Dallas Cowboys Playoff Loss Helps Stephen A. Smith, ESPN Set Ratings Records

Recently released ESPN ratings from the day after the Dallas Cowboys playoff loss act as further evidence of the idea that Dallas will always be America's Team.

The Dallas Cowboys deserve to be criticized, ardently, for their accelerated exit from playoff competition. Falling 48-32, at home, to the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers was the type of loss that gets coaches fired. They were outmatched physically and schematically from the jump and once again lived up to the narratives the national media has helped shape.

Stephen A. Smith’s calling card – the Cowboys are an accident waiting to happen – will be true until they win a Super Bowl. As unfair as it may be, especially compared to other unsuccessful franchises, it remains a talking point.

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That was epitomized the Monday after Dallas’ embarrassing loss. The wrath of the football world descended on the Cowboys, and sports television was there to capture it. ESPN had a record-setting day – almost entirely thanks to Dallas’ collapse.

According to Front Office Sports, First Take’s 1.5 million (average) viewers were a record high for the program. Get Up (979,000), SportsCenter (727,000), and NFL Live (937,000) all saw similar results, although the latter didn’t set a record for the show, only second place.

“The Dallas Cowboys for me are the gift that keeps on giving,” Smith said. “They just don’t let me down.”

Even the Pat McAfee Show – shrouded in controversy for its enabling of New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, shots at ESPN higher-ups, and otherwise brazen nature – saw its most viewers of the season.

When the Cowboys lose, the national media wins. But win or lose, these ratings boosts make it clear that Dallas is America’s Team, and nobody is coming for that throne anytime soon.

Like its politics and its celebrities, this country is beholden to its polarizing figures. So many love the Cowboys. So many more despise them. Maybe it’s a positive feedback loop, maybe it's the storied history forging rivalries with multiple teams. Whatever the reason, there will always be a demand for Dallas discourse. As long as the Cowboys keep falling short, the supply will never run out.

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It’s why almost every pundit has something critical to say, and why the talk of the town after Sunday’s loss wasn’t Green Bay winning, but Dallas losing. It’s nothing new, and simply put, it pays the bills. Don’t expect that to change any time soon.