Why is the Vikings game on so late Monday night? Because they've figured out you're going to watch it anyway.
Maybe not you personally, but 10 million or so of your closest friends will, if ratings history is any barometer.
The game, which kicks off at 9:20 p.m. CDT on ESPN and WCCO-TV locally, will almost certainly come in as the most-watched or second-most-watched cable program this week, depending on how the network's earlier Monday night game (Eagles-Falcons) fares.
Since the advent of the Monday night doubleheader in Week 1 nine years ago, the late game -- vexing as it may be for the bedtimes of half the country -- has drawn an average of about 10.