NFL Season Opener Fumbles

I'll tune in Monday night for the Rams, but mostly because the Angels are out of contention and I'll be bored.

Besides, I'm rooting for the Rams this year. Hopefully they'll eschew the anthem protests, sheesh.

At Deadline Hollywood, "Eagles Bring Out “Philly Special” to Win But NFL Kickoff Ratings Down From 2017":

#FridayFeeling or #FridayMotivation ? #NFLKickoff ratings down to multi-year low as #ATLvsPHI starts late on harsh TV landscape ... even with that winning version of the "Philly Special" https://t.co/fS0NU4PVh8

— Dominic Patten (@DeadlineDominic) September 7, 2018

With only Eagles defensive end Michael Bennett taking to the bench in protest during the national anthem, when things finally did kick off on NBC just after 9 PM ET, it certainly didn’t seem to be the most inspiring game. At one point, tell-it-like-it-is Philly fans were booing the current Super Bowl champs on live TV for their lame efforts on the field.

Then, as it looked like Atlanta would be grinding out a win, the action really started right near the end as the Eagles dusted off a variation of their Super Bowl move the Philly Special. With some quick moves, QB Nick Foles snagged a 15-yard pass from teammate Nelson Agholor on a reverse to seal an 18-12 victory for the Eagles and some respect from the more than just the fans at Lincoln Financial Field.

Sadly, that glory did not translate into the ratings

With a 13.4/5 in the metered markets, the post-midnight ending game is down 8% from last year’s kickoff of September 7, 2017. In one of the lowest season openers ratingswise and facing portions of a cable news-covered rally by a very NFL critical President Donald Trump, last night’s game is not only down from last year, but 2016, 2015 and 2014 – all of which saw successive declines.

To add more injury to that, the 2017 8:42 PM ET-starting season opener between the victorious Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots ended up with a weak 7.7/29 rating among adults 18-49 and 21.8 million viewers. That was a double digit decline from 2016 and the worst total audience an opening game had since 2009.

ven in a TV landscape where ratings and viewership are noticeably dipping, unless you are This Is Us or Game Of Thrones, those results have to worry the NFL and the broadcasters, especially the still Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox with its pricey Thursday Night Football debuting this year

We’ll update with more NFL kickoff numbers and other ratings like Big Brother, which was on too last night, as we get them later today...

More.