NEW YORK -- Even the worst kind of NFL game outdrew a key baseball playoff game in head-to-head competition Monday night.

ABC's telecast of two winless teams, in which the Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins 9-7 in a sloppy, often dull game, was watched by more people than the decisive fifth game of the American League playoffs between the Yankees and Athletics.

Although its 9.9 national rating was well below the season's average for prime-time NFL telecasts, ABC beat Fox's 8.4 for baseball. ABC is averaging an 11.4 nationally for "Monday Night Football."

The NFL game got a 16 share, as opposed to baseball's 13 share.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, whether or not they are in use. Each rating point represents a little more than 1 million households. Share is the percentage of homes with TVs in use tuned to a program.

"It's OK, because Washington and Dallas are two teams in the NFC and are Fox teams," network spokesman Dan Bell said. "We are focused on a 6.4 average and 11 share in prime time for our baseball."

Fox's postseason baseball ratings are 25 percent higher than a year ago for five prime-time telecasts. Four of those games involved the Yankees, and the fifth was the deciding game of the National League series between Arizona and St. Louis.

In Dallas, the Redskins-Cowboys game drew a 31.4 rating and 44 share, while the two 0-4 teams got a 26.3 and 42 in Washington.

But the New York ratings for two teams in the Giants' division, the NFC East, was a 3.3. Of course, most New York sports fans were watching the Yankees beat the Athletics 5-3 to finish off a comeback from a 2-0 deficit in their series. In New York, the baseball game drew a 23.1 rating and 33 share.

Baseball did better than football in the overnight ratings, which measure about 60 percent of the country's television markets. Athletics-Yankees got a 10.7 rating and a 16 share. The NFL game drew a 10.1-16.

Fox won the overnight's prime-time network ratings race for Monday night. Not surprisingly, it drew its biggest audience in New York, with the second-highest rating in Seattle with a 19.8 and 33. The Mariners will play the Yankees for the American League championship, beginning Wednesday.

The Oakland-San Francisco area brought a 17.6 rating and 27 share for Fox.