As expected, a lot of people watched Tom Brady's return to New England.
The Sunday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers generated a total audience delivery of about 28.5 million viewers across all platforms, according to NBC Sports, which cited preliminary Nielsen and Adobe data.
The Week 4 clash was the most-watched NBC Sunday Night Football matchup since 2012, and the second-most-watched ever, trailing only a Week 17 contest between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Football Team in 2012. That NFC East win-and-in game drew a total audience of 30.3 million viewers.
The game didn't come particularly close to the best-known regular-season viewership records, led by 41.5 million in 1990 for Giants-49ers on ABC's Monday Night Football. It also didn't crack the best Sunday-only viewership Top 5, which ranges from 30.3M-33.8M since 1988.
— Bill Shea (@Bill_Shea19) October 4, 2021
The Bucs-Pats matchup marked the first time Brady faced his former team. The legendary quarterback won six Super Bowls with the Patriots over 20 seasons before signing with the Buccaneers as a free agent last year.
The contest came down to the wire, with the Bucs hanging on for a 19-17 victory after Patriots kicker Nick Folk missed a field-goal attempt during the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
Brady also made history during the prime-time tilt, overtaking Drew Brees to become the NFL's all-time passing yards leader. He's now the fourth quarterback ever to defeat all 32 teams, too.
