As far as competitive contests go in the NFL playoffs, the league has seen better years. Out of ten playoff games this postseason, eight have been decided by double digits with only one true edge-of-your-seat thriller (thank you Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas Cowboys).

Worse, as the stakes have risen, the games have gotten more lopsided. The two games that made up the championship round this weekend were downright soporific, with the New England Patriots trouncing the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17 and the Atlanta Falcons opening up a 24-0 lead over Green Bay at halftime and winning 44-21. It was the first time in nearly 40 years that both conference championship games were decided by at least 19 points.

One of the two contests did post modest increases in ratings and viewership but it’s not enough to stem the tide of down ratings throughout the league this year. The Sunday afternoon Packers vs. Falcons contest earned a 27.4 rating on Fox, besting last year’s Carolina Panthers blowout of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship by 0.8 of a ratings point.

On the AFC side, ratings for the Steelers vs. the Patriots were significantly lower than last year’s Patriots vs. Broncos contest. This year’s game earned a 27.6 on CBS, down from last year’s 31.8, in which the Broncos punched their ticket to Super Bowl 50. Media watchers point to a number of factors for the drop, including a snowstorm that bore down on the East Coast last year making people more likely to plop down in front of the TV and the fact that many suspected it would be the final battle between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

Of course, the ratings weren’t down in football-mad New England. The Steelers vs. the Patriots posted a huge 51.6 in Boston, the second-highest rated non-Super Bowl game in franchise history.

Viewership numbers were also a mixed bag in the conference championship round. The NFC Championship saw an increase of more than four million viewers to 46.3 million compared to last year, according to SportsTVRatings.com. Steelers/Patriots dropped by close to 2 million viewers from last year, down to 48 million.

Things could be worse for the NFL. Despite a slew of uncompetitive games, ratings weren’t catastrophic. Still, the overall trend of lower year-over-year ratings have carried over from the regular season to the playoffs. Eight of 10 postseason games are down from last year with median viewer averages down as well. And absent the much-ballyhooed prospect of a Cowboys/Patriots Super Bowl, the big game may not post ratings records either.

The New England Patriots will take on the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. Ratings, of course, will still be enormous compared to any other TV event of the year. The top five all-time Super Bowl TV audiences are from the last six years, with the record (114.4 million) coming the last time the Patriots appeared in 2015 against Seattle.

New England was the fourth most popular team on TV this season, averaging 20.5 million viewers and a 11.9 household rating per game. The Falcons were 23rd, averaging only 12.2 million viewers and a 7.2 rating.

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