The numbers are undeniably big. However, the latest Chiefs-Bills playoff classic fell short of the last one — and well short of last year’s divisional-round game in the same window.

Per multiple reports, 39 million viewers (on average) watched Kansas City beat Buffalo, 27-24, to advance to the AFC Championship. The last time the same two teams met in the divisional round, in the same time frame and on the same network, the audience averaged 42.7 million. That’s an 8.6-percent drop over the January 2022 game.

It gets a little worse. Last year, the Sunday night Cowboys-49ers game on Fox attracted 45.65 million viewers. Although the Cowboys always do well, the drop from Dallas-San Francisco to Kansas City-Buffalo was 6.65 million. That’s a 14.5-percent drop.

So far this year, the trend had been the NFL’s friend. And while it’s no surprise that the Cowboys pushed the bar higher, it’s a little concerning that Chiefs-Bills ’24 did 3.7 million less than Bills-Chiefs ’22.

The Buccaneers-Lions game earlier on Sunday averaged 40.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock.

On Sunday, the AFC Championship game happens first, followed by the NFC Championship. Last year, 49ers-Eagles averaged 47.5 million in the early window, with 53.12 million for Bengals-Chiefs in the later window.