Fox' Cowboys-Seahawks Delivers NFL's Best Regular-Season Overnight Since '11

The Cowboys' upset win over the Seahawks in Fox' national window yesterday highlighted Week 6 NFL overnights with a massive 19.2 rating, marking the best regular-season overnight for any NFL media partner since '11 and tied for Fox' best rating since '96. Meanwhile, NBC earned an 11.6 overnight for the Eagles' 27-0 shutout win over the Giants on "SNF," down 15% from the Cowboys' 31-16 win over the Redskins in '13. Despite the drop, "SNF" delivered NBC a primetime win up against AMC's season premiere of "The Walking Dead." The game also had competition from Giants-Cardinals NLCS Game 2 on FS1 (Karp & Carpenter, THE DAILY). 

PERSONAL FOUL? In Boston, Chad Finn writes Fox "lost all rights to a fair and balanced critique" of yesterday's Patriots-Bills broadcast because of "one lousy conscious decision that offset any appealing aspects of Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston’s call." The game was "cross-flexed" from CBS to Fox, but Fox "made one mistake so aggravating, so callously typical of what the league deems important, that it must be immediately denounced." Albert and Johnston late in the first half "welcomed a guest into the booth" -- new Bills Owner Terry Pegula. There is a problem "when no one -- Pegula, a handler, Albert, or anyone in charge of Fox’s broadcast -- has the good sense to say goodbye when something far more relevant than a Meet The New Boss moment is occurring on the field." Following an injury to Patriots LB Jerod Mayo, Pegula was "still there, hovering around for a second segment, even after a key injury that could have changed the tenor of the game, just as awkward and out of place as he was before the break" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/13). 

FOX TROT: In Dallas, Barry Horn wrote while Fox "provided a great camera angle" on a fourth-quarter catch in Cowboys-Seahawks, the net "did fumble at game’s end." Fox "never identified what the penalty was and who committed it" on a third down that stopped the clock just before Cowboys K Dan Bailey’s 31-yard field goal with 1:09 left in the game. It gave the Seahawks "precious extra seconds," and "could have been just the dagger some were expecting." Play-by-play man Thom Brennaman said, “That’s a big penalty." But he "said no more," and there "was no replay" (DALLASNEWS.com, 10/12). 

DAN IN REAL LIFE: In Denver, Dusty Saunders writes CBS' duo of Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts "provided an interesting, measured telecast" of Broncos-Jets yesterday. Fouts, in particular, was "right on with his analysis of the subpar play of the Broncos, which allowed the Jets to stay competitive." Fouts during the first half noted that the Broncos were "suffering from a 'lack of communication.'" Fouts was "critical, particularly during the final minute, of the Broncos' offensive game plan." But he "wasn't 'anti-Broncos,'" he simply was "analyzing what he saw on the field" (DENVER POST, 10/13). In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes Eagle "is a funny guy, but one who doesn’t go looking for yucks." Eagle yesterday "turned in a command performance ... sticking to an informative, basic play-by-play." He "didn’t turn the spotlight on himself or Fouts." Meanwhile, Raissman writes CBS Sports Network's "That Other Pregame Show" co-host Fred Smoot is the "most annoying NFL analyst on TV." It is "not what he says but the fact he’s a human, high-decibel screech machine." CBSSN should "put a pane of glass in front of him." The show "has top production talent," and "maybe they should advise Smoot to turn down the volume before he cracks a camera lens" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/13).