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How to Watch the Saints vs. Cowboys 'Thursday Night Football' Game Online for Free Tonight

By:
Brad Tuttle
7 min read
Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints calls a play during a game against the Dallas Cowboys in 2013. - Stacy Revere—Getty Images
Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints calls a play during a game against the Dallas Cowboys in 2013. Stacy Revere—Getty Images

It's time for yet another awesome "Thursday Night Football" game tonight, featuring a matchup of two first-place teams: New Orleans Saints vs. Dallas Cowboys.

Led by this week's Sports Illustrated cover subject Drew Brees, the 10-1 Saints are one of the NFL's elite teams this season, and definitely among the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl in 2019. The Cowboys, meanwhile, are 6-5 and tied for first place in the NFC with the Washington Redskins.

Tonight's "Thursday Night Football" game is obviously important to both the Saints and Cowboys: The Saints are now battling to win home-field advantage in the playoffs, while the Cowboys must end the regular season on a strong note simply to get a spot in the playoffs. As for the Cowboys vs. Saints betting odds, the Saints are 7-point favorites to win, despite playing the game on the road at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, outside of Dallas.

Here's all the info you need to watch the Saints vs. Cowboys "Thursday Night Football" game — online or on TV — for free tonight.

What Channel Is the Cowboys vs. Saints Game On?

You'll find tonight's Saints vs. Cowboys TV broadcast on local Fox stations around the country. Fox and the NFL Network share broadcasts of most "Thursday Night Football" games this season, and you can watch tonight's game on either channel.

While the NFL Network is a pay channel, included with select satellite and cable TV packages, Fox is free around the country even if you don't have cable.

To watch "Thursday Night Football" for free on TV without cable, all you need to do is connect your TV to a digital antenna. A basic digital antenna costs about $25 or less, and once it's connected to your TV you'll be able to watch unlimited, free over-the-air networks like Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC.

Note that you must be within proximity to a local broadcast channel to get a signal. Most people around the country live close enough to local stations for a digital antenna to tune in all the major networks for free, but you may not get every channel in certain regions. For the vast majority of cord-cutters, buying a digital antenna is a great deal that helps you avoid a monthly cable bill.

How to Live Stream the Saints vs. Cowboys Game for Free

There are several options available if you're wondering how to watch the Saints vs. Cowboys game tonight online. One possibility is live streaming the game on your phone.

As we reported earlier this season, two apps have free live streams of many NFL games this season, including the Saints vs. Cowboys on "Thursday Night Football" tonight. Here are the basics for how to live stream NFL games on your phone:

After downloading the latest versions of either the Yahoo Sports app or the NFL App, you'll be able to live stream a host of games on your phone. Specifically, the Yahoo Sports app and NFL App let fans live stream games that are being broadcast locally in their region by networks like CBS and Fox, as well as all nationally broadcast primetime games. That includes "Sunday Night Football" on NBC, "Monday Night Football" on ESPN, and "Thursday Night Football" on the NFL Network and Fox.

Football fans, take note that these apps only let you live stream NFL games on phones. They will not work for live streaming on a larger screen, such as a laptop or connected TV.

You can, however, live stream the Saints vs. Cowboys game for free with Amazon Prime — assuming you're a subscriber. All you need to do is log in to an Amazon Prime account, and you'll be able to watch "Thursday Night Football" online via Amazon Video's free live stream.

If you are not a Prime member, you could test out the service during a 30-day free trial starting tonight. That way, you'd be able to watch the Saints vs. Cowboys online for free, and then have the rest of the month to try out the service, which is notable for free two-day shipping on most Amazon purchases in addition to unlimited streaming video content and special discounts at Whole Foods.

After the free-trial period ends, Amazon Prime members generally pay $119 per year or $12.99 per month for their subscriptions.

Yet another way you could live stream "Thursday Night Football" for free is by signing up for a free trial of a streaming TV service such as Fubo TV, Hulu Live, DirecTV Now, PlayStation Vue, or YouTube TV. In most of the country, these streaming TV services — which are similar to cable and bundle together dozens of channels in one package for a monthly fee — include live streams of Fox and other major networks, alongside pay channels like TNT, ESPN, AMC, and Comedy Central. (Each service's lineup of channels is different.)

Prices for Fubo TV, Hulu Live, DirecTV Now, PlayStation Vue, and YouTube TV start at $40 to $45 per month, but free trials that last about a week are available for new subscribers. If you register today, you could watch tonight's Saints vs. Cowboys game online for free, and then take the rest of the week to try out the service and see if you want to become a paying subscriber. If you don't want to be billed monthly for a streaming TV service, remember to cancel before the free-trial period ends.

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