The NFL saw the rating for last week’s game between the Washington Commanders and Atlanta Falcons and said, “Give me more of that, please.”
The NFL announced next week’s wild card schedule during the first half of Sunday Night Football, featuring the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. The Commanders, who will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will play on Sunday Night Football for the second time in three weeks.
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While there were several exciting matchups next week, it’s likely the NFL and NBC/Peacock saw the ratings of the Week 16 Washington game and wanted to feature the upstart Commanders and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels again.
According to NBC Sports PR, the Washington-Atlanta game had 19.7 million viewers, the most for a Sunday night game since the 2019 regular-season finale. In that game, the 49ers played the Seahawks for the NFC West title.
The Commanders and Bucs come into next week’s game as two of the NFL’s hottest teams. Washington has not lost since Week 12, while Tampa Bay has won six of its last seven games after being 4-6 at one point.
