ESPN to broadcast “Fail Mary” as part of Monday Night Football Classics series

The coronavirus pandemic has (among much more serious things) uprooted the sports calendar and thus networks like ESPN have had to adjust their programming accordingly.

ESPN has aired some classic Monday Night Football games over the past several weeks, and will continue to do so through June. Two Seattle Seahawks games are included, starting on May 4th at 5 PM PT with a little event called “Fail Mary.”

I’m sure Green Bay Packers fans are still mad about this game even now, and frankly I’m surprised this was even chosen for a re-broadcast because this was largely not a fun game to watch. The replacement referees were a mess (and got the real refs back into the league), the Seahawks offense led by rookie Russell Wilson was absolutely terrible outside of the first Golden Tate touchdown pass and the final drive, buuuuuuut we did get to see Aaron Rodgers sacked eight times. Bruce Irvin’s breakout moment was in primetime, and Chris Clemons was dominant too.

As for the ending, I still contend that if the roles were reversed we would be absolutely adamant that it was an interception and not a game-winning touchdown. However, as time has worn on, all the initial uneasiness about that win has been erased and now it’s just one of the many chapters of batshit insane endings to Seahawks games under Pete Carroll.

In other words, Golden Tate caught it.

June 1st (also at 5 PM PT) is the re-run of the Seahawks’ 27-24 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers, handing the Niners their first loss of the 2019 season.

Other games lined up are as follows:

May 11th: New England Patriots vs. Buffalo Bills - 2009 (Tom Brady’s first game back from an ACL tear)

May 18th: Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs - 2018 (Patrick Mahomes leads dramatic comeback)

May 25th: San Diego Chargers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers - 2015 (Chargers manage to lose on game’s final play on some wildcat garbage)