NBC drew a 20.9 overnight rating for the Patriots’ 35-31 win over the Ravens on Saturday afternoon, up 7% from a 19.5 for the Seahawks’ 23-15 win over the Saints in the same time slot on Fox last season. Patriots-Ravens was NBC’s first NFL Divisional Playoff telecast since ‘98. The 20.9 rating also is tied for the second-best overnight for a Saturday AFC Divisional game since ’94. NBC’s telecast peaked at a 24.8 rating from 7:30-8:00pm ET during the finish. Boston drew a 45.7 local rating, marking the third-best figure in the market for a Divisional game in Patriots history. Baltimore drew a 45.4 local rating for the game. Meanwhile, Fox on Saturday night drew an 18.8 overnight for the Seahawks’ 31-17 over the Panthers, down 3% from a 19.4 for Patriots-Colts on CBS in the same window last year. Despite the decline, the 18.8 overnight marks Fox best figure on record for a Saturday primetime NFL Divisional game and will deliver the net one its highest-rated Saturday nights on record. The game peaked at a 20.1 rating in the 10:30-11:00pm window before dropping sharply after Seahawks S Kam Chancellor’s 90-yard interception return for a touchdown with 5:55 left in the fourth quarter. The Seattle-Tacoma market drew a 53.1 local rating for Saturday’s telecast, up from a 48.1 for Fox’ Seahawks-Saints Divisonal game in the early afternoon window last year. Charlotte drew a 39.3 local rating for the game. Figures for Sunday's AFC and NFC Divisional games on Fox and CBS were delayed at presstime (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
THAT AWKWARD MOMENT: In Boston, Chad Finn wrote NBC's Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth "were on their game" for Patriots-Ravens, "save for one very awkward and transparent moment in which viewers had to wonder whether their participation was willing or demanded." NBC returned from a commercial break late in the first quarter to a shot of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his wife, Jane, in the stands. Michaels "speed-read a dry synopsis of the Mueller Report, noting that 'the report, as many of you know ... identified deficiencies in the league’s investigation and outlined several improvements the league should make, some of which have already been implemented.'" Collinsworth then replied, "The decision to initially suspend Ray Rice for two games was a mistake. Roger Goodell has admitted that. I never once in all my dealings with the commissioner doubted his integrity.” Finn wrote the "praise of Goodell -- especially given how quickly Michaels read through the Mueller Report statement -- did not seem authentic as much as it felt like an assigned obligation." It is "just a shame that the announcers were put in that position in the first place." Collinsworth’s comment about Goodell’s integrity "was a little much, if not outright unbelievable" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/11). In Tampa, Tom Jones lists the Michaels-Collinsworth commentary as his "Worst Moment" from the weekend, as the "whole thing turned into an embarrassing mess for NBC, and especially Collinsworth." The former Pro Bowler "should know that he sounded like a total lackey for Goodell and the NFL." It was a "bad and rare misstep for the usually tight NBC broadcast" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 1/12).
HIGHER STANDARDS: SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote Michaels and Collinsworth typically are "working for viewers first," which is "what made Saturday night’s water-carrying for the NFL so infuriating to watch." They "engaged in a Pravda-like reading and discussion on the findings of the Mueller Report." Deadspin was "able to procure a feed that aired the broadcast truck setting up a shot of Goodell coming out of a commercial break and Michaels and Collinsworth talking to each other and their production team." It "gives you insight into how close this was to China Central Television" (SI.com, 1/11). In Baltimore, David Zurawik wrote of Michaels and Collinsworth, "I can’t tell you how disappointed I was by their performance." The duo's first quarter "was awful, and then some." It "seemed as if Collinsworth and Michaels were in a coma." Michaels' performance "got worse when he stopped reading the prepared propaganda and started trying to sound conversational." Zurawik: "'Are you kidding me?' I thought. He’s trying to spin this into some kind of positive for the NFL?" It got "even worse when Collinsworth joined in this bit of Kabuki theater." Zurawik: "I know pimping is a strong word, but that’s what it was." Seeing the game stopped "so that these two could serve as PR operatives to whitewash Goodell’s handling of the matter and burnish his image made me as angry as anything I have seen on TV this year." Zurawik: "I never will have the respect for Michaels, Collinsworth and NBC’s NFL coverage that I once had" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 1/10). Meanwhile, in N.Y., Bob Raissman writes findings from the Mueller Report "were not exactly hot topics for the NFL’s TV partners during the divisional round." The "actual content of the report wasn’t put under even cursory scrutiny" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/12).
BREATHING A SIGH OF RELIEF: In N.Y., Harvey Araton wrote Goodell "can now look forward to a Super Bowl week without fresh echoes of his botched handling of the Ray Rice case ringing in his ears." Araton: "Sound like a good time, Mr. Commissioner?" Many would have considered another Super Bowl run for the Ravens "to be a fitting finish" to the '14 season (N.Y. TIMES, 1/11).
