PITTSBURGH — The Steelers have never played their first division game this late in the season, but it might be worth the wait.

They finally begin games with their AFC North opponents on Sunday when they face the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium. And it might not be a stretch to label it one of the best mid-season matchups between the ...Read more

It doesn’t make sense, at both first glance and second glance, that the Kansas City Chiefs stand 9-0 as the NFL’s lone unbeaten team.

The Chiefs are far from dominant, having trailed in eight games. Nor are they riding good fortune. Injuries have deleted their top receivers and best running back. A soft schedule? Nope. The Chiefs serve as ...Read more

BALTIMORE — In its present state, there is no NFL without former Ravens owner Art Modell, and the league needs to say thank you by inducting him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The NFL signed an 11-year, $111 billion media rights deal in July 2021, and the roots can be traced to Modell, who was chairman of the NFL’s media committee from...Read more

DENVER — The Chiefs are gonna Chief, Chief, Chief, Chief, Chief. David Treadwell’s advice for Alex Forsyth right about now?

Forget Travis Kelce.

Remember Taylor Swift.

Shake it off.

Shake it off.

“You’ve got to get back on the horse,” the former Broncos Super Bowl kicker told me Monday as we were still processing the final seconds...Read more

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — With left tackle Taylor Decker sidelined, the Detroit Lions were without their starting five along the offensive line in Sunday's 26-23 comeback win over the Houston Texans.

Will Decker (shoulder) be ready to go for a Week 11 matchup with the Jaguars? Head coach Dan Campbell doesn't have a straight answer yet, but he's ...Read more

SEATTLE — We’re in the third act of the redemption arc, and the lead has reemerged as the protagonist. The fallen hero has endured his penance and recovered both skill and sympathy.

Russell Wilson isn’t just playing better than he was the previous couple of years in Denver — he is looking like his old Seattle self. And his team isn’t...Read more

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Miami Dolphins might just be channeling Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in “Godfather III” at the midway point of the season.

Just when you thought they were out, they pull you right back in.

A season on the verge of seeing its playoff hopes shut down could have the postseason back in the cards after the eager ...Read more

For many years, the Los Angeles Chargers failed Justin Herbert.

Those days ended in January, when Dean and John Spanos, forced by recurring failure to get over themselves, ceded the money and power needed to hire Jim Harbaugh.

Herbert won the football lottery once Harbaugh signed his five-year contract worth $80 million.

Harbaugh understands ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — On the other side of one of the more unusual victories in their history, the Vikings will return to work this week with a pair of prominent objectives on their offensive to-do list: Refine the ways they punish teams for covering Justin Jefferson the way the Jaguars did on Sunday, and refresh the way Sam Darnold plays when he’s ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin always wanted Russell Wilson to be the Steelers' starting quarterback, which probably explains why Wilson was handled with kid gloves when he injured his calf in the preseason.

Wilson represented to Tomlin the Steelers' best chance to return to the AFC title game and beyond because of his ability to throw the ball. ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — For the first time since 2017, the Eagles notched a victory against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, stampeding their way to a 34-6 triumph.

With the win, the Eagles improved to 7-2 and assumed first place in the NFC East. There were highlights on both sides of the ball. The offense has scored at least 28 points in four ...Read more

The Deebo Samuel sideline scuffle has been put to bed.

“I talked to a number of guys on the team, we squashed it and now we’re good,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday, the day after Samuel had some words for place kicker Jake Moody after his third missed field goal and ended up taking a swipe at long-snapper Taybor Pepper.

The ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Inexperience. Indecision. And, ultimately, inexcusable.

Uncertainty about the ins and outs of the Bucs defense had an adverse effect on two young cornerbacks who finished Sunday’s game, allowing for softer-than-ordered man-to-man coverage in the 23-20 loss to the 49ers.

Coach Todd Bowles said second-year defensive back Josh ...Read more

DETROIT — A Lions victory isn’t complete until Dan Campbell speaks upon it. And in those two minutes of postgame video, with players in undershirts standing around him, you hear the essence of the team.

Evocative. Provocative. Edgy. Most definitely edgy.

We’ve seen variations of it through seven straight victories, tying the franchise’...Read more

CHICAGO — Matt Eberflus’ cellphone service was spotty Monday morning. Because of course it was. Why wouldn’t it be?

Seventeen hours after his Chicago Bears got trampled, 19-3, at Soldier Field by a floundering New England Patriots team, Eberflus had his first opportunity to provide reassurance to the outside world with a concession that ...Read more

DENVER — Given the opponent and the environment Sunday, the Broncos offense and rookie quarterback Bo Nix did a lot of good things.

Kansas City boasts one of the NFL’s most formidable defenses, and veteran coordinator Steve Spagnuolo can tie quarterbacks of any experience level in a knot. Arrowhead Stadium might have been hosting a day game...Read more

NEW YORK — Optimists are going to paint the Giants’ 2-8 record, and Sunday’s embarrassing loss to the horrible Carolina Panthers, as progress.

Progress towards finishing as one of the worst teams in the NFL, which will earn them a top-three draft pick next April and likely land them their next franchise quarterback.

Pessimists – ...Read more

MIAMI — Kendall Lamm is an outlier squared.

Not only is the Miami Dolphins offensive lineman an undrafted player from a small college who carved out an NFL career for himself, but this Appalachian State standout has the rare distinction of playing 10 years in the NFL. That means he has had more than twice the average NFL career, and did so by...Read more

LANDOVER, Md. — From Russell Wilson's cadence and rookie defensive tackle Johnny Newton's neutral-zone infraction to the Steelers limiting quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Commanders to a season-low 242 yards — just 16 in the fourth quarter — the reasons for victory Sunday were many.

But Pittsburgh toppling Washington, 28-27, at ...Read more