The overall audience for NFL Wild Card weekend declined this year, as most games saw lopsided scores, and two matchups featured teams playing with backup QBs. Fox led the way with the Packers' 38-13 win over the Giants yesterday in the late afternoon window. That game drew a 24.0 overnight, which is up 2% from a 23.6 overnight last year for the Packers' 35-18 win over the Redskins. But the 24.0 overnight is down from a 25.0 for Cowboys-Lions in the same window in '15. Meanwhile, CBS in the early afternoon window yesterday drew a 19.2 overnight for the Steelers' 30-12 win over the Dolphins, down 15% from a 22.5 overnight for Seahawks-Vikings last year on NBC. That 22.5 was the best figure on any net for the early Sunday Wild Card since '94. Steelers-Dolphins is up from an 18.5 for Colts-Bengals in the same window in '15 on CBS, but down from a 20.3 for Chargers-Bengals in '14. Steelers-Dolphins yesterday peaked at a 20.8 rating from 3:00-3:30pm ET.
SLOW START: ESPN, with a simulcast on ABC, kicked off Wild Card weekend on Saturday afternoon, drawing a combined 25.3 million viewers for the Texans’ 27-14 win over the Raiders. That figure is essentially flat compared to 25.2 million viewers for the nets’ Saturday afternoon Wild Card last year, which saw the Chiefs shut out the Texans. It also is up 16% from 21.7 million viewers for Panthers-Cardinals in ESPN’s first-ever Wild Card game in ’15, which was not simulcast on ABC. Texans-Raiders on Saturday peaked at 28.2 million viewers from 5:45-6:00pm ET. Texans-Raiders also marks the fourth-best Saturday afternoon Wild Card viewership in 16 years. Meanwhile, NBC drew 26.9 million viewers for the Seahawks’ 26-6 win over the Lions, marking the least-viewed Saturday primetime Wild Card game since NBC drew 25.7 million viewers for Jaguars-Steelers in ’08. Seahawks-Lions is down 14% from 31.2 million viewers for the primetime Wild Card game last year, which featured a late Steelers win over the Bengals on CBS, and down from 27.9 million viewers for Ravens-Steelers in ’15 on NBC. Seahawks-Lions peaked at 28.4 million viewers from 9:00-9:15pm on Saturday (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
NOT SO ENTERTAINED: In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck writes under the header, "First Round Of NFL Playoffs A Certified Snoozefest." This is "probably a good time to remind everyone that those were NFL playoff games you were switching off in the third quarter all weekend" (Baltimore SUN, 1/9). THE MMQB's Peter King writes of the Saturday afternoon Wild Card window, "Seems like a never-ending tradition: The early game feels like the JV game" (MMQB.SI.com, 1/9).
BACK TO THE BASICS: In N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote Jets WR Brandon Marshall should "tell Showtime suits he will not be returning to 'Inside the NFL.'" If Marshall "won't pull the plug himself," Jets coach Todd Bowles "should do it for him." The Jets "must convince an angry fan base that a change is going to come," one that "includes a team totally focused on playing consistently competitive football" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/8).
