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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. –** The 2014 New England Patriots seemingly relish the spotlight of primetime, as they concluded their "Sunday Night Football" slate with a 23-14 win at San Diego on Sunday, Dec. 7. The win, which was New England's third straight this season on NBC's "Sunday Night Football," was the second-highest rated "Sunday Night Football" game ever in the Boston market, trailing only the Patriots' 31-27 win vs. Green Bay on Dec. 19, 2010. Locally, the game drew a 41.1 household rating and a 63 market share, the highest ever for a Patriots game on "Sunday Night Football." Patriots-Chargers was also the No. 1 ranked show in the Boston market for the week, averaging 1,519,300 total viewers.
Nationally, the highly anticipated matchup of AFC foes posted a 13.9 household rating and 22 market share, easily earning NBC the top spot in primetime. Fittingly, the top national metered markets for the game were Boston, San Diego (36.5/56) and Providence (33.2/47), with Denver (22.2/34) rounding out the top four. This week's win at San Diego was also New England's highest-rated away game ever on "Sunday Night Football." The only other road game among the Patriots' five most-watched Sunday night games was their 42-20 win at Indianapolis in Week 11 this season. Whether they play at home or away, the Patriots have been tough to beat in front of a large television audience, as New England is 5-0 in their five-highest rated "Sunday Night Football" games.
The Patriots return home to Gillette Stadium to take on the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Dec. 14 at 1:00 p.m. New England can clinch their sixth straight AFC East title with a win or tie over the second-place Dolphins. Ian Eagle will call play-by-play with Dan Fouts providing color commentary and Jenny Dell reporting from the sideline for CBS's broadcast. The game can be seen locally on Boston CBS affiliate, WBZ Channel 4.
