The 16-6 final score did not turn people away from Thursday night's game as the Thanksgiving night matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers became the highest rated game ever for the NFL Network. Not only was the game the highest rated contest in the history of the eight-year network by over 50 percent, but the game also was the highest rated cable program ever on Thanksgiving.
There was an average of 10.7 million people who tuned in to watch this game and the numbers could be higher since they do not include those people who live in the Baltimore and San Francisco areas and watched the game over-the-air instead of the NFL Network.
The previous highest rated game on NFL Network was last year's Thanksgiving game between the New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals, and Thursday night's game was a 50 percent increase over the 2010 game.