The hype for Sunday’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals was real. Considering the rivalry and competitiveness between these two teams, most of America had their televisions streaming the game, and the numbers are here to back it up.
CBS announced that the Cincinnati Bengals matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs was the most-watched NFL on CBS game to air since 1998. The game attracted 28 million viewers, a record that has remained untouched on the network for the past 26 years.
The regular season matchup was the most views CBS has garnered since its telecast of Super Bowl LVIII which had 120 million viewers. It comes as no surprise that the Week 2 game was a must-watch on the calendars of football fans. After all, it featured two of the most electric quarterbacks in the NFL going up against each other.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26-25
The game was close throughout and as expected, it came down to the wire. The reigning Super Bowl champions won the game by a narrow margin of 1 point owing to a 51-yard field goal kick by Harrison Butker. Had it not been for a pass interference flag thrown late in the game, the outcome would have likely been different.
Joe Burrow has been the one quarterback against whom Patrick Mahomes has struggled in the NFL. The latter went winless against him in their first few matchups with the former also beating the star quarterback in the playoffs to punch the Bengals ticket to the Super Bowl.
However, Mahomes got his revenge after he beat the Bengals and led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory the following year. Following the Week 2 victory, Burrow’s edge over Mahomes has now been reduced to 3-2.
The Bengals-Chiefs game broke other records as it became the most-streamed regular-season game of all time on Paramount+. CBS has witnessed a surge in viewership this season after it averaged over 19.8 million viewers through the first two weeks of this season. It marks a 5% increase in viewership. If a regular season matchup between these two teams is this exciting, imagine the numbers to see them go at it in the playoffs.
