As expected, Patrick Mahomes vs. Lamar Jackson Part III delivered from a ratings standpoint.

The highly-anticipated Monday Night Football showdown - featuring the league's last two MVP winners - between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens averaged 14 million viewers, ESPN announced in a press release.

The network also stated that the game peaked at 16.2 million viewers during the 9:15 to 9:30 p.m. time period. Kansas City was the top market with a rating of 50.7, followed by Baltimore (29.5), Denver (13.4), San Diego (13.3) and Pittsburgh (12.6).

This is a giant 36-percent increase from last year's Week 3 Monday Night Football contest between the Chicago Bears and Washington. That game had "an initial audience of 10.3 million viewers," ESPN noted in its press release.

This showdown between the Chiefs and Ravens was full of expectations for several reasons.

The Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champions. Last year, the Ravens posted the best regular season record at 14-2. Mahomes and Jackson are also widely regarded as the two best quarterbacks in the NFL right now, after being named the 2018 and 2019 MVP, respectively.

Not only that, but this game carried serious implications for the top seed in the AFC. With the new playoff format, only one team gets a first-round bye now. The Chiefs are essentially two games up on the Ravens now that they have the head-to-head tiebreaker.

With the victory, Mahomes now holds a 3-0 record against Jackson and the Ravens. The other two wins came in regular season showdowns at Arrowhead Stadium in 2018 and 2019.

Kansas City is off to a flawless 3-0 start for the fourth consecutive season. They are one game up on the Las Vegas Raiders for first in the AFC West division. The Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers are the only other 3-0 teams in the AFC.

The Chiefs will host the New England Patriots this Sunday, while the Ravens will look to rebound on the road against Washington in Week 4.

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