If you were asking yourself why the NFL didn’t flex the Dallas Cowboys out of Sunday Night Football, you might want to ask yourself that again.
For better or worse, ‘America’s Team’ gets ratings — and Cris Collinsworth wasn’t kidding when he said NBC would air 17 Dallas Cowboys games if it could. The network already does the same for Notre Dame, so ask Cam Newton who the NFL version of the Fighting Irish is.
That said, it was reasonable to assume that perhaps the league would look to flex Week 16’s matchup between the Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from primetime. Granted, the Cowboys are ratings darlings, but only one team in question has a legitimate shot at the playoffs — and it’s not Jerry Jones’ team.
Dallas isn’t out of playoff contention just yet, but it needs a lot of help getting there.
Before Dan Patrick could ask Collinsworth about the Cowboys remaining in the 8:20 p.m. ET slot this weekend, he mentioned that Dallas was still a big ratings draw.
“Let’s hope,” the ex-Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver quipped.
Is that why you don’t flex that game?
“I think it had a little more to do with Tampa in this circumstance,” Collinsworth explained during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show. “And believe me, do you know how involved I am in which games we get on Sunday? Goose egg. They give me the same call they give everybody else. It’s all sort of driven by the ratings, but ultimately, it’s driven by the league. And I think sometimes — and I’m just making stuff up — but I do think there are teams that they want to get in front of a national audience before they get to the playoffs, right?
“Like Denver; let’s put them somewhere that people are going to see them (Thursday Night Football) because that was a surprise team. I don’t think you call Tampa a surprise team because they made it to the playoffs a season ago, but maybe not all the national exposure, so let’s get them out front and center, you know? Baker Mayfield’s the Player of the Week; Mike Evans had a tremendous game a week ago.
“Let’s get an audience used to that, so when we get to those playoff ratings, people know what to expect.”
And hopefully, viewers will know what to expect the next time a team two games under .500 is featured in primetime. For the sake of Collinsworth, Mike Tirico and NBC, let’s hope the game doesn’t turn out like the last time the Cowboys were on SNF, even if it was a ratings success.
[The Dan Patrick Show]
