The NFL season has officially begun.

NBC's Sunday Night Football opener on Thursday between Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers was heads and shoulders above the rest.

Sunday Night Football drew 26.9 million viewers, up 7 percent from last year's kickoff game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos. In metered-market households, which are time-zone adjusted, last night's 36-16 Seahawks victory was the third-highest-rated ever for a Thursday kickoff game with a 15.5 rating.

NBC easily won the night in all key categories, including total viewers and adults 18-49.

Even against football, CBS' Big Brother (6.4 million, 2.2) — with the second double eviction episode of the season — jumped 10 percent from last week's eviction episode.

ABC's reality fantasy competition The Quest saw a significant drop from Hour 1 to Hour 2 against football, from 1.9 million to 1.2 million.

Sept. 5, 12:48 p.m. The story has been updated with final time-zone adjusted numbers.

Email: Philiana.Ng@THR.com

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