Sarah Thomas to be 1st female to officiate at Super Bowl
NEW YORK — Sarah Thomas will cap her sixth NFL season by becoming the first female to officiate the Super Bowl in NFL history. Thomas, a down judge, is part of the officiating crew announced Tuesday by the NFL. “Sarah Thomas has made history again as the first female Super...
Jets make hiring of Robert Saleh as head coach official
NEW YORK — Robert Saleh left no doubt for the New York Jets that he was their guy. And he knew this is exactly where he wanted to be. The team officially announced Tuesday they hired the former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator as their head coach after agreeing to...
Jazmine Sullivan, Eric Church, H.E.R. to sing at Super Bowl
NEW YORK — R&B star Jazmine Sullivan and country singer Eric Church will join forces to sing the national anthem at the next month’s Super Bowl, where Grammy-winning singer H.E.R. will perform “America the Beautiful.” The performances will take place Feb. 7 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa before...
NFL says no in-person workouts for scouting combineVideo
The NFL will not allow in-person workouts for the scouting combine because of health and safety precautions of covid-19. The league informed teams Monday any workouts will take place on the individual pro days on college campuses. Interviews of prospects and psychological testing and assessments will be done virtually. “We...
Browns believe right coach, right QB in place for sustained successVideo
CLEVELAND — On their wild ride of an unforgettable, almost unimaginable 2020 season when Zoom calls, masks and contact tracing were daily fixtures, the Cleveland Browns discovered two things that point to a bright future for an awakened franchise. They’ve got the right coach and the right quarterback. After years...
Confident Buccaneers defense finds its form at right timeVideo
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady’s quest for a seventh Super Bowl ring continues, thanks to a young defense that has regained its swagger when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed it most. The Bucs (13-5) advanced to the NFC championship game for the first time in 18 years, with Brady outplaying...
Still playing: Bills, Bucs risen from Super Bowl droughts
In the 1990s, the Bills buffaloed their way to four successive — if not successful — Super Bowls. No other franchise has managed that. About a decade later, the long-downtrodden Buccaneers swashbuckled to an NFL title. Ever since, pretty much nothing for those teams. Until now. Next weekend, Buffalo, which...
Chargers hire Rams DC Brandon Staley as head coach
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Brandon Staley won’t have to move that far for his first head coaching opportunity. Staley agreed to become the Los Angeles Chargers’ coach on Sunday night after one season as the defensive coordinator for the crosstown Rams. The Chargers made the decision to hire Staley after...
Tom Brady, Bucs eliminate Drew Brees, SaintsVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Tom Brady’s best game in three tries against New Orleans kept the Buccaneers moving on in the NFL playoffs and has Saints quarterback Drew Brees headed home — perhaps for good. Brady and the Bucs offense turned three Saints turnovers, including two interceptions of Brees, into touchdowns,...
Gutsy or insane? Depends on the outcome of tough NFL calls
Gutsy or insane? Depends on the outcome. Andy Reid’s gamble on fourth-and-inches at the Kansas City Chiefs’ 48-yard line with 1 minute, 14 seconds remaining in Sunday’s 22-17 divisional-round win over the Cleveland Browns fits the category. That it succeeded will become legend among Chiefs fans. Had it failed, well,...
Browns’ Baker Mayfield: Playoff loss to Chiefs ‘definitely going to sting’Video
Just like so many painful playoff losses in their past, the Browns came up achingly short — inches from a game-swinging play, inches from a last chance. Cleveland’s turnaround season ended Sunday in heartbreak. “For now,” said quarterback Baker Mayfield. “It’s definitely going to sting.” Unable to take advantage of...
Chiefs overcome Patrick Mahomes injury, defeat Browns to reach AFC title gameVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs had lost Patrick Mahomes to a concussion and were in danger of losing the game. Then their defense and Chad Henne — their defense and Chad Henne?! — kept their hopes of a Super Bowl repeat alive, holding off the Cleveland Browns,...
