Kinda related, maybe not...
I think the NFL knew the Pats couldn't win this year or it would just invalidate their attempts at parity (salary cap, scheduling, etc), heck there's even a "Competition Committee" dedicated to bringing everyone back to the middle. The Pats have given the NFL a big F U to all the rule changes, schedule nightmares and all the adversity that comes w/ being the champ. After all the crap that happened this year, they were still primed to beat Denver in the playoffs, until the refs stepped in.
If you don't think the NFL wanted to give the title to Indy the easiest way possible (i.e. by not facing the Pats), just watch those AFC divisional games again. How one-sided can officiating be? The refs tried to take away the game from the Pats as they did the Steelers. Lucky for Pittsburgh that they were playing a team full of choke-artists.
How this relates to the ratings - do you think as many people would have tuned in to watch the Pats destroy the Seahawks? It would have been a foregone conclusion, everybody would assume the Pats would win and wouldn't care. Plus, most of the free world doesn't care about the Pats winning 4/5 anyway. At least w/ 2 fresh teams there are new stories and some uncertainty about the outcome.
I think the NFL has learned a couple of lessons in all of this - 1) Indy will NEVER win a SB no matter how easy things are and 2) the Pats ARE the best team in football and play the best football on the biggest stage, the Super Bowl. I don't think the NFL wants to risk another poorly played SB, regardless of officiating. The Pats will get a fair shake next year and storm into the SB to take back their title -count on it!!!
