Peyton Manning returned to the NFL Sunday night, and nearly everyone in the country watched him beat the Steelers, 31-19. Well, not really, but it seemed that way: the Broncos and Steelers generated an 18.0 overnight rating, which makes it the most-watched NFL Primetime regular season game in 15 years.
The last time these two teams met, in January for an AFC Wild Card game, Tim Tebow led Denver to a victory in overtime. The rating then: a 25.9 overnight, which was the best for a Wild Card game in 23 years. The game was the 2nd highest TV program of the calendar year, only behind the Super Bowl.
