NBC drew 23.8 million viewers for its "SNF" finale in Week 17, which saw the Packers beat the Lions 31-24 to win the NFC North. That figure is down from 24.3 million viewers in Week 17 last year, when Vikings-Packers was flexed to "SNF" -- also with playoff implications. Bengals-Steelers on NBC in Week 17 two years ago drew 20.7 million viewers. Sunday night's game gave NBC another primetime win and sets up the program to be primetime TV's No. 1 show for a record sixth straight year -- tying a record previously held by Fox' "American Idol." The 23.8 million viewers on Sunday also is the best audience on record for the Lions on "SNF" (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
NO HOLDING BACK: SPORTING NEWS' Michael McCarthy wrote there was a "rare incident of coach-on-coach crime committed" on Sunday as CBS' Bill Cowher "may have put the final nail in the coffin" of recently fired Bills coach Rex Ryan's NFL coaching career. Cowher during "The NFL Today" pregame show said that "instead of 'trying to build a culture'" with the Bills, Ryan "focused on himself." Cowher: "I don't see him coaching again in the National Football League as a head coach." McCarthy: "Whoa. You don't typically hear ex-NFL coaches turned analysts speak so negatively about other coaches." Meanwhile, Ryan could join ESPN's Sean McDonough in the "MNF" booth if analyst Jon Gruden "were to return to the NFL." That would "be a smart move by Ryan, if ESPN even considers it." Ryan's "rough edges would make him a very different choice for ESPN," but those edges also would "make him good on TV." The "quiet, cerebral types" like the late Bill Walsh "tend to bomb" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 1/2).
WORKING WITH A SMILE: In Baltimore, David Zurawik wrote CBS' broadcast of Ravens-Bengals "showed up and brought a little enthusiasm" to a game won by the Bengals, 27-10. There was "nothing truly exceptional about the telecast with Carter Blackburn on play-by-play and Chris Simms on analysis," but the pair "showed up and delivered an adequate performance." Meanwhile, sideline reporter Jenny Dell had the "best effort" on the broadcast. Near the end of the game when Ravens LB C.J. Mosley was carted off the field, she "reported what he said to a fan who asked about the injury: that it was his calf." She also got the postgame interview with Ravens WR Steve Smith Sr., who said that it "was his last game." Zurawik: "It was good work" (Baltimore SUN, 1/2).
