Aaron Rodgers Loss Felt Hard By CBS In Week 2, With Terrible Jets/Cowboys Game Set As Network's Marquee Matchup

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New York Jets starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1. As OutKick's Mike Gunzelman pointed out, that leaves Zach Wilson to headline the Jets four more primetime games this season (plus a Black Friday afternoon island game). That's bad news for Amazon Prime, NBC and ESPN. But it's not just primetime games -- CBS has to be apoplectic about losing their Aaron Rodgers vs. the Dallas Cowboys Week 2 game.

It's obvious that the primetime island games are very important to networks. But for FOX and CBS, the late-afternoon window is the big moneymaker. During the early-afternoon window, people across the country get their local game (or reasonable replacement if one doesn't exist).

However, over the past few seasons the NFL realized that the late window can serve as a de facto primetime slot. Since only one network per week (outside of Week 1) gets two games, the 4:25 ET slot generally goes to the best game on the slate that's not already committed to Thursday night, Sunday night or Monday night.

CBS's marquee Week 2 matchup between the Jets and Cowboys took a hit with the Aaron Rodgers injury

For CBS in Week 2, that meant the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys. The Jets/Bills Monday night game drew the largest audience for Monday Night Football ever. The Dallas Cowboys are the biggest draw in the NFL.

Those two combined appeared to be a massive hit for CBS. But the Rodgers injury absolutely destroyed the late-afternoon window in Week 2.

CBS appeared to have a marquee matchup with the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys in Week 2, but the Aaron Rodgers injury changed that.

CBS appeared to have a marquee matchup with the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys in Week 2, but the Aaron Rodgers injury changed that. (Photo: Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY Sports)

The only other option for the network is to air the Washington Commanders at the Denver Broncos. That's not going to happen. Zach Wilson vs. the Cowboys is still the bigger matchup.

None of the later games are great on paper, though Fox does have the San Francisco 49ers playing at the Los Angeles Rams. That's not an incredible matchup, but with the Rams winning big over Seattle in Week 1, it looks a lot better than it did 10 days ago. Plus, the 49ers are Super Bowl contenders.

But just take a look at the spreads (at Points Bet Sportsbook) and totals for the late-afternoon games.

So, three of the four games feature totals under 40 points. Two of them have favorites of at least a touchdown. All four have either one or the other.

CBS planned on Jets/Cowboys being the only watchable game during the late-afternoon window on Sunday.

Unfortunately for them, that game might be the least watchable of all of them.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.