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Joe Sargent/Getty Images North America/TNS

Joe Starkey: Steelers, Mike Tomlin missed a golden opportunity when the Bears called about a trade

Sports / Football /

PITTSBURGH — ESPN's Adam Schefter has reported that the Chicago Bears were among the teams who recently called the Steelers about trading for Mike Tomlin. Schefter also reported that Tomlin has a no-trade clause and that the Steelers immediately "rebuffed" the Bears.

What a shame, I'd say, because that phone call presented the Steelers, ...Read more

Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Byron Leftwich was on track to become an NFL head coach. Why did he fall off the radar?

Sports / Football /

TAMPA, Fla. — They paid attention to the Bucs offense, which averaged nearly 30 points per game this season. They were impressed by the 40-plus touchdown passes and how a former No. 1 pick at quarterback led his team to another NFC South title.

It was no surprise the Jaguars wanted to interview the Bucs offensive coordinator, who is ...Read more

Tammy Ljungblad/Kansas City Star/TNS

Three things to look for in Chiefs-Bills AFC Championship Game matchup

Sports / Football /

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs fans got their wish.

The Buffalo Bills defeated the Baltimore Ravens 27-25 Sunday in an entertaining playoff game in Orchard Park, N.Y., and advanced to face the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

Chiefs fans who voted in a Kansas City Star poll had said they preferred having the Chiefs face the Bills in the title...Read more

Al Bello/Getty Images North America/TNS

Ravens' season ends with mistake-filled 27-25 loss to Bills in AFC divisional round

Sports / Football /

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — It was dubbed the latest Game of the Century.

The Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson vs. the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen.

And on a cold, snowy night at Highmark Stadium and with a trip to the AFC championship game on the line, Jackson, the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player and the favorite to win the award for a third ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Rams' Jared Verse wasn't just talk in Philadelphia, but his impactful day wasn't enough

Sports / Football /

PHILADELPHIA — Jared Verse was the talk of the town before Sunday’s NFC divisional-round game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles.

After the Rams rookie edge rusher told The Los Angeles Times last week that he hated Eagles fans and found them annoying, he became the target of heated fan discussion on local sports radio...Read more

David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Eagles' Saquon Barkley screaming and sprinting in a winter wonderland and into the history book is a sight to see

Sports / Football /

PHILADELPHIA — When Saquon Barkley saw what will likely become the lasting image of the Eagles’ snowy playoff win, his first instinct was to see if he could get it taken down.

Try as he might, the photos of Barkley screaming and sprinting toward the end zone in the team’s 28-22 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday will be about as ...Read more

Daniel Mears/The Detroit News/TNS

John Niyo: 'It's disappointing' for Goff, Lions in trying to process early playoff exit

Sports / Football /

DETROIT — The chants were derisive this time.

From the corner of one end zone inside Ford Field on Saturday night, a throng of visiting fans in burgundy and gold hijacked the Lions’ rallying cry, turning “Jar-ed Goff! Jar-ed Goff!” into a jeer instead of a cheer. Then the Washington Commanders fans who’d taken over swaths of the lower...Read more

David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Saquon Barkley continues to make history with one of the greatest seasons ever

Sports / Football /

PHILADELPHIA — Saquon Barkley’s final play Sunday was, appropriately, a handoff.

The Eagles running back left the Siberian swirl happening on the field and ran up the locker room tunnel, a cluster of handlers and TV cameras in his wake.

Just before he made a hard left to head to the locker room, he handed a commemorative NBC football to ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Dylan Hernández: Is this the end for Cooper Kupp with Rams? And what about Matthew Stafford?

Sports / Football /

LOS ANGELES — Cooper Kupp walked to the middle of an empty Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday morning.

He looked around, as if he was taking in the scene.

Hours later, Kupp trudged through the snow-covered field with his teammates, retreating to the stadium's visiting locker room in the wake of the Rams' 28-22 defeat to the Philadelphia ...Read more

Curtis Compton/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Five challenges facing new Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich

Sports / Football /

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons’ search to replace one-year defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake started immediately after he was terminated.

From the outset, all NFL fingers were pointing to Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, a former Falcons assistant and close friend of Falcons coach Raheem Morris.

The only holdup was if Ulbrich ...Read more

Yong Kim/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Eagles survive, storming past the Rams to reach the NFC championship game with a 28-22 win in the snow

Sports / Football /

PHILADELPHIA — The snow never bothered Saquon Barkley anyway.

