There’s just more than two weeks to go to Super Bowl LVI, but the NFL’s Big Game will have to be something very special to top the drama of the games over the weekend between the Los Angeles Rams and hosts Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, followed by the overtime thriller between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.
Almost blowing a sure thing, the Rams held on late to make their way to the NFC Championship Game, while the Chiefs came out on top in OT to clinch a spot in the AFC title game after a wild ride that saw both teams rally with what seemed like game-winning scores late in regulation.
As far as TV ratings go, first place among Sunday’s four-game NFL divisional playoff lineup went to the Chiefs’ 42-36 primetime victory on CBS. Surging 20% over the comparable game of last year, the win for Patrick Mahomes and team pulled in 43 million sets of eyeballs. The game actual peaked at 52 million tuning in. For you statheads, the OT thriller secured the Chiefs’ fourth straight home AFC Championship Game berth.
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Meanwhile, the Rams’ 30-27 victory over the Bucs snagged a massive afternoon audience of 38.14 million on NBC.
In fact, with a total audience delivery of 40 million once streaming on Peacock and other outlets is factored in, the game turned out to be the most viewed non-Super Bowl NFL game on the Comcast-owned net since the net took over Sunday Night Football in 2006. Year over year, the Rams’ win grew 11% from the 2021 playoff window.
Coming off months of controversy about his Covid-19 vaccine status, or lack thereof, Aaron Rodgers will not be taking the Green Bay Packers any further this year after a 13-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers earlier on Sunday.
Launching the Bay Area team to a North-South Golden State showdown with the Rams for the NFC Championship on January 30, the primetime win over the Packers snared an average audience of 37 million for Fox. Perhaps equally as impressive as the viewership has to be the 41% leap over last year’s comparable window for the 49ers-Packers game.
Kicking off what has to be one of the best NFL weekends ever in terms of performance on and off the fields, the Cincinnati Bengals’ 19-16 win over the Tennessee Titans on Saturday grabbed 31 million viewers. As with all the other divisional games last weekend, the Bengals-Titans matchup was up double digits over last year, 16% in this case.
This coming Sunday will determine who takes the field for the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood for the Super Bowl on February 13 on NBC. The Bengals take on the odds-favoring Chiefs on CBS, while Fox will have the Rams battling the 49ers. No finger on the scale, but wouldn’t it be great to cap this season with an L.A. team playing and winning the Super Bowl in the Southland?
Yep.
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