Jerry Jones may not have to wear his sunglasses at night, on multiple nights throughout the rest of the season.
As noted by Eric Fisher of FrontOfficeSports.com, two or three big-platform Cowboys games are in danger of being relegated to better teams.
There is a December 9 Monday night game against the Bengals and a December 22 Sunday night game against the Buccaneers that could be replaced with something more compelling. Additionally, the Week 17 rematch with the Eagles is currently scheduled for 4:25 PM ET, the prime Sunday window in the late afternoon. The Fox game could be flipped with Packers-Vikings, which is currently set for 1:00 PM ET that day.
The Cincinnati game probably won’t move, for two reasons. First, the Bengals (unlike the Cowboys) will still be postseason contenders. Second, ESPN is already preparing for an alternate broadcast with the Simpsons; Presumably the technological wheels are already in motion – and probably can’t be reconfigured for different teams just four weeks out from the game’s date.
Whatever happens with those games, everyone will be stuck with Giants-Cowboys in the middle window of the traditional Thanksgiving tripleheader. (There’s no flex option for Thanksgiving yet, even though there probably should be.)
In 2020, a Cowboys-49ers game was postponed on Sunday night due to the infighting of both teams. Hall of Fame recipient Michael Irvin called it a “new low” for the franchise. The night game was taken as a given that former Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith didn’t know the time had changed until a few days before kickoff.
At this point everyone knows the Cowboys are done. Dak Prescott is reportedly done for the season and the Cowboys have done terribly at home. While many people may tune in to enjoy the Cowboys’ continued implosion, the NFL has traditionally not been interested in the gloating demographic.
Whatever the case with the Cowboys, most of America will happily lose the privilege of watching America’s Team by the time December rolls around.
