant that there was not much chance of a successful start to the new regime.

In fact, they started 1-8 that year and won only three more games upon Murray's return.

When the injury occured, the Cardinals were notoriously low on talent across the roster and the absence of a dynamic quarterback created an excuse system for underperformance that got one coaching staff fired but possibly gave another staff a mulligan on their first season.

Whether from his own preferences or from coaching direction, Murray has never returned to the top tier of rushing quarterbacks in terms of production.

He can still scramble and evade with the best of them but he has never again approached the 819 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns he put up in 2020.

The fanbase has been split on Murray since he was drafted in 2019 but that divide has only grown since the ACL tear and now seems to be coming to a head in 2025 with what some are interpreting as a soft-benching after the announcement that backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett will get his third start in a row in tomorrow night's Monday Night bout in Dallas.