Pats-Chiefs second-most watched AFC title game in 42 years
The game Sunday night between the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs was the second-most watched and rated AFC championship game in 42 years. The overtime thriller on CBS averaged 53.919 million viewers, just shy of the 54.850 million that viewed Pittsburgh’s victory over the New York Jets in...
NFL will consider making pass interference calls reviewable after Rams-Saints debacle
The officiating debacle acknowledged by the NFL at the end of Sunday’s NFC title game in New Orleans, which prompted widespread criticism from fans, players and coaches over what many deemed an outcome-changing call, could lead to a significant rule change. The league and its rulemaking competition committee plan to...
Jason Kelce, Eagles strongly defend Carson Wentz after damning report
A report Monday by Phillyvoice.com quoting anonymous Philadelphia Eagles players and other sources within the organization calling quarterback Carson Wentz “selfish” and “uncompromising” has teammates rushing to his defense via text and social media. According to the report by Joe Santoliquito, more than a half-dozen players and other sources paint...
Dolphins must wait to seal deal with Patriots’ Brian Flores
MIAMI — While the 2018 NFL champion has yet to be crowned, much of the league is already looking ahead to the 2019 season, and so far the Miami Dolphins are in last place. Las Vegas oddsmakers recently made the Dolphins a 300-1 choice to win the Super Bowl in...
Prop bets popular for Super Bowl, but NFL wants them gone
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Wagers on how many touchdown passes New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will throw or how many rushing yards Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley will gain are likely to be popular options for bettors on the Super Bowl. But if the National Football League...
Tony Romo praised for predicting Patriots plays during championship game
Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are headed to another Super Bowl appearance after turning back the Kansas City Chiefs 37-31 Sunday night. Tony Romo probably saw that coming. The CBS analyst drew lots of praise for calling plays before they they happened. He showed a great knack for...
Patriots the early pick in Las Vegas books
LAS VEGAS — Oddsmakers made the Super Bowl essentially a tossup in opening lines Sunday, though bettors quickly turned the New England Patriots into a slight favorite in what is expected to be the most heavily bet — at least legally — title game ever. Early bets moved the line...
Patriots make 3rd straight Super Bowl, beat Chiefs 37-31 in OTVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The New England Patriots are headed to their third straight Super Bowl, once more thanks to Tom Brady’s brilliance. The five-time NFL champion guided the Patriots 75 yards after winning the overtime coin toss, and backup Rex Burkhead’s 2-yard TD lifted New England past Kansas City...
Greg Zuerlein’s 57-yard field goal in OT sends Rams to Super BowlVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Greg Zuerlein kicked a 57-yard field goal in overtime and the Los Angeles Rams, helped by a huge missed call by the officials, advanced to the Super Bowl with a 26-23 victory over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC championship game Sunday. The stunning finish came...
Super Bowl berths on the line in conference title games
The Los Angeles Rams are back inside the stadium where they lost for the first time this season, looking for retribution and a Super Bowl berth as they face the New Orleans Saints in the NFC championship game. The Superdome is coming alive for the last time this football season...
Strength, determination lift Saints WR Michael Thomas
When he returned to Taft High after winter break of his junior year, Michael Thomas carried the gift — if you want to call it that — his father, Michael Sr., had given him. They were called Gripmasters, two four-inch strips of colored plastic held together with four spring-loaded coils....
Patriots to test Chiefs’ suddenly stingy defense
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The only defense the Kansas City Chiefs played most of this season was, well, in defense of their own defense, which gave up so many yards and points that it became a running joke around the league. Yes, the Chiefs scored in bushels. They also allowed...
Plenty of similarities between Saints, Rams, including their coaches
NEW ORLEANS — One way or another, the NFC championship between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints will be won by a coach named Sean — with an Irish surname — who designs and calls plays for one of the most innovative and productive offenses in the NFL....
Chiefs will try to unseat Patriots as NFL’s premier team
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It seems football fans everywhere are suddenly on the Kansas City Chiefs bandwagon, enthralled by their record-setting young quarterback and exciting playmakers and hopeful their amiable old coach finally can win the big one. Then again, maybe they’re just fans of anybody facing New England. The...
Rams thin on playoff experience, hungry for Super Bowl run
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Ndamukong Suh earned multiple All-Pro honors, Pro Bowl selections and tens of millions of dollars during his first eight NFL seasons. The imposing defensive lineman had never won a playoff game, let alone a Super Bowl. When he was free to choose his next team after...
Saints redeemed secondary confident vs. high-powered Rams
METAIRIE, La. — Marshon Lattimore and the Saints’ secondary no longer look — or sound — haunted by the “Minnesota Miracle” touchdown pass that stunningly ended their playoffs one year ago. “We don’t panic. We don’t do none of that,” Lattimore said. “We adjust well.” Lattimore backed that up with...
Patriots try to overcome road woes in AFC championship game
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots are going on the road again in the playoffs, a place that hasn’t always been kind to them during the Tom Brady era. New England was unbeatable at home this season, going 8-0 during the regular season and rolling past the Los Angeles Chargers in...
Rams’ Marcus Peters, Saints’ Sean Payton downplay gumbo beef
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Marcus Peters stood at a podium Wednesday and spoke about his respect for Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints. He insisted his feisty comments about the coach two months ago had been misinterpreted and blown out of proportion by controversy-hungry fans and media. And then...
Patriots’ Tom Brady vs. Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes a study in contrast
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One of them is a sixth-round pick who married a supermodel, became one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history and is going strong well past his 41st birthday. The other is a first-round pick who is dating his high school sweetheart, has one season as...
Saints’ Mark Ingram cherishing playoff run as uncertainty loomsVideo
METAIRIE, La. — Mark Ingram readily acknowledges his last game with the Saints could come Sunday, when New Orleans hosts the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship game. But Ingram hasn’t given up on bucking conventional wisdom and remaining with New Orleans, even though his contract is expiring and...
Edelman again proves to be valuable playoff performer for New England
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — His face still was a little flushed from stepping out of the subfreezing temperatures at Gillette Stadium just minutes after the Patriots’ 41-28 divisional-round win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Still, Julian Edelman stood at his locker satisfied — at least for a moment. Then...
Ravens’ Lamar Jackson: ‘I want to be the Brady’ of Baltimore
BALTIMORE — In late December, Ray Lewis visited Ravens headquarters to film an “Inside the NFL” segment with Lamar Jackson for the Showtime show. On Monday afternoon, the final product was posted on Twitter — eight days after the Ravens’ season-ending playoff loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. But while...
Reports of Patriots’ death are exaggerations
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It was 20 degrees in Gillette Stadium, according to the newly installed thermometer that the light and breezy Los Angeles Chargers had to run past in the tunnel, onto a field clouded by the white frost exhaled from about 66,000 shouting mouths. Even colder, though, were the...
Patriots without Wise; Gordon and Henry active for Chargers
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots will be without defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. when New England hosts the Chargers in the divisional playoffs. Wise was limited all week with an ankle injury. His absence is a blow to the Patriots’ pass rush as they prepare to attack Los Angeles quarterback...
Patriots roll past Chargers, return to AFC championship game
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady recognizes there are some who believe the Patriots are nearing the end of their run of unprecedented playoff success. New England took its first step toward possibly silencing those voices for a little longer. Sony Michel ran for 129 yards and had three touchdowns, and...
