The Dallas Cowboys were still trying to close out a four-point win over the Indianapolis Colts as the Green Bay Packers faced the New England Patriots in Foxborough and the Las Vegas Raiders took on the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara.

Fans expecting to watch either the Packers-Patriots or Raiders-49ers game instead found Dallas on their screens, along with a label that made the wait even more frustrating: “bonus coverage.”

FOX’s Cowboys-Colts Coverage Runs Into the Late Window

The Cowboys and Colts had the 1 p.m. ET slot on FOX, while Packers-Patriots and Raiders-49ers were both scheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET on the Week 9 NFL schedule. Dallas’ game ran into the late-afternoon window, and FOX had a reason to keep it on the air.

Javonte Williams scored the go-ahead touchdown, then rookie safety Caleb Downs intercepted Daniel Jones with 35 seconds left to seal the Cowboys’ 27-23 win.

Still, viewers waiting for the scheduled late games weren’t happy about seeing the Cowboys instead.

Sports content creator Brandon Carney took to X and asked why FOX was showing bonus coverage rather than the regional matchup.

“Hey [NFL on FOX], can you tell me why you’re showing Cowboys ‘bonus coverage’ instead of the regional NFL game you scheduled to air on your network? What the [expletive] are we doing?”Carney wrote.

The frustration was particularly strong in New England, where FOX was supposed to carry the Patriots’ game in the Boston market. One viewer said it was the second straight week that the network’s bonus coverage had kept the local team off the air.

“Second week in a row that ‘bonus coverage’ is preventing the Patriots from being shown in New England. What the [expletive] is FOX doing?”one viewer asked.

And while some viewers were still waiting for FOX to switch over, the Packers had already made their mark in Foxborough. Xavier McKinney intercepted Drake Maye’s first pass and returned it to the New England 14-yard line. Jordan Love then ran for a touchdown with 13:19 left in the first quarter, giving Green Bay an early lead.

“Why am I getting ‘Bonus Coverage’ during my game? More like bogus coverage,”another fan wrote.

Sunday Ticket subscribers also described a frustrating situation. Because those games were designated for their local FOX stations, they were unavailable through the Sunday Ticket out-of-market feed. According to the affected viewers, their FOX feeds were still showing the earlier game.

“I subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket so I can watch my 49ers play out of market. Today’s game against the Raiders is blacked out because the game is shown on local TV. But I still can’t watch because FOX is showing ‘Bonus Coverage’ of an earlier game. Absurd,”one subscriber wrote.

“I have to resort to alternative streams to watch the Packers game because of ‘Bonus Coverage,’ even though I have NFL Sunday Ticket. Fix how bonus coverage is shown,”another subscriber wrote.

YouTube’s Sunday Ticket package carries out-of-market Sunday afternoon games. When a matchup is assigned to the local FOX or CBS station in a viewer’s area, it falls under the local broadcast instead. That means a 49ers fan living outside the Bay Area could still have the Raiders-49ers game assigned to their local FOX station.

The Week 9 broadcast map included Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Diego, among other markets. That left some subscribers saying they could not access the game through either Sunday Ticket or their local FOX feed while FOX remained on the earlier game.

It was a frustrating mess for fans who just wanted to watch their teams play.