Football was a big factor in the Sunday night Nielsen ratings, helping both Fox and NBC, according to TVbytheNumbers.com.

At 7 p.m. Fox’s NFL overrun into prime time collected a huge 8.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic, ahead of NBC’s pre-game broadcast, which had a 2.1 in the demo. At 7:30, Fox’s "The OT" postgame show was also strong, with a 6.1 rating, while "Football Night in America" on NBC built to a 3.1 in the 18-49 demo.

At 8 p.m. NBC’s game coverage had a 6.7 rating and a 9.1 in the 18-49 demographic, respectively, for the top and bottom halves of the hour. CBS’s "Big Brother" had a 2.2 rating and a 2.0, respectively, for the same time periods.

At 9 p.m. the Redskins vs. Cowboys coverage on NBC averaged an 8.55 rating for the hour in the 18-49 demo

At 10 p.m. the game earned an 8.6 rating and an 8.1 for the top and bottom of the hour, trouncing ABC’s "The Gates," which managed just a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic for the hour.