Love 'em or hate 'em, the Dallas Cowboys are the most-watched team in the NFL. And that's not speculation; that's just a straight-up fact.
While supporters of America's Team always tune in, one has to think that many of the millions upon millions of football fans who watch the Cowboys every week do so to see them lose, much like it goes for the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA, or Jake Paul in boxing, for that matter.
Now, part of the reason the Cowboys have as many viewers as they do is that they're given so many great spots on the schedule on an annual basis. Look no further than the fact that when the 2024 schedule was released, Dallas had six prime-time games on the docket, tied for the most in the league.
But even when they're not the standalone game on Thursday, Sunday, or Monday nights, the Cowboys are often given a strong slot on Sunday afternoons, mostly on FOX but also on CBS on occasion.
That said, however, with how disappointing Dallas has been this season, falling to 3-7 this past Monday in an embarrassing loss to the Houston Texans, it seems that at least FOX is finally admitting that the Cowboys aren't worth their top broadcasting team of Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi any longer.
For just the second time this season — yes, just the second time in 11 games — the Cowboys will not have a network's top team calling their game when they face the Washington Commanders this Sunday afternoon.
The Cowboys have had a network's top broadcast team in nine of their first 10 games
Okay, so we're fully aware that this little nugget of information doesn't mean a thing in the grand scheme of this 2024 NFL season. But just jump on social media every Sunday and see how many people complain about the Cowboys being shoved down their throats.
Most obviously still watch, but you get what we're saying.
Tom Brady had to be sick of Dallas early in the year, as he and Burkhardt were on the call for each of the Cowboys' first three games.
Weeks 4 and 5 were a given for the No. 1 broadcast team, as Dallas was on Thursday Night Football on Prime against the Giants and Sunday Night Football on NBC against the Steelers, winning both.
Brady and Burkhardt were back for Week 6 to call that shameful 47-9 loss to the Lions. And coming out of the bye, Week 8 was another prime-time game with Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth calling their defeat at the hands of the 49ers on SNF.
It wasn't until Week 9 that the Cowboys didn't have a top unit, as Adam Amin and Greg Olsen were on the call for their loss to the Falcons. But they did get Jim Nantz and Tony Romo on CBS in Week 10 against the Eagles and Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on Monday Night Football this past week.
Brady and Burkhardt get another break from Dallas this week, as they'll be in Lambeau Field to call the Packers-49ers game. Fox will instead send Joe Davis and Greg Olsen to Northwest Stadium for Cowboys-Commanders.
But with FOX airing the Cowboys' Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Giants, one would think Brady and Burkhardt will be on the call. And Dallas is back on an island in Week 14 with a Monday-nighter against the Cincinnati Bengals, which the NFL would likely flex out if they could. But due to the most ridiculous reason ever, that literally can't happen.
The Cowboys-Panthers matchup in Week 15 likely won't get a top team, but Dallas is currently set for another SNF game in Week 16 against the Buccaneers and is scheduled for another late-afternoon start against the Eagles in Week 17.
The second Cowboys-Commanders matchup in Week 18 is up in the air as the league waits to see which games actually mean something, so that's a wait-and-see kind of a thing.