Bucs coach: Antonio Brown didn’t claim injury before walkoff
TAMPA, Fla. — Antonio Brown’s latest messy departure from an NFL team, the Buccaneers, was not about an injury, coach Bruce Arians said Monday. Yes, the Buccaneers are moving on from Brown, whose NFL career is on hold yet again after another in a series of incidents, including two women...
Surging Bengals await Browns while looking to playoffs
CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow danced and puffed on a cigar as the Cincinnati Bengals staged a locker room celebration worthy of a worst-to-first AFC North champion. “I said it in the preseason, we were talking about the playoffs,” the second-year quarterback said after Cincinnati rallied to beat the Kansas City...
Analysis: Antonio Brown’s mental health is no joke
Antonio Brown tossed his jersey and shoulder pads toward the bench, threw his glove and undershirt into the stands and ran off the field bare-chested, waving a peace-out sign to fans in the end zone while Tom Brady huddled the offense for an important play. Following his strange outburst Sunday,...
NFL finale is showdown for playoffs: Chargers at Raiders
The NFL’s schedule changes for Week 18 will feature exactly what the league wanted: a Sunday night showdown for a playoff berth. To finish off the NFL’s first 17-game season, the Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas Raiders game was flexed from daytime to prime time. Both AFC West rivals...
Packers rout Vikings in cold to take NFC’s No. 1 seed
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers once again have made sure they won’t have to leave Lambeau Field for the conference playoffs. They’re hoping it works out better for them this time. Rodgers threw two touchdown passes, A.J. Dillon ran for two more scores and...
Short-handed, stumbling Ravens see skid hit 5 games after loss to RamsVideo
BALTIMORE — Matthew Stafford shook off three turnovers to guide a fourth-quarter rally Sunday that carried the Los Angeles Rams to their fifth straight victory, 20-19 over the short-handed but stubborn Baltimore Ravens. Stafford threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Odell Beckham Jr. with 57 seconds left immediately after completing...
Bengals rally past Chiefs, clinch AFC North titleVideo
CINCINNATI — Evan McPherson kicked a 20-yard field goal as time ran out, and the Cincinnati Bengals earned their first AFC North title and postseason appearance in six years with a wild 34-31 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Rookie Ja’Marr Chase had a franchise-record 266 yards receiving...
Shirtless Antonio Brown leaves Buccaneers’ game early
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Antonio Brown was apparently frustrated and angry. So he walked away. From the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And possibly his NFL career. The mercurial wide receiver was kicked off the Buccaneers after a bizarre, shirtless exit from the field before Tom Brady coolly led the Bucs on...
Former Broncos, Falcons, Giants coach Dan Reeves dies at 77
ATLANTA — Dan Reeves, who won a Super Bowl as a player with the Dallas Cowboys but was best known for a long coaching career highlighted by four more appearances in the title game with the Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons, all losses, died Saturday. He was 77. A...
NFL coaching carousel likely to be in full swing soonVideo
Just like the Super Bowl, the draft, and the Jets missing the playoffs, there is another ritual in every NFL season. The coaching carousel. It’s spinning already with two openings, in Las Vegas and Jacksonville, forced by the departures of two disgraced coaches, Jon Gruden and Urban Meyer. It might...
Vikings lose Kirk Cousins to covid list before game vs. PackersVideo
The Minnesota Vikings placed quarterback Kirk Cousins on the covid-19 reserve list on Friday, two days before their most important game of the season at Green Bay. Cousins is unvaccinated. Even if he were asymptomatic, he wouldn’t be able to return in time to face the Packers. The NFL recently...
Devin Hester, DeMarcus Ware 1st-year Hall of Fame finalists
DeMarcus Ware, Andre Johnson and Devin Hester, all in their first year of eligibility, are finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2022. The 15 modern-day players who will be considered Jan. 18 by the selection committee include tackle Tony Boselli, in his sixth year as a...
