For the second straight season, the Baltimore Ravens squared off against the New England Patriots on NBC's Sunday Night Football program in November.

More than a year after the Ravens soundly defeated the Patriots 37-20 in Baltimore last season, Bill Belichick's team returned the favor with a close 23-17 win at Gillette Stadium.

This year's showdown wasn't as highly-anticipated as last years. The Ravens were led by 2019 league MVP Lamar Jackson, and the Tom Brady-led Patriots were a perfect 8-0 at the the time.

Well, Jackson hasn't played like an MVP this season, and the Patriots (now 4-5) haven't been as dominant in the post-Brady era. Nonetheless, NBC enjoyed strong viewership numbers for the Ravens-Pats game.

Per Rick Porter of The Hollywood Reporter, the latest contest between the Patriots and Ravens had 15.79 million viewers. This is down from the aforementioned 2019 game in Baltimore that recorded more than 19 million viewers.

The Week 10 showdown was also down from last week's Sunday night game on NBC. The Drew Brees-led New Orleans Saints crushed Brady's Buccaneers 38-3 in Week 9, and that game reportedly averaged 18.9 million viewers prior to halftime, per the Saints' official website.

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Unless the Ravens and Patriots finish in the same position in their respective divisions, they won't meet in the 2021 regular season, based on the NFL's schedule rotation and format. The Ravens will most likely finish second or third in the AFC North, while the Patriots seem destined to finish third - behind the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins - in the AFC EAst.

With the win, the Patriots moved to 4-5; it was their second straight win following a disappointing 2-5 start. The Ravens, meanwhile, move to 6-3 - placing them three games behind the Pittsburgh Steelers for the top seed in the NFC.

New England is two games out of a wild card spot in the AFC. The Ravens are one of five AFC teams with a 6-3 record. The Patriots will visit the Houston Texans this Sunday, while the Ravens prepare for a home contest against the Tennessee Titans.

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