AB's Raiders, Flacco's Broncos help kick off MNF

The 50th season of Monday Night Football will kick off with a Sept. 9 doubleheader that opens with a pair of 2018 division winners and then showcases new faces in new places.

The New Orleans Saints will host the Houston Texans in the first game (7 p.m. ET), a matchup of the defending NFC South and AFC South champions.

The Oakland Raiders will host the Denver Broncos in the regular-season debut of new Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco and new Raiders Antonio Brown and Vontaze Burfict in the second game (10:15 p.m. ET).

Among the other notable games:

• In Week 2, the upstart Cleveland Browns will make the first of four prime-time appearances, on the road at the New York Jets in a rematch of the first-ever Monday Night Football game on Sept. 21, 1970. The game also will mark the return of Browns receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to MetLife Stadium, where he played five seasons for the New York Giants. The Browns last won on MNF in Week 11 of the 2008 season, a 29-27 victory over the Buffalo Bills.



• In Week 11, the Kansas City Chiefs will make another attempt to play in Mexico City. Their matchup there against the Los Angeles Rams in 2018 was rescheduled because of poor field conditions at the city's Stadium Azteca. But the NFL has agreed to try again, and the Chiefs will take on the Los Angeles Chargers.


• In Week 12, Monday Night Football will return to the scene of the wildest game of the 2018 season. A year after the Rams defeated the Chiefs 54-51, the game rescheduled from Mexico City, the Rams will host the 2018 AFC North champion Baltimore Ravens.

All 12 playoff teams from 2018 will make at least one appearance on Monday Night Football in 2019.