Giants vs. Cowboys moved to — gasp! — 1 p.m.
Romeo Okwara of the New York Giants sacks Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys during the second quarter at MetLife Stadium on Dec. 11, 2016 in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Add another indignity to the Giants’ miserable season.
The home game against the Cowboys on Dec. 10 has been flexed backward to a 1 p.m. start from its original 4:25 kickoff on Fox. That two of the league’s supposed ratings powerhouses would become so irrelevant as to play this late in the season in such a pedestrian time slot — they have not played a 1 p.m. game in December since 2005 — speaks to how low the two teams have fallen and how little respect the Giants, currently at 2-9, garner in NFL broadcasting circles.
The decision even came before the Giants announced that Eli Manning will not be starting on Sunday against the Raiders.
The Seahawks-Jaguars game will take the place of the Giants-Cowboys game at 4:25 that day, but most of the country will watch what could very well be an NFC playoff preview when the Eagles play at the Rams in Los Angeles.
The Giants-Cowboys games have been such ratings catnip for the networks that they are almost always played in prime time. The Giants regularly play at Dallas in the first week or two of the season in front of a national audience.
This isn’t all the Giants’ fault. Besides the Giants’ losing, the Cowboys have also hit the skids. Dallas, without Ezekiel Elliott, has lost three in a row by a combined score of 92-22.
Giant steps
The Giants signed DBs Brandon Dixon and Darryl Morris to their 53-man roster on Tuesday, a day after placing CB Donte Deayon on injured reserve. The Giants also will likely be without CB Janoris Jenkins (ankle) on Sunday in Oakland. Dixon was on the Giants’ practice squad and Morris has played in 48 games with three starts for San Francisco, Houston and Indianapolis.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
