NBC’s broadcast of the NFL game Sunday night between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants turned in some big Nielsen numbers. TVbytheNumbers.com reports that the early returns showed "Sunday Night Football" down from last year’s equivalent game but still higher than anything on broadcast in a while.

"In metered-market results, which are time zone-adjusted, the 16.6/27 in metered-market households from 8:30 p.m.-11:45 a.m. ET for NBC Sports’ coverage of last night’s New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game is the #1 rating of the night, excluding Fox’s NFL overrun," the website reports. "NBC’s primetime average 12.6/21 from 7-11 p.m. ET is the best Sunday average for ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox since February 24 (ABC’s Academy Awards coverage)."

Looking at Nielsen overnights for the key 18-49 demo, NBC easily outpaced its broadcast rivals for the night, although Fox also got some big numbers from NFL overrun and postgame coverage during the 7 p.m. hour.

NBC averaged a 9.1 rating in 18-49 for the game from 8:30-11 p.m., down from a 9.8 average for last year’s opening game between Pittsburgh and Denver, TVbytheNumbers.com reports.

Fox’s NFL overrun for the 7 p.m. half-hour delivered a 7.9 average rating in the 18-49 demo, while its combination of NFL overrun and the postgame show "The OT" at 7:30 pulled in a 7.5.

NBC’s "Football Night in America" surged to a 7.0 in viewers 18-49 for the 8 p.m. half-hour, as the 8:30 game neared.

CBS put up a lineup of original programming, with its U.S. Open tennis coverage delivering a 1.6 average in 18-49 for the 7 p.m. hour. "60 Minutes" came through with a 1.9 at 8 p.m., with "Big Brother" equaling that number at 9 p.m. (up one-tenth from last week), while "Unforgettable" dipped to a 0.9 at 10 p.m. for the show’s summer finale — down one-tenth of a ratings point from a week ago.

ABC’s only fresh show was "Secret Millionaire" at 9 p.m., which ticked up three-tenths from last week to a 1.1.

For prime time overall, NBC led the broadcast networks with a 7.2 average rating in adults 18-49, followed by Fox (3.9 average), CBS (1.6), ABC (0.9) and Univision (0.6). NBC also led the way in total viewers, averaging 18.7 million to lead Fox (9.9 million), CBS (7.2 million), ABC (3.9 million) and Univision (1.8 million).