Monday Night Football makes its glorious return this evening as the Cincinnati Bengals’ high-powered offense faces the Washington Commanders, live from Landover, Maryland.

One player who has benefited from the development has been former Illinois running back Chase Brown. After taking over as Cincinnati's starter in Week 6 last season, Brown has sprinted forward without looking back. He got five carries on Monday and rushed for 22 yards – and even scored the first touchdown of the game.

The Bengals vs. Commanders game is tonight (Aug. 18), at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream Monday Night Football for free. One option we love is DIRECTV, which comes with five days free and starts at $49.99/month, with plenty of subscription options and genre packs that include ESPN.

Rich Eisen is returning to ESPN. Here's what to know about the popular anchor's return to the network, including The Rich Eisen Show, SportsCenter.

The 2025 regular season is officially just 17 days away, but there’s a lot of football that needs to be played before we get there. In the case of the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders, that means closing out the second week of the preseason with a victory.

Running back Brian Robinson might have played his last game for the Commanders. Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that Robinson will not play in Monday night’s preseason game against the Bengals. The news comes a day after a report that the Commanders are shopping Robinson in trade talks with other teams.

Bengals rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. has impressed at training camp and has another chance to flash on Monday night vs. the Commanders.

Rutledge and Salters, whose contract was extended, will work all 20 games with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in the booth — 17 “Monday Night Football” games, one of the games on ESPN’s Saturday Week 18 doubleheader, a wild-card game and a divisional round game.

Washington Commanders resume Week 2 of 2025 NFL preseason hosting the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football tonight. How to watch, stream and schedule.

Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson made the trip with the team for the game Monday night against the Commanders, but did not play.