''NFL Matchup'' is a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(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 S ...

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 eithe ...

. 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 advertisement film, commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentary film, documentaries ...

. During the 2008–09 NFL season, it aired every Sunday during the season on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

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, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

(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 ...

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 ''Sunday NFL Countdown'' (branded as ''Sunday NFL Countdown presented by Snickers'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American pre-game show broadcast by ESPN as part of the network's coverage of the National Football League. The program is broadcas ...

'', ''

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 debuted ...

'', ''

Monday Night Countdown ''Monday Night Countdown'' (officially ''Monday Night Countdown presented by ESPN Bet'') is an American Pre-game show, pregame television program that is broadcast on ESPN, preceding its coverage of ''Monday Night Football''. For the network's non ...

'', ''

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 program ...

'', and ''

NFL Live ''NFL Live'' (stylized as ''NFL Live presented by FanDuel Sportsbook'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American National Football League (NFL) studio show, currently airing Monday through Friday at 4:00 p.m ET on sports cable channel ESPN, and ...

'', ''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'', "troop leadership; 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 " a ...

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. Early life Sabol was born i ...

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

Mark Malone Mark M. Malone (born November 22, 1958) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils football, A ...

, ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

'' anchor

Stuart Scott Stuart Orlando Scott (July 19, 1965 – January 4, 2015) was an American Sports commentator, sportscaster and anchor on ESPN, including on ''SportsCenter''. Known for his hip-hop style and use of catchphrases, Scott was also a regular for the ...

and finally,

sideline reporter

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

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

'' and ''

'' correspondent Sal Paolantonio has served as the host. Alongside him were

Ron Jaworski Ronald Vincent Jaworski (born March 23, 1951), nicknamed "Jaws", is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He played college football for the Youngstown State Pengui ...

and

Merril Hoge Merril DuAine Hoge (; born January 26, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears. He played college foot ...

. Jaworski, who also appeared on

's ''

'', joined

in 1990 after a 17-year career as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

, 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. 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 Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hear ...

''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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. 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; also standard definition or SD) is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. ''Standard'' refers to offering a similar resolution to the ...

for a short while after. With ''

Jim Rome is Burning James Phillip Rome (born October 14, 1964) is an American sports radio host. His talk show, '' The Jim Rome Show'', is syndicated by Westwood One. Broadcasting from a studio near Los Angeles, California, Rome hosts ''The Jim Rome Show'' on rad ...

'', 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 and Greg Cosell, the original co-creator of the show, were named the new co-hosts of the program. In 2018, Riddick was replaced by Matt Bowen.

Personalities

Current

* Sal Paolantonio: (Host, 2004–present) *

Darius Butler Darius Jermaine Butler (born March 18, 1986) is an American sports television personality and former professional American football, football player who was a Safety (gridiron football position), safety and cornerback for nine seasons in the Na ...

: (Analyst, 2022–present) * Greg Cosell: (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) * Matt Bowen: (Analyst, 2018–2021) *

: (Analyst, 1998–2016) *

: (Analyst, 1990–2016) *

: (Host, 1999–2003) *

: (Host, 1998) * Charles Mann: (Analyst) *

Chris Myers Chris Myers (born ) is an American sportscaster for FOX Sports. 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 l ...

(–1997) * Louis Riddick: (Analyst, 2017) *

: (Analyst, 1984–?) * John Saunders (Host, 1988) *

Charley Steiner Charles Harris Steiner (born July 17, 1949) is an American sportscaster and broadcast journalist. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers, paired with Rick Monday. Early life and education Steiner was bor ...

(Host, 1989–1992) *

: (Analyst, 1984–1992) *

: (Host, –1998) *

Phil Simms Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the New York Giants. After playing college football for the Morehead Sta ...

: (Analyst)

References

External links

IGN: EA Sports NFL Matchup
{{National Football League on television and radio ESPN original programming 1993 American television series debuts 1990s American sports television series 2000s American sports television series 2010s American sports television series Matchup Matchup

Format

History

Personalities

Current

Former

See also

References

External links