Cowboys TV Plans: NFL Makes Another Change

FRISCO - Hey, Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy - Check your local listings for game times ... because the NFL just made another TV change ahead of your Sunday Week 16 AT&T Stadium meeting with the Philadelphia Eagles.

A couple of weeks ago, WFT coach Ron Rivera proudly announced that his team was again "relevant.'' Based on the NFL's Tuesday morning announcement of a change in time for the Week 16 slate of games?

The league agrees with the coach.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Rivera's Dallas counterpart, working on the natural assumption that Washington's noon game would be over by the time Dallas was slated to start at 3:25, insisted he would ignore the early result.

"We're going to line up to play to win,'' he said, dismissing the idea of scoreboard-watching. "It's important for us to win these last two games and let the chips fall where they may. ... That's will be my focus. Nothing will change that."

But something has changed that takes the coach off the hook.

The Panthers and the Washington Football Team were initially scheduled to kick off their game a 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. But the league - sensing the drama that could be about to unfold - is moving the game to the afternoon window.

WFT vs. the Panthers - dramatic in part because it's Rivera coaching against the franchise that dismissed him - will now start at 4:05 p.m. ET, with CBS broadcasting the game because of NFL cross-flexing.

The Panthers are 4-10 and not in contention. The Washington Football Team, though, even at 6-8, is in position to close the 2020 season by capturing the NFC East title and the home-opening playoff berth that goes with it.

Also part of the drama: Consider the Cowboys' position. They need to win their final two games while WFT loses both, in which case 5-9 Dallas gets the playoff nod. As it was to stand, the Cowboys would play at 3:25 at AT&T Stadium against the Eagles, and would therefore know the outcome of the earlier Washington game.

That's why McCarthy said his managing of the game would not take into consideration the value of a win (playoffs) vs. a loss (NFL Draft).

But now? The NFL has taken that decision out of the Cowboys' hands. Dallas, a slight underdog, will be playing at about the same time as Washington, so it won't know the outcome in Landover. And Washington, a two-point favorite at FedExField, will be in the same play-and-wonder boat.