Bills fans donate to charity after Ravens QB Lamar Jackson suffers injuryVideo
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s loss Saturday night was a win for charity. After the Buffalo Bills knocked the NFL’s reigning MVP out of their AFC divisional-round game late in the third quarter, Bills Mafia stepped up. A fan on the team’s Reddit page shared a link to one of Jackson’s...
Bills advance to AFC championship with win over Ravens
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Taron Johnson could’ve kept running into next week on a 101-yard interception that carried the Buffalo Bills to their first AFC championship game appearance in 26 years. Johnson’s pick-6 of Lamar Jackson’s pass with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter secured a 17-3 win over...
Aaron Rodgers, Packers beat Rams to reach NFC title game
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers made sure he’d play an NFC championship game at home for the first time in his Hall of Fame-caliber career. Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and also ran for a score as the top-seeded Green Bay Packers defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 32-18, in...
Saints’ Drew Brees sees playoff clash with Tom Brady’s Bucs as fate
NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees periodically discusses his long, extraordinary NFL journey in terms of fate and destiny. The New Orleans Saints quarterback says, for example, that his career-threatening throwing shoulder injury at the end of the 2005 season was meant to be. It precipitated his departure from the Chargers...
Browns’ Joel Bitonio ‘pumped’ for playoff debut after covid-19
CLEVELAND — Joel Bitonio’s neighbors set off fireworks late Sunday night after the Cleveland Browns stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card game. The loud bangs signified something more for the Pro Bowl guard — a second chance. Cleveland’s longest-tenured player, Bitonio was activated from the covid-19 list Friday after...
Browns’ Myles Garrett ‘due,’ wants to leave impression on Chiefs, Patrick MahomesVideo
CLEVELAND — Myles Garrett has only respect for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a generational talent on another level from other players in the NFL. Reverence aside, Garrett hopes to make Mahomes remember meeting him in the playoffs. Forever. “I want him to be able to go home when he has...
Falcons pick Titans offensive coordinator Smith as new coachVideo
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons agreed to terms with Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to become the team’s coach. The Falcons announced the agreement Friday. Smith held a virtual interview with the team Monday, and he interviewed with the New York Jets and Detroit Lions. The Jets reached an...
Broncos linebacker Von Miller under investigation by police in Denver suburbVideo
DENVER — Broncos linebacker Von Miller is under investigation by police in a Denver suburb. Parker Police Department spokesman Josh Hans confirmed the investigation Friday but couldn’t provide additional details. Hans wrote in an email, “if the investigation determines a crime has occurred, charges will be submitted to the DA’s...
Meyer believes Jacksonville ‘is the place’ he can win in NFLVideo
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Urban Meyer first started thinking about the NFL about a decade ago. He was getting phone calls from team owners. He was intrigued by the notion of testing his coaching skills at football’s highest level. He was ready to make the jump. But he put it off...
Packers’ potent offense faces big test from Aaron Donald, RamsVideo
No NFL team scored more points during the regular season than the Green Bay Packers. Nobody has played better defense than the Los Angeles Rams. That sets up an intriguing showdown of strength vs. strength when MVP favorite Aaron Rodgers and the Packers (13-3) host All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald...
Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson set for playoff showdown as Bills host RavensVideo
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Ravens coach John Harbaugh was immediately impressed by Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen’s competitive fire after their first face-to-face encounter in an NFL setting. It happened in the 2018 season opener, when the then-raw rookie Bills quarterback was shoved into the Ravens’ sideline. Allen hopped up and...
Jets hire 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as coach
NEW YORK — The New York Jets were searching for a leader, someone who could bring a frustrated, playoff-starved franchise back to respectability. They think they found their guy in Robert Saleh. The Jets reached an agreement in principle with the popular and energetic San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Thursday...
Jared Goff to start for Rams in Green BayVideo
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Jared Goff and Sean McVay say they had a healthy, productive disagreement last week about Goff’s readiness to return from thumb surgery. They’re in complete accord this week, however: Goff is the best choice to lead the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs. Goff will start...
