Though the on-screen product was enough to induce nausea in Chicago and yawning elsewhere, at least people were watching.
The debut of Thursday Night Football, during which Bears quarterback nearly matched his jersey number with interceptions, resulted in the most-watched opening game of the November-December series.
The league has announced that the game was viewed in, on average, 2.75 million homes, a 29-percent increase over last year’s debut.
The difference in 2009? NFL Network is now carried on Comcast, the largest and without question the best cable provider in the United States. (Hey, we need to start sucking up if those rumors are true.)
Last night’s broadcast was marred by an audio glitch that resulted in only the sound from the field -- and nothing from the booth -- being pumped into many homes.
Some viewers simply thought that NFLN had decided to provide a Matt Millen-free alternative.
Actually, such an approach might result in more than 2.75 million homes watching the games -- in Michigan alone.