PITTSBURGH — The aluminum pole has been retrieved from the crawl space. There's a dinner planned for later tonight, everyone is invited, and it will feature an airing of grievances, feats of strength and perhaps even a Festivus miracle or two.

Yes, it's that time. The first one, actually.

Festivus is part of our Pittsburgh sports heritage �...Read more

Where’s the set bar of standards? What do the Miami Dolphins stand for? Because there, in the post-game locker Sunday, was the most significant pass of the season.

“We have one more ball,” team owner Steve Ross said.

“We do?” said coach Mike McDaniel, who had just passed out game balls to players after the 29-17 win against the San ...Read more

SEATTLE — After Seahawks players and fans filtered out of Lumen Field, Camryn Bynum turned to the cluster of purple ponchos manning the west bleachers. Minutes earlier, quarterback Sam Darnold took two knees to cement Minnesota's 27-24 win, the streaking 13-2 Vikings' eighth consecutive victory.

The 26-year-old Bynum — Minnesota's standout ...Read more

NEW YORK — It’s the holiday season, but tensions appear high in the Jets locker room following another disappointing loss on Sunday.

After the 19-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Aaron Rodgers told reporters he can see “who’s on board moving forward and who is ready to get out.”

Minutes earlier, Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Cameron Dicker pointed to a picture of a football card to the camera. The color drawing showed a man in a royal blue San Diego Chargers jersey with thick brown hair and a thick mustache.

“From me to Ray,” the Chargers kicker said while tapping his chest, “let’s go.”

Ray Wersching’s mustache has gone gray, as has the...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The NFC West title, and a home game for a wild-card round, are within the Rams’ reach.

They could clinch as soon as Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals. Or it might come down to the season finale against the Seattle Seahawks.

Regardless, the Rams can control their postseason destiny: If they win out, they win the division....Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts remains in the concussion protocol after he suffered a concussion just over five minutes into the Eagles’ 36-33 loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

His status for the team’s Week 17 home game Sunday vs. Dallas is not yet clear.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni did not have an update on Hurts during his ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Giants were 2-8 after Week 11, on a five-game losing streak, when they shut down and released Daniel Jones.

The Dallas Cowboys were 3-7 after Week 11, on a five-game losing streak, with Dak Prescott out for the year.

Since then, the Giants have lost five more and been outscored 140-59 by their opponents, while Dallas has won ...Read more

NEW YORK — The future remains up in the air for Aaron Rodgers.

The Jets quarterback acknowledged as much Monday when he expressed a willingness to take a pay cut and to mentor a young quarterback next season but stressed there are still decisions to be made before then.

“I haven’t decided whether or not I want to play moving forward,” ...Read more

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — In losing Sunday’s battle with the Buffalo Bills, perhaps the best team in football, Jerod Mayo won the war.

Best I can tell, he’s staying put. For 2025, and maybe beyond.

To his angry fan base and incredulous pockets of the New England Patriots’ media corps, remember Mayo’s future doesn’t hinge on winning this...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Bet this: That following a 19-14 win by the Las Vegas Raiders over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, after the home team had snapped its 10-game losing streak, a certain amount of fans was disappointed in the outcome.

Maybe a whole lot of them.

They are the ones hoping for the highest draft pick possible ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — That was some strange football chess that unfolded last week in the Kroenke Dome, assisting the Los Angeles Chargers against the Denver Broncos.

By now the football world knows how the first half ended.

With no time on the game clock, the Chargers made a fair catch kick, an oddity that surfaces every half century or so. The three...Read more

CHICAGO — The chants rang out a few times Sunday from the hearty Detroit Lions contingent at Soldier Field, including as the clock ran down on the Lions’ 34-17 win over the Chicago Bears.

“Jar-ed Goff! Jar-ed Goff!” the fans yelled for the Lions quarterback who spearheaded a 475-yard offensive performance.

Minutes later, as Bears ...Read more

ATLANTA — Michael Penix isn’t the main reason the Falcons beat the Giants on Sunday. They didn’t need him to make many winning plays. Their defense scored two touchdowns and New York’s awful offense had no chance of making up a big margin. But Penix made the right plays and, more importantly, none that hurt the Falcons.

Penix was solid ...Read more

MIAMI — Steve Ross had this cheesy grin on his face after Sunday’s 29-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers, and it was more Velveeta than normal.

It was the type of look one might have when they are content, satisfied, maybe even hopeful.

The Miami Dolphins owner has a right to feel however he would like.

Like the people he hired to run ...Read more

If you were blessed to miss the first 15 games of the 49ers’ 2024 season, San Francisco gave you a Cliff Notes version of it Sunday in Miami.

The 29-17 loss to the Dolphins perfectly encapsulated the campaign: statistically strong but fundamentally rotten.

On Sunday, the Niners averaged more yards per play than the Dophins. San Francisco’s...Read more

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The florescent green cleats of Kyren Williams could be seen from space.

But it was the feet inside those shoes that set the tone Sunday in the Los Angeles Rams’ 19-9 victory over the New York Jets.

In this final stretch before the NFL playoffs, when the weather turns as bitter cold as it was at MetLife Stadium, it�...Read more

SEATTLE — The Seahawks' last regular-season home game of 2024 may have turned into a swan song for the season.

A shocking late collapse allowed the Minnesota Vikings to escape with a 27-24 win at Lumen Field, a result that leaves the Seahawks' playoff hopes hanging by a thread.

The Seahawks fell to 8-7 and a game behind the Los Angeles Rams,...Read more

LANDOVER, Md. — For all the reverberations from the substance of some of his recent words, A.J. Brown rarely raises his voice above a whisper when he’s speaking.

Sunday was the same, even if everything for the Philadelphia Eagles wasn’t. They had tried with all their might to cost themselves a victory here against the Washington ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Rookie tight end Brock Bowers went over 100 receptions and 1,000 yards for the season, and the Las Vegas Raiders broke a 10-game losing streak with a 19-14 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.

The win dropped the Raiders (3-12) out of the top two positions for the 2025 NFL draft with two weeks left...Read more