The Dallas Cowboys’ 44-30 loss to the Detroit Lions has definitely turned up the heat. The defeat put their playoff hopes at serious risk, while the Lions have won despite their struggles with injuries. The result has sparked plenty of debate about the Cowboys’ direction, their late-season form, and what this means for the playoff picture. But there’s another aspect of the game that is quietly making headlines.

The Cowboys vs. Lions was the most-watched broadcast ever on Thursday Night Football on Prime Video. The game drew 19.39 million viewers. With this, Prime beat its previous record of 17.76 million viewers who tuned in to watch the Washington Commanders vs. Green Bay Packers this year. Prime also set a Black Friday record with 16.33 million viewers for the Bears-Eagles game.

The platform is now averaging 15.20 million viewers per game, showing a 15% increase from 2024 and a 28% rise from 2023. This surge adds to Prime Video’s strong season-long performance. Prime Video’s audience has grown steadily since it took over the Thursday night package in 2022.

It surely was an incredible night for Prime and for the Lions, who improved to an 8-5 record. A loss would have dropped their playoff chances to just 18 percent. But the wide receivers stepped up big for Detroit, with Amon-Ra St. Brown catching six passes for 92 yards.

Brown was questionable before the game, and it even seemed like he wouldn’t play. However, he showed up and delivered a strong performance to help lead the Lions. Jahmyr Gibbs had one of his best nights, too, pulling in seven passes for 77 yards.

With the win, Detroit’s playoff chances climbed to 53%. But the same can’t be said for the Jerry Jones’ Cowboys, who turned in one of their worst games and saw their postseason hopes take a major hit.

The Dallas Cowboys’ playoff chances are on life support

The Cowboys had been playing pretty steady football over the previous three games, holding opponents to an average of 21.7 points. With three straight wins behind them, a win over Detroit could’ve been the moment that pushed Dallas into real postseason-contender territory. But things went in the opposite direction.

The Cowboys’ defense got lit up again with Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs doing most of the damage. Dallas gave up 44 points and 408 total yards. The loss drops the Cowboys to 6-6-1, putting them all the way down at 10th in the NFC standings. This is far from where they hoped to be at this point in the season.

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“I think guys are p-ssed off right now,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “I don’t think this is any deflated moment like, ‘Oh, hands are up, we’re done.’ No, no, absolutely not. I think you’re going to get a team that’s p-ssed, especially as we talk about a team that’s kind of changed since the bye week.”

Next Gen stats say that Dallas has just a 7% chance to reach the playoffs, and their odds of winning the division sit at a thin 4%. It will be upon the Cowboys to improve, as well as for other teams to stumble, for Dallas to rise.