At a time when virtually nothing else on American television can draw 25 million viewers, the NFL had two different games top the 25 million viewer mark on Sunday.
Fox announced that its afternoon game between the Cowboys and Bears reached 25.5 million viewers, while NBC announced that its Sunday Night Football game between the Chiefs and Giants reached 25.3 million viewers.
The 25 million viewer mark is something that non-football programming simply can’t deliver: The most recent World Series, NBA Finals, and Academy Awards, to name a few of the other major events on American television, all delivered less than 20 million viewers.
Those audience numbers help explain why NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is eager to renegotiate the league’s TV rights deals. There’s nothing more lucrative on American television than the NFL, and Goodell knows the league has leverage in negotiations with the TV partners who are eager to keep the NFL for the foreseeable future.
The NFL has the ability to opt out of its Sunday and Thursday TV deals after the 2029 season and out of its Monday Night Football deal after 2030, but the league may try to secure new deals earlier than that, knowing that its TV partners want to hold onto the huge viewership numbers that the NFL delivers.
Micah Parsons is back on the Packers’ injury report with his back issue, which limited him on Wednesday.
The Packers edge rusher, who missed all of the offseason program and all of training camp with the Cowboys, was limited the first two weeks he practiced with his new team. Parsons, though, was not on the injury report in Week 3.
Parsons will play on Sunday Night Football against the Cowboys.
Three players did not practice for the Packers with right tackle Zach Tom (oblique), left guard Aaron Banks (groin) and safety Javon Bullard (concussion) missing the session.
Offensive tackle Anthony Belton (ankle), defensive lineman Karl Brooks (foot), tight end John FitzPatrick (groin), running back Josh Jacobs (ankle), tight end Tucker Kraft (knee/elbow), offensive tackle Rasheed Walker (quad) and defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt (knee) were limited.
Quarterback Jordan Love (left thumb) had full participation.
The Cowboys won’t honor their former All-Pro pass rusher with any tribute before his return to AT&T Stadium. Micah Parsons was the Cowboys’ best player for four seasons before they traded him to Green Bay, but he was in Dallas only four seasons.
Parsons gets it, and he’s not offended.
“There’s a lot of things I can consider disrespectful, like this process, but I wouldn’t say the tribute is one of them,” Parsons said, via Matt Schneidman of TheAthletic.com. “I would say I just think hard feelings there maybe for them. For me, I’m happy where I’m at, and we’ve got a really good football team, so I guess I can [receive] my tribute in a win. I hope.”
Parsons expects Cowboys fans to give him pregame applause.
“I think Dallas loves me,” Parsons said. “I think they are going to give me a good round of applause. There are no hard feelings there, at least for me, and I think it’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
Parsons said he has not talked to Jerry Jones since organized team activities, and he never heard from the Cowboys owner during the trade process or after the trade was completed.
Jones believed he and Parsons had a handshake deal and would not negotiate with Parsons’ agent, David Mulugheta. Instead, the Cowboys traded Parsons to the Packers on Aug. 28 for nose guard Kenny Clark and two first-round picks.
Now, Parsons faces his former team in his fourth game with his new team.
“Once the game starts, who is going to be worried about any trade?” Parsons said. “It’s just me against them five men in front of me, and we’ve got one common goal and that’s to win the football game. And how we win the football game is by winning the line of scrimmage and affecting Dak [Prescott] and how good he’s been playing this year.
Parsons made 52.5 sacks for Dallas while becoming one of the top defensive players in the league. He has 1.5 sacks in three games with the Packers.
The Cowboys need all the help they can get on a defense that ranks 32nd in passing and 30th overall.
The Cowboys could see the return of cornerback DaRon Bland. He returned to practice on a limited basis on Wednesday.
Bland had not practiced or played since injuring his foot in a Sept. 8 practice, missing two weeks.
“I think he’s trending towards playing, hopefully,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said, via Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press.
Right guard Tyler Booker (ankle), cornerback Trevon Diggs (knee) and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (ankle) did not practice Wednesday. Booker and Lamb are expected to miss multiple games after both were diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain.
Cornerback Trikweze Bridges (knee) was limited.
Much of the conversation around Sunday night’s Packers-Cowboys game centers on defensive end Micah Parsons returning to Dallas for the first time since being traded, but head coach Brian Schottenheimer offered a slightly wider view of things on Wednesday.
Schottenheimer admitted that the prospect of facing Parsons “keeps you up even more at night” because he’s seen so much of him over the years and knows he’s capable of doing more than he’s done in three games as a Packer. Schottenheimer said that the Cowboys aren’t just thinking about Parsons as they put together their plan for this weekend.
“Micah is a great player. Micah is going to make plays, I’ll just put that out there,” Schottenheimer said, via the team’s website. “Does he get a sack? I hope not. He might, he’s pretty good . . . let’s not forget, Rashan Gary is a hell of a rusher too. This is a defense that’s got incredible speed . . . they’re deep and they’re fast. Our ability to have success against the Packers defense will be about a whole lot more than just Micah.”
Complicating things for the Cowboys offense is the fact that they’re set to be without wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, center Cooper Beebe, and right guard Tyler Booker. Schottenheimer expressed confidence that his team can win without them, but “the only way you do that is if you play well and you’re executing” against everyone in a Packers uniform.
