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Jim Souhan: Vikings' path to Super Bowl is clear because NFC playoff field is flawed

Sports / Football /

MINNEAPOLIS — If the Vikings beat the Rams on Monday night, they will earn their first playoff victory in five years.

If the Vikings lose, they will experience one of the worst forms of sporting regret — knowing they had the makings of a championship team and failing to pull themselves to the second rung of the playoff ladder.

For all of ...Read more

Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Cam Inman: 49ers couldn't finish games late so they're home early this season

Sports / Football /

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The ghosts of past playoff collapses haunted the 49ers this season, so much so that a 6-11 record assured them of no postseason horrors this year.

Three of their first five defeats came by blowing fourth-quarter leads against NFC West teams, and the 49ers never recovered.

“When I go back to the hardest thing for me ...Read more

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Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen enter NFL playoffs with chances to change narratives

Sports / Football /

NEW YORK — Lamar Jackson wasn’t in a mood to celebrate.

Sure, his Baltimore Ravens had just clinched the AFC North with a Week 18 victory over the Cleveland Browns, but Jackson arrived at the postgame podium still in uniform, rather than wearing one of shirts or hats commemorating the division crown.

“I’m focused on the wild-card game....Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

NFL moves Rams playoff game against Vikings to Arizona

Sports / Football /

LOS ANGELES — Coach Sean McVay and Rams players kept their focus Thursday on preparing for their NFC wild-card game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Still, their hearts were with those affected by the wildfires that have ravaged Southern California.

"This is bigger than the game of football," McVay told reporters during a news conference in ...Read more

L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

What NFL rules, regulations must Raiders follow in coaching search?

Sports / Football /

LAS VEGAS — The Raiders, after firing Antonio Pierce on Tuesday and Tom Telesco on Thursday, are one of six teams searching for a new coach and one of three looking for a new general manager.

Time is of the essence. The Bears, Jaguars, Jets, Patriots and Saints are also in the coaching market. The Jets and Titans are on the hunt for a general...Read more

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49ers interview Robert Saleh and Lions assistant for defensive coordinator opening

Sports / Football /

Less than 48 hours after firing Nick Sorensen as defensive coordinator, the 49ers have turned to someone familiar as a potential replacement.

The team has interviewed former New York Jets coach Robert Saleh and current Lions defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend for the opening.

Based on what coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday, he’s just ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Rams try to keep focus on playoff game against Vikings amid concerns over fires

Sports / Football /

LOS ANGELES — Coach Sean McVay and Rams players kept their focus Thursday on preparing for their NFC wild-card game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Still, their hearts were with those affected by the wildfires that have ravaged Southern California.

“This is bigger than the game of football,” McVay told reporters during a news conference ...Read more

Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Frank Wycheck found to have Stage 3 CTE, his family announces

Sports / Football /

PHILADELPHIA — Frank Wycheck was right: His brain had been ravaged by football.

Researchers at Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center have determined that the onetime NFL star and Northeast Philadelphia native, who died at age 52 in December 2023, had Stage 3 of the degenerative brain disease, Wycheck’s family ...Read more

Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

Tyreek Hill's agent says WR is committed to Dolphins, reveals new information on his nagging wrist injury

Sports / Football /

The agent for Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who recently expressed a desire to leave the team, said his client is now committed to the Dolphins.

Hill had a postgame outburst in which he indicated to the media that he wanted out from the team in the visitors’ locker room at MetLife Stadium, following the Dolphins’ 32-20 loss...Read more

Heidi Fang/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Falcons 'comfortable' with Kirk Cousins as backup quarterback, open to trading him

Sports / Football /

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said the team is comfortable moving forward with Kirk Cousins as its backup quarterback, but will remain open for trade offers.

“We gave Kirk Cousins two years guaranteed,” Fontenot said Thursday, in his first public comments since Cousins was benched. “When you do that, you ...Read more

L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Raiders fire general manager Tom Telesco after 1 season on the job

Sports / Football /

LAS VEGAS — The Raiders fired general manager Tom Telesco on Thursday after just one season.

