ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown Preview for Week 8

Let’s provide the ESPN previews for both Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Football in one post. I can do that because it’s my blog. Here’s what you’ll see on Sunday.

Sunday NFL Countdown: Brett Favre, LaDainian Tomlinson and Paranormal Ditka

Chris Berman, Mike Ditka, Cris Carter, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson and NFL Insiders Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter will preview the day’s NFL matchups Sunday, Oct. 31, at 11 a.m.  Highlights:

• Brett Favre: Meaning of the Streak – Tom Jackson visits with former players and Favre’s former teammates to reveal whether the Viking quarterback, with two fractures in his left ankle, will end his streak of starting in 291 consecutive regular-season games.
• LaDainian Tomlinson – During the off-season, LaDainian Tomlinson was released by the Chargers and signed with the Jets. A day before his first game, Tomlinson shared what has become a yearly tradition for him with his new teammates — reading Vince Lombardi’s “What It Takes to Be #1” speech. Greg Garber reports.
• DJ Steve Porter Spins on Randy Moss – After going public with contract issues early in the season, Randy Moss was traded by the Patriots to the Vikings, his former team. As Moss returns to New England, DJ Steve Porter mixes some of the best sound bites by Moss.
• Paranormal Ditka on the 2-5 Chargers – Traditionally slow starters, San Diego Chargers won the AFC West title four straight seasons. But this season’s 2-5 team looks a bit haunted by the ghosts of LaDainian Tomlinson, their former star running back, and unsigned wide receiver Vincent Jackson, contends Countdown’s Mike Ditka as he goes through the skeletons in the 2010 Chargers’ closet.

And here’s what ESPN will do for Monday Night Football which features a matchup of AFC South Division rivals.

Monday Night Football: Matt Schaub and the Houston Texans Face Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts

Matt Schaub and the Houston Texans will face Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in an AFC South rivalry on ESPN’s Monday Night Football Nov.1 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN HD. Mike Tirico and analysts Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski will call the game, and Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber will provide updates on the teams throughout the day. 

Monday’s telecast will begin with a Frank Gifford vignette highlighting one of the greatest comeback wins in NFL history, as Manning rallied the Colts from a 21-point deficit in the final four minutes of regulation during a Monday Night Football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coached by Gruden in 2003. The Colts won in overtime 38-35. 

As part of ESPN’s on-site coverage, Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg of Mike and Mike in the Morning (ESPN Radio/ESPN2) will broadcast live Monday morning from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis from 6 – 10 a.m.  ESPN’s “game around the game” studio coverage will begin at noon on SportsCenter, followed by NFL Live (3:30 p.m.) and NFL PrimeTime (4 p.m.). The 90-minute Monday Night Countdown pregame will begin at 7 p.m. with host Chris Berman and analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, Chris Mortensen, and NFL Insider Adam Schefter. Stuart Scott and analysts Matt Millen and Steve Young will contribute from the stadium.

And we’re done.