FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – On Sunday, Nov. 18, the New England Patriots hosted a game at Gillette Stadium for the second time in as many weeks and defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 59-24, in front of the home crowd. In a game that saw the Patriots score a franchise tying-high 59 points, the team also set a season-high household television rating of 43.08. In addition to being the 2012 season-high, Sunday's rating is the third highest regular season rating in franchise history.

After recording just one household rating of over 40 during the 2011 regular season—a 42.65 rating during the team's 41-23 win vs. the Denver Broncos in Week 15—the Patriots have already accomplished the feat twice in 2012. Prior to Sunday's game against the Colts, the Patriots vs. Jets overtime game in Week 7 was the highest rated Patriots game of the season (41.4).

This season marks the third time in franchise history that the Patriots have recorded multiple household ratings of over 40 in the regular season. In 2007, the Patriots saw a rating of 40.4 in Week 15 vs. the New York Jets and a rating of 50.1 in the regular season finale against the New York Giants: a 38-35 victory that completed the Patriots' 16-0 undefeated regular season. In 2010, the Patriots received household ratings of over 40 in Weeks 11, 13, 14 and 15.

Sunday's rating is also the highest rated November game in franchise history and marks just the second time that the Patriots have recorded a plus-40 household rating in the month of November. Coincidentally, the only other time the Patriots achieved the feat was during a Week 11 victory over the Colts in 2010 that saw them record a household rating of 42.04.

Sunday's win improved the Patriots' record to 7-3 as the team heads into a Thanksgiving matchup against the New York Jets. Thursday night's game will be broadcast nationally on NBC and will kick off at 8:20 pm ET.