Super Bowl XLIV that saw the underdog New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 was an unbelievable ratings hit for CBS, garnering 46.4 fast overnight rating according to Nielsen Media Research, the highest rated game since the 1986 Super Bowl between the Bears and Patriots which drew a 48.3 on NBC. The game was up 10 percent from last year's Cardinals-Steelers game.

But, when the total final numbers come in later today, the focus will be not on the ratings, but total households. Last year's game pulled in a total of 98.7 million viewers, so chances are that the NFL will see over 100 million viewers for its premier game for the first time, ever.

Game for the Records:

• Saints kicker Garrett Hartley entered the record books with his performance Sunday. He became the first player in Super Bowl history to make three field goals from at least 40 yards. He put the Saints on the scoreboard with a 46-yarder in the second quarter and converted from 44 yards just before halftime He set the record with a 47-yarder in the third quarter, continuing a successful recent stretch. Hartley made the winning field goal in overtime of the NFC championship game against the Vikings.
• Colts quarterback Peyton Manning threw for 333 yards, joining Brett Favre (5,855) and Joe Montana (5,772) as the only quarterbacks to have passed for more than 5,000 yards in their postseason careers. Manning has 5,164 yards.
• Colts kicker Matt Stover became the oldest player (42 years 11 days) to participate in a Super Bowl. Until he missed a 51-yard try in the fourth quarter, he had made 16 consecutive postseason field goals.
• The Saints matched the biggest deficit a team has overcome to win a Super Bowl by rallying from 10 points down. Their 10-0 deficit matched the 10-0 deficit Washington overcame in beating Denver 42-10 in Super Bowl XXII.

Wire reports

See a complete game recap, plus the Betty White/Abe Vigoda Snickers, The Last Airbender, Denny's screaming chickens, and Tim Tebow commericals from The Biz of Football's live game blog of Super Bowl 44.

(THE BIZ OF BASEBALL)

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Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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