Monday Night Football Schedule 2013: Breaking Down Top Remaining Games on Slate

While not every Monday Night Football game can be a great one, fans should truly be excited for some competitive prime-time games in the second half of the season.

It is always tough to predict the good matchups before the year starts. Organizers assumed the battle between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings would be a good one, but that was not the case in the Week 7 contest. 

Amazingly, there could still be a new low when the Miami Dolphins take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10. 

Fortunately, there are also a few matchups that could be considered the best of the week and some of the best all season. Here is a list of every MNF game for the rest of the year, with an extra look at the ones we are most excited to watch. 

All games can be seen on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Week	Date	Away	Home
9	Nov. 4	Chicago Bears	Green Bay Packers
10	Nov. 11	Miami Dolphins	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
11	Nov. 18	New England Patriots	Carolina Panthers
12	Nov. 25	San Francisco 49ers	Washington Redskins
13	Dec. 2	New Orleans Saints	Seattle Seahawks
14	Dec. 9	Dallas Cowboys	Chicago Bears
15	Dec. 16	Baltimore Ravens	Detroit Lions
16	Dec. 23	Atlanta Falcons	San Francisco 49ers

No. 11 New England Patriots at Carolina Panthers

Although Tom Brady has not looked like himself this season, he is still doing enough to win games as the Patriots sit on top of the AFC East.

Interestingly, it is the defense that has excelled this year, especially against the pass. The secondary has performed well and is now carrying the once-dominant offense.

Of course, the Panthers have been even more impressive on that side of the ball. Their defense has a dominant front seven that can both stop the run and get to the quarterback, which should give Brady trouble throughout the game.

Still, it might be hard to bet against Bill Belichick when he gets a bye week to prepare. 

All of these factors, plus the exciting play of Cam Newton, combine to make an excellent matchup between two good teams.

Week 13: New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks

Not only is this the best game on the Monday night schedule, but this might be the best battle we see throughout the regular season.

These two squads have been dominant this season in virtually every phase of the game. Both teams rank among the best in the league in both scoring offense and defense, and they are constantly improving in each. 

While the Saints use a pass-heavy offense to move the football behind Drew Brees, the Seahawks prefer to run the ball with Marshawn Lynch. Still, both strategies seem to work with both Seattle and New Orleans in first place in their divisions.

The difference in this game could be the location, as the Seahawks have been nearly flawless at CenturyLink Field over the past few years. Still, the Saints have enough experience to make this a competitive battle in what could be a preview of the NFC Championship Game.

Week 15: Baltimore Ravens at Detroit Lions

While this game might not be a Super Bowl preview, this could be one of the more important battles by this point in the year.

After a terrible start to the season, the Ravens remain in contention for a playoff spot and will likely be fighting for one of the last ones available with a few weeks left. The Lions could be in the same scenario after going 5-3 in the first half of the year.

Although it might be difficult for either side to earn a division title, the wild-card spots are certainly there for the taking.

With these two teams playing in a prime-time game, fans around the league will be tuned in to hope for a positive result one way or another. It will then be up to Joe Flacco or Matt Stafford to avoid mistakes and lead their team to victory.

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