FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - In just the second head-to-head meeting between Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, the New England Patriots used a stifling defensive performance and balanced offensive attack, capped by fourth-quarter dominance on both sides of the ball, to defeat the Green Bay Packers, 31-17, at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.
The highly-anticipated matchup soared in both local and national television rankings, finishing as the highest-rated Week 9 game in the 13-year history of NBC's Sunday Night Football (SNF).Â
Nationally, the game earned a 15.6 rating and 26 share, which is a 3 percent increase over the previous Week 9 SNF record, set in another game of national interest between two quarterback greats, Brady and Peyton Manning, in 2006.
NBC's national overnight rating of 15.6 is the best overnight rating for a primetime show on any network since March 2018 and is also up 63 percent from last year's Week 9 SNF game between Oakland and Miami.
Locally, the NBC broadcast generated a 37.9 household rating and 59 market share in the Boston market, which is the Patriots' best local rating of the 2018 season. It also registered as the highest regular-season rating for the Patriots since 2017's Week 15 matchup against the Steelers (39.7 rating), a 4:25 kickoff on CBS, and highest Sunday Night Football number since Week 14 of the 2015 season in a matchup with the Houston Texans.
The broadcast averaged 1,382,300 local viewers and peaked at 9:30 p.m. with a 41.0 rating and 58 share and viewership of 1,549,500.
The Patriots will travel to Nashville this week to take on the Tennessee Titans in a 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT kickoff at Nissan Stadium. The game will be broadcast on CBS with Ian Eagle handling play-by-play responsibilities, Dan Fouts giving color analysis and Evan Washburn providing insight from the sideline.
HIGHEST RATED PROGRAMS IN BOSTON MARKET
WEEK OF 10/29/18 - 11/4/18
| Program | Network | Date | Rating | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packers vs. Patriots | NBC | 11/4/18 | 37.9 | 59 |
| Patriots at Bills | ESPN, WCVB, WMUR | 10/29/18 | 37.3 | 56 |
| Football Night in America | NBC | 11/4/18 | 23.0 | 34 |
| Rams vs. Saints | FOX | 11/4/18 | 12.6 | 22 |
| NCIS | CBS | 10/30/18 | 9.8 | 16 |
