Ratings: Football Still Rules, While Family Guy and Dexter Post Strong Showings

Another Sunday, another ratings win for NBC.
Sunday Night Football, featuring the New York Jets vs. the Miami Dolphins, dominated the evening, giving NBC an easy victory, with 15.9 million viewers and a 6.5 rating in the 18-to-49 demographic on a night when no new series debuted.
Fox's hourlong Family Guy posted the best showing among scripted fare, according to early Nielsen estimates, with 9.1 million and a 4.5 rating, despite dropping 13 percent from last year. It was preceded by The Simpsons (7.8 million viewers, 3.7 rating) and The Cleveland Show (6.6 million, 3.1 rating), both of which were also down significantly versus last year.

Check out photos from Family Guy

Still, CBS likely placed second, but its prime-time lineup was affected by a National Football League overrun. 60 Minutes, which ran from 7:47 to 8:47 p.m., drew 13.9 million viewers and a 3.8 rating, while a 90-minute premiere of The Amazing Race 17 and Undercover Boss both earned about 11 million and a 3.6 rating. ABC's Sunday flagship Desperate Housewives was the network's top show of the night. The seventh season opened to 12.8 million with a 4.2 rating, but was down about 11 percent from last year. Housewives was bookended by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (8.4 million, 2.5 rating), which was also down from a year ago, and Brothers & Sisters (9.6 million, 3.0 rating), which was on par with last year's premiere.

Read our Dexter recap

In cable news, the Season 5 premiere of Dexter pulled in 2.3 million viewers to give Showtime its biggest season premiere in 15 years.