"The Big Game" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 105th overall. It was aired on December 4, 2013. The episode was written by Megan Ganz and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller.

Cam (Eric Stonestreet) is under pressure because he wants to become the freshman coach with the most wins in the school's history and he wants everybody to come to the football game that will give him that record. Cam asks Luke (Nolan Gould) to be the broadcaster of the game, since Reuben is sick. Just before the game starts, Cam and his players learn that the coach of the opponent team has died and they are going to play in his memory. Even that does not make Cam change his mind and he wants to win the game no matter what.

Phil (Ty Burrell) notices his children suffer from lack of optimism and decides to teach them a lesson of how being optimistic leads things to a positive direction. However, it is near the end of the month and for the first time he did not manage to sell a single house. He has an important appointment with a client to show one but when he gets there, he locks himself outside. He tries to get in the house through the window and when he does he goes out to take his things and he manages to lock himself out again. He gets ready just in time when his clients arrive just to learn that they do not want to buy the house anymore. Phil arrives at school's football game upset that his last attempt of selling a house did not go as he hoped.

At the football game, Haley (Sarah Hyland) meets Dylan (Reid Ewing) who is also there. Dylan asks her to go to the movies but because of an exam, Haley can not accept his invitation and Dylan can not go to the earlier view because he has to meet his classmates from nursing school. Later on, Haley wanting to help Alex (Ariel Winter) who is being ignored by her classmates like and they treat her like she does not exist, she changes the sign that Dylan carved for her from "Haley Dunphy Do Me" to "Alex Dunphy Do Me".

Jay (Ed O'Neill) drives Claire (Julie Bowen) to work but her strange behavior makes him curious. Claire continues to avoid him all day (and the past days) or ask for his help at work only to find out that the reason she acts like that is because she wants her co-workers to see her as equal and not as the boss' daughter. Claire does not even ask for Jay's help when she ends up locked in a closet, something that Jay sees from the security camera while Claire tells him that everything is fine.

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