For the second time in the span of weeks, CBS will air a heavily-hyped battle of undefeated teams.
Sunday afternoon’s Patriots/Colts game marks the latest in the season a game between undefeated teams has been played during the past eighty years. The game’s wider historical significance is somewhat dwarfed by the fact that New England/Indianapolis has become the premiere rivalry in the NFL in the past several seasons. The teams account for four of the past six Super Bowls, have played each other in three of the last four postseasons, and have waged several regular season battles over the years.
Patriots/Colts also features the two most marketed and hyped players in the NFL, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Manning and Brady are easily two of the biggest golden boys in all of sports, praise lavished upon them by the media, and any transgressions glossed over in a way that would have made the media covering Michael Jordan in his heyday blush.
With all of that in mind, it is easy to see why CBS, mere weeks removed from an 18.0 rating for Patriots/Cowboys — also a match-up of then-undefeated teams — has such high expectations for Patriots/Colts.
Ratings expert Jim Nantz predicts that the game will be “one of the five highest-rated television shows of the year, sports or otherwise,” forecasting “a 20-something rating.” A rating in the 20s would be quite the accomplishment; even a ratings juggernaut like the NFL only approaches ratings in the 20 range during its Conference Championship games.
The highest rated Sunday afternoon NFL game of the past twenty years was a 21.3 for Cowboys/49ers in 1995. Certainly, with Pats/Cowboys having drawn an 18.0 earlier this year, a 21 rating is not out of the realm of possibility.
That being said, what some observers may not be considering is the fact that the Cowboys likely accounted for a large portion of that 18.0 rating. Games involving the Cowboys have been the highest rated this year on NBC, ESPN, CBS and FOX, and Cowboys/Giants drew a 17 rating in 2006. Perhaps it was not the Patriots who drew such a huge audience three weeks ago, but their opponent.
In other words, while there is no question Patriots/Colts will draw a huge rating, there is no guarantee the game will be the highest rated of the NFL season. Still, CBS should be riding high on Sunday, with a rating that will easily surpass those of the World Series, NBA Finals, Daytona 500, and many other marquee sporting events. And in a year where NFL ratings are declining on NBC, FOX and ESPN, CBS can crow about having the two most ratings-friendly games of the season.