Telesco, who held the same position with the Chargers from 2013-23, was hired in January 2024 to replace Dave Ziegler. The Raiders were 4-13 his lone season at the helm.

Telesco, 52, deserves credit for his first and only draft with the team. He ...Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Sam Farmer's NFL wild-card playoff picks

Sports / Football /

Los Angeles Times NFL writer Sam Farmer examines the matchups this week. Lines according to FanDuel Sportsbook (O/U = over/under). Record last week 12-4 (.750); season 189-83 (.695). Using point spreads with the scores Farmer predicted, the record against the spread last week would have been 9-7 (.563); season 144-126-2 (.533). Times Pacific.

...Read more

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Greg Cote's NFL wild-card playoff picks

Sports / Football /

This is our 34th season of NFL picks in the Miami Herald in a tradition founded in 1991, and we thank you for coming along for the ride as always. We wrapped 10-6 both straight-up and against the spread in Week 18. That included five ‘dogs-with-points in covers by the Panthers, Cowboys, Bears, Saints and Rams. Also called Texans’ win over ...Read more

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Ravens WR Zay Flowers won't play in wild-card game Saturday vs. Steelers

Sports / Football /

BALTIMORE — Ravens Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers will not play in Saturday’s wild-card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, coach John Harbaugh announced Thursday.

Filling the void left by Baltimore’s leading receiver will also be a collective effort.

“We’ll move guys around,” Harbaugh said. “Guys will play spots based on ...Read more

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Mike Preston: Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is the X factor vs. Ravens

Sports / Football /

BALTIMORE — Few in the NFL have a game face as menacing as Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. It’s as if he is back in middle school and the bully took his lunch money, or another student said something bad about his mom.

It’s time to fight. The scowl has become part of his persona.

“That’s his natural face,” said his older brother, Eddie...Read more

Benjamin B. Braun/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS

Joe Starkey: Steelers-Ravens has legacies, futures and reputations at stake

Sports / Football /

PITTSBURGH — This Steelers-Ravens showdown needs no endorsement from me. It's a playoff game. But it's also fraught with bigger-picture implications on both sides.

For starters, it feels like one of the more significant games of Mike Tomlin's career.

A loss, especially a lopsided one, arguably would mark the low point of Tomlin's 18-year ...Read more

David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

David Murphy: No question Eagles are NFC's most talented team, at every position except one (or two)

Sports / Football /

PHILADELPHIA — There are only two question marks for the Eagles this postseason.

The first one is more a function of the opponents the Eagles could face this postseason. The Packers, the Bucs, the Lions — all have offensive lines that are better than average (Pro Football Focus ranked all three among their top eight units in the league ...Read more

Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images North America/TNS

Bills' Von Miller on facing former team in wild card: 'I love everything about the Denver Broncos'

Sports / Football /

DENVER — It’s all love between Von Miller and the Broncos.

In preparation to face his former team in the wild-card round on Sunday, Buffalo’s veteran edge rusher doesn’t want to act like he has hatred toward Denver. The franchise still holds a special place in his heart.

“I’ve had two days to really think about it, and it’s all ...Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Rams are playoff confident: 'We see ourselves as a really big Super Bowl contender'

Sports / Football /

LOS ANGELES — Defensive tackle Kobie Turner said the Rams' long but joyful regular season primed them for what's next.

On Monday night, the No. 4-seeded Rams will play the No. 5 Minnesota Vikings in an NFC wild-card game at SoFi Stadium.

"We've been waiting on this moment," Turner said after the Rams' regular-season finale against the ...Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

NFL plans for Rams to host Vikings Monday but may shift to Arizona due to fires

Sports / Football /

LOS ANGELES — Five days before the Rams host the Minnesota Vikings in an NFC wild-card playoff game, the NFL said it was keeping an eye on the wildfires that have ravaged parts of Los Angeles County since Tuesday.

The league said it currently plans for the Rams to host the Vikings during their playoff game Monday night at SoFi Stadium in ...Read more