ESPN earned an 11.9 overnight Nielsen rating for last night's Redskins-Cowboys "MNF" telecast from 8:30-11:45pm ET, up 2.6% from an 11.6 overnight for Packers-Bears in Week Three last year. This marks ESPN's first year-over-year "MNF" gain of the '11 season. In Dallas-Ft. Worth, the game earned a 20.4 local rating on ESPN and a 16.0 rating on KTXA-IND. In DC, the game earned a 22.4 rating on ESPN and a 12.6 rating on WDCA-IND (Austin Karp, THE DAILY). In DC, Dan Steinberg writes ESPN's "MNF" broadcast last night "isn't journalism," but rather a "place for all football fans to gather 'round and join the ESPN broadcast crew in lauding Tony Romo for being so awesome and amazing and studly and cool and unflappable and brave and winnable [and] just so dang wonderful." Steinberg: "I wish I had the [Jon] Gruden and [Ron] Jaworski quotes handy, but if you were watching, you probably have some sense of what they were saying" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 9/27). WJFK-AM's Chad Dukes wrote on his Twitter feed, "Redskins fans are not blaming @ESPN for the loss. The #Redskins lost the game. We are blaming @ESPN for slurping Tony Romo. And we're right." Journalist Rick Sanchez wrote, "Note to MNF announcers tonight regarding Tony Romo: Why don't you just marry him?"
WAS IT GOOD? In S.F., Gwen Knapp writes as of yesterday, the 49ers "still didn't know whether wide receiver Michael Crabtree had legally made a leaping touchdown catch in the third quarter or, as an official ruled, stepped out of bounds before the grab" during the team's 13-8 win over the Bengals Sunday. The Fox crew on site "did not provide replays that allowed" 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh to challenge the call, a shortcoming that "surely had something to do with the game's blackout in Cincinnati and its complete lack of national appeal." Knapp: "The game didn't deserve premium coverage, and most of the plays barely merited a first look, much less multiple replays from different angles. The 49ers have a right to expect more of the NFL's TV partners, but they can't complain too vigorously" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/27).
RELENTLESS COMMENTARY: In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes CBS' Phil Simms "was dissecting the refs live on the fly" during Sunday's Jets-Raiders game. Raissman: "The ref-bashing was just part of the masterpiece Simms painted Sunday afternoon. ... Simms showed when he's in the booth there's absolutely no need for CBS, like Fox, to put a former official on the air to serve as its announcers' designated crutch. Simms turned in the finest performance by an analyst in this young season" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/27).
VERY UNIQUE: Visits to fantasy football sites so far this season are at the highest levels in three years, according to data from Experian Hitwise. Visits in the U.S. were also up 24% in August '11 compared to the same period last year (THE DAILY).
