Cowboys-Saints matchup provides historic spike in ratings
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) throws a pass in the first quarter against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night.
The longest winning streak in the NFL came to an end Thursday night. And a lot of people witnessed it.
The Dallas Cowboys shut down Drew Brees and the high-powered New Orleans' offense in a 13-10 victory, ending the Saints' run of 10 straight victories and handing them their first loss since Week 1.
It was the fourth consecutive win for Dallas (7-5) and proved, at least for one night, that they truly are America's Team -- with an assist from New Orleans.
The marquee matchup drew an overnight rating of 14.6, according to Sports Business Journal. That marked the highest overnight rating for a Thursday game in league history.
It continued a trend of increased viewership on Thursday. One week ago, all three Thanksgiving Day games had higher ratings than a year ago, including a 28 percent bump from the prime-time matchup between the Saints and Atlanta Falcons.
Dallas' late afternoon matchup against the rival Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving also saw an uptick of 16 percent from a year ago.
Thursday's game was helped by the national visibility of both franchises as well as the postseason ramifications involved.
New Orleans (10-2) had a chance to clinch the NFC South title with a win and held the inside track on the top overall seed and home-field advantage in the playoffs before the loss.
The Cowboys (7-5) continued their late-season surge and are assured of being in at least a tie for first place in the NFC East by the end of this weekend's games.
Television ratings have been a source of concern for both the NFL and the major networks. In January, ESPN reported that ratings for NFL games dropped nearly 10 percent during the 2017 regular season, based on Nielsen findings.
An NFL game was watched by an average of 14.9 million people last season, compared with 16.5 million in 2016. That represented a drop of 1.6 million viewers, a 9.7 percent reduction.
That number continued an ongoing decline in NFL viewership. An NFL game was watched by an average of 17.9 million people in 2015, and viewership dropped 1.4 million, or 8 percent, in 2016.
Recent Stories
Rams hard at work despite earning bye
The Los Angeles Rams will continue to stay hard at work despite earning a bye through the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs.
Players will continue to visit the ...
Packers' lost season includes losing Rodgers to concussion
Green Bay's 6-9-1 season ended with Aaron Rodgers getting knocked out of Sunday's 31-0 loss to the Detroit Lions with a concussion. That was dubious and fitting ...
49ers will retain defensive coordinator Saleh
The San Francisco 49ers gave up a lot of points and did not force many turnovers, but Robert Saleh will return for his third season as the 49ers' defensive coordinator, ...
GM Licht says Winston is Bucs' quarterback
Dirk Koetter was fired as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach on Sunday, but his quarterback will be staying.
General manager Jason Licht, who will lead the search ...
Chargers get another chance against Ravens
The Los Angeles Chargers didn't have to wait long for a chance to avenge their Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Los Angeles was shut down by Baltimore's stout ...
Latest Player Notes
How a Wisconsin legend got his German protégé into Badgers pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Marlon Werthmann put his life on hold for the opportunity in front of him Friday at the McClain Center.Werthmann ...
Why former Wisconsin football running back Braelon Allen didn't run the 40 at pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Braelon Allen’s sweat covered his shirt and dripped off his beard as he approached a group of reporters Friday.The ...
How can UW recruit its best class ever? It starts with these five prospects
By Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Jedd Fisch has lofty recruiting goals at Washington. He didn’t waste any ...
Texas football kicks off spring practice Tuesday. We answer 24 questions for the 2024 team
Things certainly look fresh for the 2024 college football season, especially on the Texas campus.There’s a new conference ...
College Football Playoff: Conferences solve their differences (for now) and agree on general framework for 2026 and beyond
The FBS conferences and Notre Dame agreed on Friday to continue the College Football Playoff beyond the 2025 season, signing ...
Ball security, leadership key as Aztecs look to identify starting quarterback
San Diego State seemingly auditions a new starting quarterback on an annual basis.In the past 12 years, the Aztecs have opened ...
Results and more: A look at what happened at Penn State football’s Pro Day inside Holuba Hall
Most of those at Penn State’s Pro Day Friday were relatively quiet throughout the afternoon’s workouts, but there was one ...
Defense dominates first two weeks of Oregon State spring practice as Beavers ready for 2-week breather
CORVALLIS – Oregon State hit the break of spring practices Saturday, not exactly the midpoint but a good place to assess ...
Dillon Gabriel to have similar input, autonomy as Bo Nix had in Oregon’s offense
Published Mar. 16, 2024, 6:26 p.m.By James CrepeaEUGENE — Dillon Gabriel will have much of the same autonomy as Bo Nix did ...
Two transfers, one underclassman who impressed in Missouri football's spring game
With that, spring camp’s a wrap.Missouri football held its Black & Gold spring game Saturday in front of a healthy crowd ...