CHICAGO — Perhaps Pete Carroll’s age feels like a legitimate deterrent to some. He is, after all, a septuagenarian, turning 74 in September 2025. Do the Chicago Bears really want to roll those dice and unite with a gray-haired coach whose NFL career likely won’t reach the end of this decade?

Shouldn’t they be aiming to go younger, ...Read more

The Falcons had a chance to show the nation on prime-time television that they were a legitimate playoff team.

They slugged it out with the Commanders before falling 30-24 in overtime on Sunday at Northwest Stadium.

Falcons rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. tossed the his first NFL touchdown pass to tie the game with 1:19 to play. The ...Read more

SANTA CLARA – George Kittle will charge Monday night onto the only home field he’s known as one of the NFL’s marquee players, the 49ers’ crowd will go wild, and the stage will be set, yet again.

The show goes on, even if the 49ers (6-9) are ending their NFC Championship reign and perhaps passing the torch to Levi’s Stadium’s final ...Read more

Do you know who Austen Pleasants or Charlie Heck are?

Don’t worry about it. Before this week, I didn’t either, and knowing practice-squad-level offensive linemen is my thing.

Either way, we’ll likely hear their names often on Monday Night Football, as one of those newcomers will be protecting 49ers’ quarterback Brock Purdy’s ...Read more

Charvarius Ward will join the list of 49ers missing Monday night’s game against the Lions at Levi’s Stadium after the team ruled him out Sunday afternoon.

The veteran cornerback and his girlfriend, Monique Cook, have been expecting the birth of a baby boy. The team cited personal reasons for Ward’s absence after coach Kyle Shanahan ...Read more

CLEVELAND -- Josh Allen would never.

Patrick Mahomes wouldn’t dare.

That was the running sentiment about the Miami Dolphins playing what amounts to a playoff elimination game on Sunday — and maybe even next week — without the team’s franchise quarterback.

But what if the quarterback didn’t have a choice?

Some people are acting like...Read more

Tyler Huntley started the 2024 season on the Cleveland Browns.

By late August, however, the Browns had released the quarterback. The Broward County native subsequently returned to the practice squad of the Baltimore Ravens — the team on which he got his NFL start. Then the Miami Dolphins lost franchise quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to a ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Austen Cashman returned from Chicago to his Twin Cities roots for the holidays. Sunday was his 10th day back home. He was an early attendee along with family and friends for Sunday’s Vikings-Green Bay showdown in U.S. Bank Stadium.

“We get here early in order to watch Blake work out on the field, and that’s also where the ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — It hung there like it would never come down, like gravity had left the building, like someone had injected the football with helium.

Isn’t that the way this entire Vikings season has felt — inexplicably buoyant?

Facing third-and-2 with 1:49 remaining in a showdown with the Packers on Sunday, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell,...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- For the second time this year, a would-be Vikings blowout turned into a game they had to sweat out against their biggest rivals. But for the second time, they hung on for a two-point win. This one means they will play for the NFC North title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs next Sunday.

After taking 17-point leads twice, ...Read more

Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in a 41-7 win over the Cowboys:

Quarterback: B+

Kenny Pickett showed heart, and more importantly, effectiveness in starting in place of the injured Jalen Hurts (concussion). His day got off to a slow start with a first pass missile over A.J. Brown’s head. But Pickett settled down, despite playing ...Read more

Thanks to two team rivals, the Patriots are currently set to pick atop the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Patriots now hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after the Giants beat the Colts on Sunday. Draft order is determined by record and strength of schedule.

The Patriots are tied with the Giants and Titans with a 3-13 record but have a ...Read more

It’s a Christmas(ish) Miracle! It’s a Happy New Year!

The Miami Dolphins — astoundingly, almost preposterously — enter the calendar year 2025 alive in the NFL playoff hunt.

This team was 2-6 at midseason. This same team clawed to an even 8-8 on Sunday with a 20-3 victory in Cleveland despite the injury-absence of starting quarterback ...Read more

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was fined for taunting Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson in Detroit's 34-17 win at Soldier Field last Sunday.

Williams was shoved by Stevenson on the Bears sideline in the first quarter of Sunday's win, prompting Williams to get up and spin the ball in his direction. The ball hit Stevenson's...Read more

No Tua, no problem.

The Miami Dolphins beat the Cleveland Browns 20-3 to stay alive – albeit slightly – in the 2024 playoff race despite franchise quarterback Tua Tagovailoa being held out with a hip injury.

Backup Tyler Huntley had his best game of the season in Tagovailoa’s absence, completing roughly 85% percent of his passes for 225 ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- The Eagles had every excuse to lose Sunday.

They were playing their archrivals, the Cowboys, for the second time this season. The Cowboys were out of playoff contention but they had won four of five games, including a win at Washington, the site of the Eagles’ latest disaster, and they were playing with abandon, visiting a ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- The Eagles had every excuse to lose Sunday.

They were playing their archrivals, the Cowboys, for the second time this season. The Cowboys were out of playoff contention but they had won four of five games, including a win at Washington, the site of the Eagles’ latest disaster, and they were playing with abandon, visiting a ...Read more

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Jets were the preseason favorites to win the AFC East

But the real kings of the division swept the Jets for the first time since 2021.

Bills (13-3) embarrassed the Jets (4-12) 40-14 behind three defensive turnovers and five sacks.

In addition to being sacked four times, once for a safety, Aaron Rodgers completed 12-...Read more