In 1987, the NFL began regularly scheduling games for Sunday nights to be aired on ESPN during the second half (Weeks 10–18) of the season.
The December 18 game between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams featured the Rams clinching the final NFC wild card, eliminating the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints from playoff contention.
KHOU (Houston) The January 2 game between the Houston Oilers and New York Jets is best remembered for an incident near halftime when Oilers defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan punched offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.
WJLA-TV (Washington D.C.) This was the first season that ESPN aired the entire Sunday Night Football game schedule.
The December 14 game between the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints is remembered for an incident where, after scoring a touchdown, Saints wide receiver Joe Horn grabbed a cell phone hidden under the goalpost padding and pretended to make a phone call as a touchdown celebration.