Colts’ Darius Leonard off covid-19 list; Browns’ JC Tretter, Greg Newsome activatedVideo
Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard couldn’t wait to get back to work Thursday. He has even bigger plans for Sunday. Less than three hours after team officials activated the two-time All-Pro and two other starters from the reserve/covid-19 list, Leonard explained how difficult it was to miss Saturday’s game at...
Browns’ Baker Mayfield downplays death threats after Packers lossVideo
CLEVELAND — Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield downplayed death threats he received after his four-interception performance at Green Bay, and he called social media critics “keyboard warriors that make empty threats.” Mayfield didn’t provide details on the threats, which were first revealed in an Instagram post earlier this week by his...
NFL exec Troy Vincent hopes Rooney Rule becomes unnecessaryVideo
NFL executive Troy Vincent hopes hiring minority candidates becomes so common that the Rooney Rule is unnecessary. “We should be creating a workplace culture that doesn’t require mandates to interview people of color and minorities,” Vincent told the Associated Press on Thursday. “They should be doing the right thing for...
Aaron Rodgers says he won’t drag out decision on future
Aaron Rodgers says he won’t drag out any offseason decisions regarding his future with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, 38, said he would make a decision after talking to his loved ones as well as team officials such as CEO/President Mark Murphy, general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president/director...
Panthers bench Cam Newton, will start Sam Darnold at QB vs. SaintsVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Panthers coach Matt Rhule said Sam Darnold will start at quarterback Sunday against the New Orleans Saints instead of 2015 league MVP Cam Newton. Newton is 0-5 as Carolina’s starting quarterback this year and has lost 13 straight starts as the Panthers starting QB dating to the...
After missing 2 games with ankle injury, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson returns to practice WednesdayVideo
Lamar Jackson is back at practice, and Tyler Huntley could be available soon. The Baltimore Ravens won’t ever return to full strength this season, but with two games to play, perhaps the worst is behind them. Jackson was limited at practice Wednesday, but that’s a step in the right direction...
In passing league, some NFL teams still find success on groundVideo
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Relying on a big-play quarterback to carve up opposing defenses in the passing game remains the best path to offensive success in the modern NFL. But for teams that don’t have an accomplished passer such as Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes, sticking to the...
John Madden, Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster, dies at 85Video
John Madden, the Hall of Fame coach turned broadcaster whose exuberant calls combined with simple explanations provided a weekly soundtrack to NFL games for three decades, died Tuesday morning, the league said. He was 85. The NFL said he died unexpectedly and did not detail a cause. Madden gained fame...
NFL cuts isolation time for players who test positiveVideo
The NFL is reducing isolation time for players who test positive for covid-19 and are asymptomatic, including unvaccinated players, to five days from 10. The league and the NFL Players Association revised the protocols after the CDC changed its guidelines for those who are asymptomatic, recommending a five-day isolation period...
Carson Wentz joins covid-19 list as Colts try to earn playoff spotVideo
The league and the NFL Players Association revised the protocols after the CDC changed its guidelines for those who are asymptomatic, recommending a five-day isolation period and masking over the second five days. The changes could allow Colts quarterback Carson Wentz to return for Sunday’s key game against Las Vegas...
Bengals looking for consistency as they aim for playoff spot
CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow and coach Zac Taylor didn’t care that the Bengals already had the game in hand when they continued to dial up pass plays late in the win that sealed a season sweep of the Baltimore Ravens. “Last year, we hardly had anybody left, and we didn’t...
Kevin Stefanski, Browns second-guessed, stung by close losses
CLEVELAND — Despite two agonizing losses in six days, a litany of covid-19 cases and a banged-up starting quarterback who crumbles when the moment calls for strength, the Cleveland Browns still have a chance to make the playoffs. It’s a long shot. But there’s a path, a prayer. In this...
Defense, Jaylen Waddle lift Dolphins to 7th straight win
NEW ORLEANS — A Dolphins defense that intercepted Saints rookie Ian Book twice and sacked him eight times was probably enough to push Miami’s winning streak to seven games. Miami also got a big lift from rookie sensation Jaylen Waddle to outclass New Orleans on both sides of the ball....
