In Dallas, it's always the Cowboys first and everybody else fights for #2.  

In recent weeks, Jerry Jones was very clear that his players would stand during the national anthem.  

Maybe the NFL should take a look at what all of this "social justice resistance" is doing to ratings in Dallas-Ft Worth:  

The Cowboys registered their lowest local ratings since 2009.

I should add that this game last Sunday was the 3 P.M. game, the second game when everybody has time to get home from church or lunch.  My own experience is that the noon game catches many at church or driving home.  Frankly, I love the 3 P.M. game because I can get to watch the whole thing.

The article makes another good point:  

There is a reason the Cowboys are valued at over $4 billion dollars. 

They absolutely own Dallas Fort-Worth. 

Nothing else really matters. The Rangers are fun, but the baseball team doesn’t garner as much attention as the Cowboys. Dallas, by all accounts, is a pretty good basketball city, but the Cowboys dominate the Mavericks when it comes to popularity. The NFL does not want to see one of its most important markets losing fans. 

It’s not a good look. It’s cause for concern. 

Other local markets -- and national markets -- are going to get hit. Any national game with the Cowboys would normally draw larger numbers than other teams, and that might not be the case this year.

We will wait for the next game to see if this is an aberration or a real trend.  

Dallas will play New York next on Sunday night, prime-time football.  

Normally, life stops in North Texas when the Cowboys play the Giants or Redskins.  It's the Dallas equivalent to the Yankees playing the Red Sox. 

Let's see the numbers after the next game.  

Nevertheless, maybe Jones was instinctively correct when he came down on the fans' side about this anthem controversy.

Over the years, we can say this about this about Jones: the bad news is that he drafted poorly after winning three Super Bowls in the 1990s.  The good news is that he knows his fans as well as any other owner of a professional sports team.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.