The NFL’s media partners are doing rather well for themselves despite the absence of the ratings juggernaut that is Patrick Mahomes, as the TV turnout for the divisional round of the playoffs grew 6% versus last year’s deliveries.

Led by NBC’s coverage of the Rams-Bears thrill ride on Sunday evening, which drew a weekend-high 45.4 million viewers, the four-game set averaged 38.7 million viewers, up from 36.5 million in 2025. While Nielsen’s recent upgrade of its ratings currency is responsible for at least some of that year-over-year boost, the overall gains would have been far greater if Fox hadn’t been saddled with a blowout in the Saturday primetime window.

As expected, NBC attracted the largest audience of the playoffs thus far, as the battle between the No. 2 and No. 3 media markets was decided in overtime. The Rams’ 20-17 victory featured a skull-clutcher of a Tecmo Bowl touchdown toss by Caleb Williams on a fourth-and-4 in the waning seconds of regulation; after backpedaling from the Rams’ 14-yard to the 40 to avoid a ferocious pass rush, the second-year QB hit Cole Kmet in the corner of the end zone to force the OT.

Bedlam.

At the time Williams heaved up the TD toss, some 52.6 million viewers were tuned into NBC. Approximately 12% of the audience took in the game via streaming.

Chicago was the real star of the show, as the 66% of the TV sets in use in the market were tuned to the local NBC affiliate. The Windy City was the top DMA with a 34.7 household rating, which translates to some 1.3 million homes. All told, 2.46 million homes in the four NFC North markets were locked into the game, with Milwaukee placing second (26.1 rating/56 share), followed by No. 4 Minneapolis (23.9/54) and Detroit at No. 6 (23.0/53).

The broadcast ranks as NBC’s most-watched divisional playoff in 34 appearances, topping the 1994 Chiefs-Oilers duel between Joe Montana and Warren Moon (41.1 million).

Earlier in the day, ESPN/ABC set a record of their own as 37.9 million viewers tuned in to watch the Patriots eliminate the Texans in snowy Foxborough. Total viewership for the game, which now stands as ESPN’s biggest NFL draw on record, improved 12% compared to last year’s Texans-Chiefs telecast (33.8 million).

Disney’s audience peaked at 44.9 million viewers.

Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, the NFL’s media partners are averaging 34.2 million viewers per game, up 10% from last season’s 10-game tally (31.2 million). That audience growth is consistent with the league’s regular-season gains. Again, the usual caveats about the impact of the improvements to Nielsen’s ratings currency apply here, but the fact that the deliveries continue to grow despite the absence of the league’s biggest draw—the Chiefs appeared in the three most-watched U.S. telecasts of 2025 and seven of the top 20—is a welcome development regardless.

CBS and Fox will look to keep the momentum going this Sunday as the Pats travel to Denver for the AFC championship game in the early window before the Rams and Seahawks square off in the late game. Of the remaining title tilt scenarios, only a Broncos-Rams matchup would prove to be a novelty pairing. New England and LA met up in the eminently forgettable Super Bowl LIII in 2019, which took place just a few years after the Pats’ heart-stopping victory over Seattle in XLIX, which was sealed by Malcolm Butler’s end-zone pick. The Seahawks blew out Peyton Manning’s Broncos the previous year, winning 43-8.

New England has racked up two Super Bowl wins against the Rams, as the franchise in 2002 secured its first NFL title against the St. Louis-based “Greatest Show on Turf.”