Cowboys blowout victory over Commanders delivers massive audience on Thanksgiving

The Dallas Cowboys’ (8-3) 45-10 Week 12 Thanksgiving Day victory over the Washington Commanders (4-8) on CBS was the most-watched program on any network since Super Bowl LVII in February.

According to CBS Sports PR, an average of 41.438 million viewers tuned in to see the Cowboys’ blowout win. Viewership peaked at 44.265 million, making it the third-most watched regular season NFL game in history. A lopsided final result obviously didn’t deter NFL fans from watching “America’s Team” on Thanksgiving, or from seeing Dolly Parton’s iconic halftime show.

Now of course, there’s many reasons as to why the game quickly got out of hand in the second half — perhaps none more notable than the play of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. The 30-year-old put himself in the MVP conversation after another stellar performance, in which he completed 22-of-32 passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns. The victory was his 10th career game with four touchdowns, tying Tony Romo for the most games with four touchdowns in Cowboys history.

“Pretty cool,” Prescott said. “I can’t say I’ve been one to care for numbers, but watching this team growing up and being a Cowboys fan, it’s humbling. Coming in and spending my rookie year with Tony, growing up watching Tony, understanding all of the success he has, it’s pretty cool. I want so much bigger than personal records, though. I’m just gonna keep my head down and keep working.”

Cowboys enjoy turkey legs following touchdown on Thanksgiving

While a potential MVP trophy or Lombardi Trophy will have to wait for now, Prescott did get his hands on a turkey leg to celebrate the win, as well as after a touchdown late in the game. Following a touchdown pass to receiver KaVontae Turpin, the Cowboys rushed to the nearest Salvation Army red kettle and pulled out turkey legs wrapped in tin foil to take a few bites before returning to the sidelines.

After the game, Prescott revealed how he and his teammates pulled it off – and earned the approval from head coach Mike McCarthy and owner Jerry Jones.

“We talked about it as probably a 2-3 daylong process of whether it be a 15-yard penalty and whether [coach McCarthy] would accept it,” Prescott said. “I actually go talk to coach before every game and sure enough I caught him as he was talking to [Jerry Jones], and so I mentioned it. Of course, Jerry liked it so, yeah, at that point, my direction was just make sure we’re up and the game was in hand.”