Not ready for prime time: Why NFL's potential Cowboys flex is so significant

When the Dallas Cowboys finally lose their title as America's Bandwagon Team, there won't be an announcement … but there will be signs. Like, for instance, the fact that the Cowboys could very well get flexed out of some prime broadcast windows.

Yes, out. The team you couldn't escape in prime time is close to becoming the team you can't find there. That's what losing your marquee quarterback, four straight games, six of nine on the season, and basically the last shreds of your dignity will do to you.

Here’s how it shakes out. Of its remaining eight games, Dallas has five in what would be considered choice broadcasting slots:

Monday, Sept. 18 vs. Houston

Thanksgiving vs. the Giants

Monday, Dec. 9 vs. Cincinnati

Sunday night, Dec. 22 vs. Tampa Bay

Sunday afternoon, Dec. 29 at Philadelphia

Sunday, Jan. 5 vs. Washington, time TBD

That's the kind of schedule you're gifted when you're a legacy bandwagon brand, even if you haven't won a Super Bowl this millennium. Multiple prime-time games, all at home, showing Dallas and only Dallas, with no competition? What a wonderful present for the Cowboys and Jerry Jones' ego!

The NFL does love taking care of its own, but at some point, enough is enough. This Cowboys team is beyond wretched; they haven’t won a game at home yet this year, and they’ve gotten their blue stars blown right off their helmets in three of their four losses. In terms of expectation versus performance, this might be the worst Cowboys team in the post-Aikman/Smith/Irvin era.

So, with all due respect to the millions of fans who hang their Cowboys jerseys alongside their Lakers and Yankees gear, there’s a very good chance that the NFL will banish Dallas to the ranks of 1 p.m. Eastern games along with the rest of the peasant franchises.

It’s too late to flex out of the Houston game, and there’s nowhere to flex the Thanksgiving one. (Use that time to talk to your non-football-loving family members.) The Cincinnati game is the focus of a Simpsons collaboration, so chances are that will remain in place because of specifically created content (and because the Bengals, unlike the Cowboys, will likely still be in playoff contention).

That leaves the Week 16 Tampa Bay and Week 17 Philadelphia games. There’s a tasty Eagles-Commanders matchup in Week 16 just sitting out there waiting at 1 p.m. to replace that Tampa Bay Sunday night game. Week 17 has a whole lot of “TBD” on the schedule, but a presumably meaningful Packers-Vikings matchup at 1 p.m. seems a much better fit for a marquee slot like Sunday afternoon than Eagles-Cowboys.

In the NFL's grand scheme, this is merely an embarrassment for Jones. Last year, by one metric, the jerseys of Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb were among the most popular in the NFL. Lamb's jersey is one of the best sellers of this season to date. Don't underestimate the value of embarrassing Jones, but don't think that it's going to damage the overall brand in any way, either.

The Cowboys will remain one of the world’s most popular sports brands; that’s part of the genius of the juggernaut that Jones has built. The brand is virtually invulnerable to the team’s performance. In that way, the Dallas Cowboys — trading on the past, riding an image built long ago, not breaking any new ground any longer — are a whole lot closer to the Rolling Stones than the Philadelphia Eagles.

As long as there’s an NFL, there will be the Dallas Cowboys. The color scheme, the attitude, the history—that’s all bedrock-foundation football. And for fans in need of a more winning bandwagon … hey, there’s always the Chiefs.