On Monday night, ESPN had one of the best NFL match ups of the season -- the undefeated New Orleans Saints versus perennial powerhouse New England Patriots. The game was, perhaps, a preview of the Super Bowl because it's entirely possible that the Saints and the Pats could make it through the playoffs to the ultimate game.

Well, without much more than the usual hype, ESPN's Monday Night Football got the huge audience this kind of contest warrants. It was the second most-watched cable program of all time. Yes, you read that correctly. The second most-watched cable program of all time. Over 20 million total viewers -- 21.4 million -- tuned in to watch the game... which turned out to be a bit of a dud. But that doesn't matter to ESPN because they scored big time.

The broadcast was ESPN's second-highest rating in the network's 30-year history. But like I said, the game was a bit of a snooze after half-time. The Saints dominated, the Patriots had no answer for the high-powered Drew Brees led offense, and by the end of the game, Tom Brady was on the sidelines. He wasn't injured, except for his pride. The coach took him out of the game when the Pats basically threw in the towel.

You know, in that way it was like a Super Bowl. Recently, the Super Bowls have been more exciting -- like the Giants coming back to beat the Pats when they were undefeated in 2007 -- but in the history of the "big game," there have been a lot of lousy games.

Let's hope if these guys do meet again, it'll be a better game.