NFL: Dallas Cowboys removed from Sunday Night Football for first time ever
The Dallas Cowboys played in their fourth primetime game of the 2020 season on Tuesday. The 34-17 defeat at the hands of the COVID-ravaged Baltimore Ravens was the Cowboys' fourth primetime loss this year as well.
Thankfully for Cowboys fans, it will likely be the last time they have to see their team lose in the spotlight this regular season.
On Wednesday, the National Football League announced that the Cowboys' Week 15 "Sunday Night Football" matchup against the San Francisco 49ers -- scheduled to be Dallas' fifth primetime game of the season -- was being flexed out. Instead of Cowboys/49ers, the "Sunday Night Football" game will be Cleveland at the New York Giants, a matchup between two teams with better chances at making the playoffs than the Cowboys or 49ers.
Late in the season, the NFL and its TV partners have the option to flex out certain national-TV games for more intriguing matchups as the playoff picture begins to take shape.
It will be the first time in NFL history that "America's Team" will be removed from "Sunday Night Football," according to Pro Football Talk, and members of the Cowboys organization are not happy.
“Number one, I think it’s a reflection of where we are right now as a football team,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said Wednesday. “I mean, these are the types of things that I guess happen when you’re not successful. We’re disappointed, make no bones about it.”
In McCarthy's first year as coach, the Cowboys have battled injuries and disappointed fans expecting an NFC East title. They sit at 3-9 (though only two wins out of their division lead) and an upset win over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11 is Dallas' only win in their last seven games.
Browns replace Cowboys in primetime
Perhaps even tougher for the Cowboys organization is that their primetime slot is being filled by a divisional rival, the New York Giants, facing off against one of the longest struggling franchises in recent NFL history, the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns have not played past the regular season since 2002. This year, however, they have secured their first winning season since 2007, sitting at 9-3, and seem poised to return to the postseason.
Led by a dominant run game and defense, quarterback Baker Mayfield will look to all but clinch a Browns' playoff appearance with a win over the Giants on Week 15's "Sunday Night Football."