Buck, Aikman, Salters and Rutledge call the game on ESPN and ABC
\nMonday Night Football with Peyton and Eli welcome guests J.J. Watt and Ben Roethlisberger
\nMNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats available for avid fans
\nMonday Night Countdown, NFL Live and SportsCenter with SVP on-site; First Take live from downtown Pittsburgh
\nPostseason NFL Countdown and NFL Primetime on Saturday and Sunday
\nNotable coverage found across ESPN digital platforms<\/p>\n
ESPN will cap off the NFL\u2019s Wild Card Weekend for the fifth consecutive year with its Monday night presentation, this season featuring the AFC\u2019s fifth-seed Houston Texans and the four-seed and AFC North Champion Pittsburgh Steelers (Jan. 12, 8 p.m. ET). Joe Buck,\u00a0Troy Aikman,\u00a0Lisa Salters\u00a0and\u00a0Laura Rutledge\u00a0will have the call on ESPN and ABC, with Peyton and Eli Manning on ESPN2, MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats on the ESPN app and Spanish-language on ESPN Deportes. Each of those presentations will be available on mobile on NFL+.<\/p>\n
Complementing and enhancing ESPN\u2019s Monday night Wild Card finale, six hours of ESPN\u2019s premier studio shows will precede Texans-Steelers from Pittsburgh. NFL Live\u00a0(3-5 p.m.) and Monday Night Countdown\u00a0(6-8 p.m.) will be from inside Acrisure Stadium and First Take (10 a.m.-Noon) earlier in the day, live from Shorty\u2019s GoodTimes Bar<\/a> in downtown Pittsburgh. After the final whistle, SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt (Approx. 11:30 p.m.) will end the night in the Steel City.<\/p>\n Rutledge, Ryan Clark, Mina Kimes, Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears\u00a0and Peter Schrager will be on NFL Live, followed by Scott Van Pelt, Clark, Jason Kelce, Spears, Schefter, Michelle Beisner-Buck\u00a0\u2013 who sits down with Texans defensive stars Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr.\u00a0\u2013 and Stephen A. Smith (for multiple segments) on Monday Night Countdown, leading into the game. Earlier in the day, Smith and host Shae Cornette will be joined by Clark and Cam Newton\u00a0on First Take.<\/p>\n Postgame, SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt\u00a0will feature an interview with a winning player alongside Van Pelt and Clark. \u2018Stanford Steve\u2019 Coughlin will join SVP in the latter portion of the show.<\/p>\n On Monday Night Football with\u00a0Peyton\u00a0and Eli, the legendary quarterbacks will be joined by former Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and, for the first time, former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.<\/p>\n In addition to the shows originating from Pittsburgh, ESPN will extensively cover the matchup, as well as the entirety of Wild Card Weekend across its studio shows, beginning with SportsCenter\u00a0(7 a.m.). Get Up\u00a0(8-10 a.m.)\u00a0and The\u00a0Pat McAfee Show\u00a0(12-2 p.m.)\u00a0will surround First Take, before Christine Williamson co-hosts SportsCenter from Acrisure Stadium, first for the 2 p.m. and then the 5 p.m. edition.<\/p>\n ESPN will have extensive Wild Card Weekend coverage on Saturday and Sunday with Postseason NFL Countdown, NFL Primetime, NFL Matchup and multiple additional episodes of SportsCenter. <\/p>\n Following this week\u2019s Wild Card showdown, and for the third year in a row, ESPN will air a Divisional playoff game on either January 17 or 18 across ESPN, ABC, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN app, and on mobile with NFL+. ESPN\u2019s Divisional programming will be announced next week.<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Wild Card presentation follows the second-most-watched season of\u00a0Monday Night Football\u00a0since the network acquired the franchise in 2006.<\/p>\n Buck and Aikman add to historic playoff portfolio; Salters, Rutledge add to individual playoff resumes Texans-Steelers adds to Buck, Aikman, Salters and Rutledge\u2019s extensive individual \u2013 and pair \u2013 NFL postseason resume. In total, Buck and Aikman have called over 60 playoff games and six Super Bowls, the second-most of any broadcast pairing in NFL history. Salters (Steelers) works her 14th NFL postseason game and Rutledge (Texans) records her sixth. Officiating analyst Russell Yurk will join Buck and Aikman in the broadcast booth for his third playoff game.<\/p>\n