Barkley, the 2024 rushing title holder, plowed through a snow-covered Lincoln Financial Field, cruising for 205 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries in the Eagles’ nail-biter of a 28-22 divisional-round victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. The star running back ...Read more

David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Mike Sielski: Jalen Carter and a talented roster save the Eagles against the Rams, give them a shot at the Super Bowl

Sports / Football /

PHILADELPHIA — Back in early September, when the only snow to be found came in a paper cone courtesy of Mister Softee, Jalen Carter spent several minutes at his locker in the NovaCare Complex, talking about the “rookie wall” that he insisted he hadn’t hit. He had been a rookie-of-the-year candidate for the first half of the 2023 season, ...Read more

Daniel Mears/The Detroit News/TNS

Bob Wojnowski: Lions' stunning collapse as painful as any Detroit has seen

Sports / Football /

DETROIT — By midway through the fourth quarter, Ford Field was mostly, ghostly quiet. This was the ending no one envisioned, the nightmare performance no one could fathom.

Where did all the noise go? Where did all the poise go? Where did Jared Goff’s throws go? Where did the Lions’ feel-good fervor go?

It left in a staggering deflation ...Read more

Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Mac Engel: For Deion Sanders to become the Cowboys' head coach, it'll require a 180-degree spin

Sports / Football /

FORT WORTH, Texas — There has been no announcement that the Dallas Cowboys have, or want to, interview Deion Sanders but the thought of that conversation even happening has done what both Jerry Jones and Deion wanted.

From gambling sites to sports media, the CGI of Deion coaching the Dallas Cowboys has broken Google.

So far, Philadelphia ...Read more

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images North America/TNS

Gerry Dulac: The Steelers are looking for direction and purpose. How will the roster look in 2025?

Sports / Football /

PITTSBURGH — It hardly seems to matter now that the Steelers have reached the playoffs for each of the past two seasons, three of the past four and four of the past five.

That is a healthy sign for most NFL teams — but it is not for the Steelers.

Right now, they are not sure which way they are supposed to go and what they are supposed to ...Read more

Daniel Mears/The Detroit News/TNS

Turnovers, leaky defense spell end to Lions' season

Sports / Football /

DETROIT — The Detroit Lions withstood one injury after another en route to their best season in franchise history.

But against the Washington Commanders at Ford Field, it was all simply too much.

The Lions lost cornerback Amik Robertson to a significant elbow injury early in the game and safety Ifeatu Melifonwu to a hamstring injury late in ...Read more

Tammy Ljungblad/Kansas City Star/TNS

What we learned from Chiefs' playoff win vs. Texans

Sports / Football /

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs are heading to the AFC championship game, riding the performance of a trusted veteran.

Yes, it sure looks like a few weeks off did 35-year-old Travis Kelce some good.

The Chiefs tight end had his best game of the season — going over 100 yards with a touchdown — as the Chiefs took a 23-14 home ...Read more

Chris Coduto/Getty Images North America/TNS

Falcons hire Jeff Ulbrich as defensive coordinator to replace Jimmy Lake

Sports / Football /

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Former Falcons assistant coach Jeff Ulbrich, who interviewed Wednesday, was named the team's defensive coordinator on Saturday.

He was the Jets’ defensive coordinator and interim head coach this season, played in NFL for the 49ers from 2000-09, and was with the Falcons from 2015-20. He was the linebackers coach mostly ...Read more

David Murphy: The verdict on Eagles-Rams: It's a Snow Contest! Eagles are built to win in the elements.

Sports / Football /

PHILADELPHIA — The last time the Eagles faced the Los Angeles Rams, Saquon Barkley broke LeSean McCoy’s single-game franchise rushing record. This time around, he could have his eye on an even more prestigious accomplishment: McCoy’s franchise record for rushing yards in a driving snowstorm.

Two things:

Regardless of the weather ...Read more

Sam McDowell: Five things that stood out about Chiefs' playoff win vs. Texans in AFC divisional round

Sports / Football /

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The annual tradition has returned yet another year.

The Chiefs will play in a seventh straight AFC championship game after a 23-14 win Saturday against the Texans in the divisional round.

And after a one-year hiatus, this one is back in Kansas City.

Two games shy of the first three-peat in NFL history, the Chiefs will ...Read more