So says NFL public relations guru Greg Aiello, who tweeted this a few moments ago about the Broncos' 29-23 overtime victory over the Steelers:

It was most-watched game of season, most-watched Wild Card game ever w/42.4 million viewers, & most-watched TV program since Super Bowl XLV.

The overnight ratings, a measure of just the major metered markets, were available yesterday, so this is not a huge surprise. The game earned a 25.9 overnight Nielsen rating, making it the most-watched NFL wild-card game since a Seahawks-Oilers matchup earned a 26.7 overnight on January 3, 1988.

It will be fascinating to learn how huge the numbers are for Saturday's Patriots-Broncos divisional round matchup. The matchup between the two teams -- or should we say Tom Brady and Tim Tebow? -- four weeks ago drew enormous numbers in the 4:15 p.m. time slot on CBS.

The network received a 19.5 overnight rating for the Patriots’ 41-23 victory nationally, its largest highest regular-season overnight since the Patriots’ 24-20 win over the Colts Nov. 4, 2007. In the Boston market, the Patriots earned a 42 overnight rating and a 68 share.

The highest-rated divisional game in Patriots history was a January 14, 2007 game with the Chargers, which got a 44.9 household rating. The biggest share happened on January 5, 1997 a Patriots-Steelers game earned a 70.