NFL Ratings, Week 16: Patriots lead the way

Pregame

Fox NFL Sunday kept its winning streak over CBS' The NFL Today going, with a 3.4 to 2.7 victory in the Noon ET hour.

Fox (Regional Window)

Fox's regional window belonged to CBS last year and had the Cowboys, Saints Redskins, Lions, Giants and Seahawks all playing in games that meant something to either them or their opponents, which meant solid ratings. Fox hit a 13.3 rating for the singleheader, up 14 percent from CBS' performance in Week 16 of last year.

Also note that the ratings in Charlotte for the Panthers were a season high.

CBS (1 p.m. ET Window)

CBS had the popular Broncos, Chiefs and Colts in the 1 p.m. ET window, along with exclusivity in the New York market for an unfortunate Browns-Jets tilt. The window drew a 10.8 rating, up nearly two percent from Fox's 1 p.m. ET window last year.

CBS ("America's Game of the Week" Window)

CBS has three games with huge playoff implications featuring massively popular franchises — Patriots-Ravens, Steelers-Packers and Raiders-Chargers — and drew a 14.8 overnight rating. It was a bit surprising the figures weren't higher, but with the last weekend shopping day before Christmas coinciding with temperatures in the 50s and 60s on much of the east coast, viewers levels were likely down naturally. 

Still, that 14.8 is up nearly 13 percent from Fox's 4:25 p.m. ET window last year, which featured the Ravens blowing out the Giants in most of the country. 

NBC (Sunday Night Football) 

Another week, another blowout on NBC. The Eagles dispatched of the Bears nicely, which drew a 12.5 overnight rating. Despite having two massive markets both in playoff chases, this was down a tick from last year's 12.6 for 49ers-Seahawks.