Last night's game peaked at a 10.6 rating, as the Chiefs rallied from a 10-point deficit in the last seven minutesGETTY IMAGES
ESPN drew a 9.1 rating for the Chiefs' come-from-behind win over the Broncos on "MNF," marking the best overnight rating for the series since Cowboys-Cardinals drew a 9.3 in Week 3 last year. Last night's game is also up 8% from an 8.4 figure for the comparable Redskins-Chiefs game in Week 4 last year. The figure last year was the lowest "MNF" rating in Week 4 since Colts-Buccaneers drew an 8.0 overnight in '11. Two years ago, ESPN drew a 9.1 overnight in Week 4 for Giants-Vikings. Last night's game peaked at a 10.6 rating between 11:00-11:15pm ET, as the Chiefs rallied from a 10-point deficit in the game's final 7 minutes. Chiefs-Broncos drew a 45.8 local rating in K.C. (15.5 on ESPN, 30.3 on KMBC-ABC) and a 36.5 rating in Denver (15.8 on ESPN, 20.7 on KTVD-Ind). New Orleans (14.7), Albuquerque-Santa Fe (14.0) and DC (12.5) rounded out the top 5 markets (Josh Carpenter, THE DAILY).
COMING ATTRACTIONS: NBC Sports’ Peter King wonders how excited ESPN is that it was "somehow, some way ... able to get Chiefs-Rams" as the Nov. 19 "MNF" game. That is the game "everybody wants to see." King: "I rail against the 52-48 games, but I don’t think I would mind seeing a 52-48 game that night with (Chiefs QB Patrick) Mahomes dueling against (Rams QB) Jared Goff. That would really be fun” (“PFT,” NBCSN, 10/2).
LETTER OF THE LAW: In Cleveland, Joey Morona writes the "most inexplicable thing" from the sports weekend was an ESPN "NFL Countdown" segment in which former former Browns QB Johnny Manziel "offers advice" to new starter Baker Mayfield. The premise -- that people "compare Manziel and Mayfield all the time -- is lazy and outdated at best." Even stranger is the "segment's over-the-top documentary style -- you know, the kind of unnecessarily melodramatic schtick normally reserved for ESPN's 'Outside the Lines'" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 10/2).
MISSED CALL: SI.com's Jimmy Traina wrote Browns-Raiders had "horrible performances" from a number of groups, including the referees. The "only thing more ridiculous than the referees actually collecting a paycheck for their awful work in this game was that near the end of the Raiders' 45-42 win, play-by-play man Kenny Albert and analyst Ronde Barber went out [of] their to way praise the refs for a job well done." Traina: "They literally said, 'Walt Coleman and his crew had a terrific game.'" For both broadcasters to "make it a point to actually lie and deceive people about what they just saw is not only disingenuous, but also inexcusable" (SI.com, 10/1).
