Packers-49ers generate ratings win for NBC, Sunday Night Football

The Green Bay Packers on Sunday night squeaked past the San Francisco 49ers on a Mason Crosby game-winning field goal, and NBC’s television ratings reflected the thriller that this game turned out to be.

The Green Bay Packers on Sunday trailed by one point with just 37 seconds left when the San Francisco 49ers kicked off to the Packers’ offense, and Aaron Rodgers proceeded to string together a miraculous possession. Fans were glued to their televisions, and the numbers are there to prove it.

The Packers-49ers game on Sunday drew an average of approximately 21.1 million viewers across all of NBC’s platforms — NBC TV, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital and NFL Digital. By registering a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 21.1 million, NBC has officially eclipsed 20 million average viewers in each of the three Sunday Night Football games of the 2021 season, the first time this has happened since 2016. Furthermore, the 21.1 million is a new high for NBC; the Packers-49ers game strung together the largest Week 3 NBC Sunday Night Football broadcast since Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos visited the Detroit Lions in 2015.

Thanks to Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ heroics, NBC’s Week 3 Sunday Night Football game was up 14 percent year-over-year compared to that of 2020.

Adams, Rodgers and the Packers string together epic comeback

The Green Bay Packers on Sunday trailed by one point with just 37 seconds left when the San Francisco 49ers kicked off to the Packers’ offense.

Rodgers had no timeouts and under 40 seconds to score in any capacity from the Packers’ own 25-yard line. First, Rodgers connected with wide receiver Davante Adams for a 25-yard gain, with Adams bringing the offense to the 50-yard line. After a time-conserving spike and an incomplete pass, Rodgers found Adams — again — on third-and-10 for a 17-yard gain, bringing the Green Bay Packers’ offense to the 33-yard line. Rodgers then spiked it again, and he put the game in kicker Mason Crosby’s hands; Crosby nailed the field goal from 51 yards out, giving the Packers a 30-28 victory.

Adams’ late-game heroics were even more impressive considering his state late in the game. Shortly before the comeback — in the early stages of the fourth quarter — Adams was dealt a hard hit by 49ers safety Jimmie Ward, which left the Packers’ star wide receiver laying on the field.

“It wasn’t a concussion,” Adams clarified after the win on Sunday. “On the sideline, they evaluated and saw right away. I was straight. More than anything on the ground was my chest, having trouble catching a breath, but definitely good now.”

Rodgers should be grateful there wasn’t a major injury. Adams, after staying in the same position in which he landed, waited for medical attention after the hit. He reassured fans after the game that the hit did not provide any significant head injuries, and he said there wasn’t any concussion — instead, he was having difficulties breathing. Adams said the hit resulted in a chest-related issue, which he then sorted out with Packers’ medical personnel, returning to the game just one play later.

“What a competitor, man,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said of Adams. “And then to go out there [after the hit] and have two big catches in the final 2-minute drive, he is the ultimate competitor. I think he is the best receiver in the National Football League, and I think he shows it on a weekly basis.”