You can make plans for Dec. 9 — you won't want to spend it watching Monday Night Football.
The 3-6 Dallas Cowboys are currently slated to host the 4-7 Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football in Week 14. The Cowboys were never particularly good this season, and are now one of the worst teams in the NFL with Dak Prescott out for the season. Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase are playing at All-Pro levels for the Bengals, but the rest of the team isn't very good and there's a very real shot their season is lost by Week 14.
But even though the NFL now has the ability to flex Monday Night Football matchups between Week 12 and Week 17 to get better games in place, this one won't be eligible for one of the more insane reasons you can possibly imagine:
For those asking, the Bengals-Cowboys MNF game is not eligible to be flexed out because of all the drawings, voiceovers and other work that has been done for The Simpsons alt-cast that will air that night.
It would be interesting to know if the NFL actually would have flexed out of a primetime Cowboys game if they had the opportunity. For as crappy of a matchup as Bengals-Cowboys appears poised to be, the Cowboys are still the biggest draw in the league. They have a giant national fanbase, and just as many people who hate watch them.
Coincidentally, the Simpsons dropped the trailer for the alt-cast Monday:
Woo-hoo! The NFL is coming to Springfield! 🙌📺#TheSimpsons Funday Football streams live Dec. 9 on @DisneyPlus and @ESPNPlus. pic.twitter.com/zcYzaxteIJ
— The Simpsons (@TheSimpsons) November 18, 2024
We'll see how much of an appetite there is for football in Springfield after watching four quarters of Cooper Rush and/or Trey Lance at quarterback.
