St. Louis hosts both the World Series on FOX and Monday Night Football on ESPN tonight, promising a massive influx of sports fans in the city. Yet tonight’s MNF showdown promises to be as compelling as Game 5, as the 6-1 Seahawks bring the one of the NFL’s top-rated defenses and best offenses to the Edward Jones Dome to take on the St. Louis Rams. Kickoff is slated for 8:40 EST / 5:40 PST on ESPN, or if you’re not near an HDTV you can watch Monday Night Football online free using one of several different methods.
Although the Seattle Seahawks lead the St. Louis Rams in most major statistical categories, tonight’s MNF game should still be a duel. On the quarterback side, much has been made this season of the poise, leadership and results of Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, whose gone 115-187 for 1,489 yards and 11 touchdowns. Those are good numbers to be sure, good enough for the second-year quarterback to be listed 13th in ESPN’s QBR rankings. Yet they’re not as solid as the less-publicized but stalwart St. Louis Rams QB Sam Bradford.
Unfortunately for St. Louis, the Rams have lost Bradford for the season to injury. Replacing Bradford for tonight’s MNF matchup will be QB Kellen Clemens, who’s making his first start at quarterback since 2011 and only his fifth start in the last six years. With a second-string quarterback at the helm and center Scott Wells questionable after being added to the injury report with a thigh injury, the Rams have become 11-point underdogs to the Seahawks.
One thing to keep an eye on when you watch Monday Night Football online free using the links above or below will be how the second-ranked Seattle Seahawks defense impacts Clemens’ already-frayed nerves. The Seahawks are allowing 190 yards passing per game entering NFL Week 8 tonight, and just 91 yards on the ground. With the St. Louis Rams having no rushing game to speak of — averaging just 70.6 yards per game — the Seahawks defense will be able to take some blitzing risks and put additional pressure on Clemens. As if he needed it. The Rams have the league’s 28th-ranked rushing game and 30th-ranked overall offense, so success was going to hinge on QB performance to begin with.
History is also on the Seahawks’ side tonight. Since Pete Carroll became head coach in 2010, the Seahawks are 7-1 in night games. And so far this season, Seattle is 3-1 on the road, with the only loss coming in a fourth-quarter comeback at Indianapolis by the Colts. The Seahawks are also masters of Monday Night: they have an NFL-best .692 winning percentage for MNF, an overall Monday Night record of 18-8, and they’ve won six consecutive Monday night games.
So yeah, if you want to watch a mercy killing, there’s this non-baseball game in St. Louis tonight that you might want to tune into. You can watch Monday Night Football online free on DirecTV’s website if you have the NFL Sunday Ticket Package. The package requires a subscription, but anyone who has one can watch the live streaming version for free. You should also be able to watch MNF live tonight on the Watch ESPN app on Xbox 360. St. Louis will be hopping tonight, and although it may not be because the 6-1 Seahawks are in town, there are plenty of factors that should make tonight’s MNF game entertaining. Kickoff for Monday Night Football on ESPN is scheduled for 8:40 EST / 5:40 PST.
