NFL Opening Week Scores TD

The National Football League may have had its share of off-the-field distractions in recent years, but its TV ratings have never been higher.

With an average audience of 19.9 million viewers for games last Thursday, Sunday and Monday, the NFL saw its largest-ever Week 1 tune-in, according to Nielsen. The previous high of 19.6 million came for the 2013 Kickoff Weekend.

And for the sixth consecutive year, more than 105 million viewers watched at least some of the Kickoff Weekend game across CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC.

Variety reports Thursday’s opener on NBC between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Super Bowl champion New England Patriots was the week’s most-watched program with 27.4 million viewers, according to same-day Nielsen estimates — the second most-watched Kickoff game ever. It was the first appearance for the Patriots and their quarterback Tom Brady since the four-game suspension for his part in Deflate-gate was overturned, and that likely boosted viewership.

And NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” opener, a classic NFC East matchup between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, averaged 26.8 million viewers and is the second best in the 10-year history of the NBC franchise.