Pro Picks: Purdy will lead the 49ers to another comeback win, ruining Chiefs’ repeat bid
LAS VEGAS — The underdog Kansas City Chiefs are playing for history against the San Francisco 49ers. No team has been the underdog in consecutive Super Bowls and won both games. The two previous defending champions to return as an underdog both lost. But the Chiefs (14-6) have been defying...
Chiefs will likely be short-handed when they play 49ers in the Super BowlVideo
HENDERSON, Nev. — The Kansas City Chiefs could be without three key players when they play the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday’s Super Bowl. Wide receiver Kadarius Toney appeared to get into dispute with Chiefs management about a hip injury that sidelined him for six games, going on Instagram to...
Raiders hire Steel Valley graduate Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator
HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders hired former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy on Tuesday, going to their second option after Kliff Kingsbury withdrew from consideration Saturday. Getsy is a Steel Valley graduate who played two years at Pitt before transferring to Akron. New Raiders coach Antonio Pierce...
Chiefs like role as Super Bowl underdogs against 49ers
LAS VEGAS — For most of the past six years, Patrick Mahomes has had to manufacture the chip that he carries on his shoulder, because the Kansas City Chiefs have been so good for so long that they were almost always expected to win. That is no longer the case....
49ers’ Brock Purdy remains unfazed by rise from last pick in draft to Super Bowl QB
LAS VEGAS — Minutes after the San Francisco 49ers finished off a stunning comeback to win the NFC championship, star defender Nick Bosa pulled aside quarterback Brock Purdy and marveled at his journey. Purdy has undergone a meteoric rise from “Mr. Irrelevant” as the final pick of the 2022 draft...
Everyone hopes Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl won’t come down to officiating call
San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York was asked the other day what comes to mind when he thinks back to his team’s Super Bowl loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs four years ago, and he quipped: “I mean, I remember Nick Bosa getting held on third-and-long —...
Who will referee this year’s Super Bowl? How do NFL officials prepare?
Some folks who could get plenty of TV time during Super Bowl 58 between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers are household names, of course, from Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Christian McCaffrey on the field to a certain pop star — Taylor Swift — expected to cheer...
Ready to disappoint Taylor Swift, Brock Purdy goes overtime on Super Bowl opening night
LAS VEGAS — Brock Purdy went overtime on Super Bowl opening night. The San Francisco 49ers’ second-year quarterback began by saying he’s ready to spoil Taylor Swift’s trip to Las Vegas and finished by remaining at the microphone to answer questions for several minutes after Monday’s media extravaganza concluded. With...
Auditor: Brett Favre must finish repaying misspent welfare money
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi’s state auditor filed court papers Monday renewing his call for Brett Favre to repay the state for welfare money that the auditor says was improperly spent on projects backed by the retired NFL quarterback. Auditor Shad White’s demand of nearly $730,000 from Favre is the latest...
Eagles to host NFL’s 1st regular-season game in Brazil on Friday, Sept. 6
LAS VEGAS — The Philadelphia Eagles will be the host team for the NFL’s first regular-season game in Brazil on Friday, Sept. 6 — a day after the 2024 season opener, Commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday. Goodell addressed gambling, officiating, diversity, the Rooney Rule and much more in an nearly...
49ers have concerns about the condition of their Super Bowl practice field
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said league and independent inspectors have found the practice field set aside for the San Francisco 49ers is safe to use during Super Bowl week despite complaints from the team. The Niners had expressed concern to the league that the field on UNLV’s campus is too...
Browns hire Ken Dorsey as OC, hope he can get most out of QB Watson
BEREA, Ohio — Ken Dorsey’s background playing quarterback and coaching QBs made him a natural pick for the Browns, who hope he can work his magic with Deshaun Watson. Fired during the season in Buffalo, Dorsey was introduced Monday as Cleveland’s new offensive coordinator by coach Kevin Stefanski, who made...
RB Christian McCaffrey’s play validates 49ers’ big deal to acquire him
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York tells the story, coach Kyle Shanahan took some convincing before deciding it was worth dealing a boatload of draft picks before last season’s trade deadline for Christian McCaffrey. With most teams around the NFL downgrading the value of running...
TEs Travis Kelce of Chiefs, George Kittle of 49ers ready to match up again in Super Bowl
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and the 49ers’ George Kittle are best of friends when they are off the field. They are fierce competitors when they step on it. They also happen to be two of the best tight ends ever to play the game, and they...
Analysis: Year 25 for Andy Reid might be best coaching job yet
Andy Reid celebrated his 25th season as a head coach with a masterful performance on the sideline and in the locker room. The Kansas City Chiefs are one victory away from becoming the first NFL team in 19 years to win back-to-back Super Bowls. They’re here to face the San...
Super Bowl in Las Vegas further cements NFL’s relationship with city it once shunned
LAS VEGAS — A meeting scheduled in the 1980s between the NFL and sportsbook directors sparked hope in Las Vegas that their relationship would soon take a much more positive turn after decades during which the league kept the city at arm’s length. When all it turned out to be...
Japan wants everyone to know: Taylor Swift will make it in time for Super Bowl
TOKYO — Taylor Swift, who is holding concerts in Japan through Feb. 10, will make it in time for the Super Bowl to see her partner and football superstar Travis Kelce play. To make sure all her fans know, the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., has sent a message on...
Commanders are hiring Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator, AP source saysVideo
Kliff Kingsbury is joining the Washington Commanders just in time for their latest search for a franchise quarterback. The Commanders are hiring Kingsbury as their offensive coordinator, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because the...
Patrick Mahomes Sr. — father of Chiefs QB — arrested in Texas on suspicion of DWI
Patrick Mahomes Sr. — the father of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes — was arrested by Tyler, Texas police Saturday on suspicion of “driving while intoxicated, third or more,” according to Smith County online records. Per those records, bond for the elder Mahomes was set at $10,000 on Sunday...
NFC outlasts AFC in Pro Bowl Games showcasing flag football
ORLANDO, Fla. — All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill catching a pass over the middle and flashing world-class speed on the way to scoring a touchdown. Receiver Keenan Allen taking a lateral from C.J. Stroud, juking a defender to buy time before throwing across the field to tight end Evan Engram...
Steve Wilks, 49ers reach Super Bowl after roller-coaster run as defensive coordinator
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Steve Wilks has had a roller coaster ride in his first season as defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. Faced with a tricky task of taking over a successful defense that still had the same position coaches and system of his predecessor DeMeco Ryans, Wilks...
Chiefs’ sustained success boosts small businesses’ bottom lines
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Anthony Oropeza still remembers the day Travis Kelce walked into his studio at the InterUrban ArtHouse in suburban Kansas City, where some of his acrylic and mixed media works were hanging from the walls. Kelce was helping to deliver a grant for the community arts hub,...
How the Chiefs have become The New America’s Team
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The polarizing moniker still is applied to the Dallas Cowboys these days, regardless of whether it rings as true as it did during their 1990s heyday, when Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith led them to three Super Bowl titles in a four-year span. “America’s...
The Chiefs have built one of the NFL’s best defenses in part because they traded away Tyreek Hill
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It has taken two full years to accurately evaluate one of the most important deals that the Kansas City Chiefs have ever made, when they traded game-breaking wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for a package of draft picks. The Chiefs knew that if...
Loss to Chiefs still stings, but Ravens have no choice but to move on toward a busy offseasonVideo
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — It’s always tough when your offseason begins just before the Super Bowl. When Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta and coach John Harbaugh met with reporters Friday, it was clear last weekend’s loss to Kansas City in the AFC championship game still stung. “Every single team in...
