SEATTLE — This was almost a column about a collection of clutch plays that saved the Seahawks' season opener. Instead it's about a team that got the result it deserved.

It's one thing to lose because of a few highlight-reel moments and unfortunate bounces. It's quite another to lose despite them.

In Sunday's 17-13 loss to the San Francisco ...Read more

CHICAGO — One thing Ben Johnson said in January when he was hired as the 19th head coach in Chicago Bears history is that the quarterback has to see the game through the eyes of the play caller.

To understand the foundation of where Johnson, the play caller, is as an offensive mind, you have to trace his history in the profession. Not through...Read more

MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins came into the 2025 season with a mantra of “they say, we do,” and used it to respond to every criticism that got doused on South Florida’s NFL franchise all offseason.

After watching Miami’s abysmal performance in the 33-8 season-opening loss to the Indianapolis Colts, I’m starting to wonder what exactly ...Read more

Longtime Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard, who is now with the Indianapolis Colts, left his former quarterback in Miami with a parting shot Monday after his new team’s convincing 33-8 victory in the season opener.

Howard didn’t hold back in his assessment of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and why the Colts were successful ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson expressed regret Sunday night for shoving a Buffalo Bills fan in the stands after the fan had slapped the helmets of Jackson and teammate DeAndre Hopkins as they celebrated a touchdown next to the stands at Highmark Stadium in upstate New York.

"I seen him slap D-Hop ... and he slapped ...Read more

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — You weren’t wrong to believe.

They were favored, after all.

And by the time anyone pulled up to Gillette Stadium, bad weather – a time-tested tell for major moments in Patriots history – had already descended on Foxbororough.

So as rain doused Mike Vrabel’s head-coaching debut, it was no surprise to see the ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The quarterback who has donned a yellow no-contact jersey for the past six weeks sprinted to the sideline, not in search of a reprieve but in search of the risk.

Patrick Mahomes could have stepped out of bounds on a third-quarter scramble, could have avoided contact altogether after clearing the first-down marker, but ...Read more

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — A little more than seven months after the Baltimore Ravens’ painful loss to the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of the playoffs, they found a new low on Sunday night.

With Buffalo kicker Tyler Bass placed on injured reserve just days before the season-opener at Highmark Stadium, 41-year-old Matt Prater, signed to ...Read more

ATLANTA — Nobody is sending tape of this game to the Hall of Fame.

Not unless there is an exhibit for screwball comedies. Or a lecture on perils to avoid.

Tampa Bay’s offense could not run the ball. The defense could not get the Atlanta Falcons off the field. The Bucs kept running afoul of the referee, and Chase McLaughlin missed two kicks...Read more

Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong for the San Francisco 49ers in their season-opening game Sunday in Seattle.

You had a special teams unit that looked like the players had never met each other before and a kicker who missed another easy field goal.

You had star players going down faster than the stock market on a bad day — ...Read more

MIAMI — On the bright side Sunday for the Miami Dolphins, at least no earthquake or other natural disaster struck Indianapolis to delay the game and elongate the misery.

The Dolphins christened the club’s 60th season with one of the most shameful performances in franchise annals. Miami’s play was so decisively putrid that the 33-8 loss to...Read more

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — There were the usual suspects who stood up and made the plays in a wild game coach Mike Tomlin said was “fun and challenging at the same time.”

At the top of the list was kicker Chris Boswell, whose career-best 60-yard field goal with 63 seconds remaining provided the winning points in an unexpected 34-32 shootout ...Read more

An hour-and-16 minute weather delay might have been the least-regrettable aspect of the Carolina Panthers’ ugly Week 1 blowout loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at EverBank Field.

Carolina’s dreadful debut featured a litany of miscues in a 26-10 road defeat. Quarterback Bryce Young had a pair of first-half turnovers, the defense ...Read more

SEATTLE – Brock Purdy bought time in the pocket, rolled right and threw up a Hail Mary-esque pass, even if it was only a 4-yard desperation lob.

Jake Tonges, subbing for the injured George Kittle, somehow used all 6-foot-4 of his frame to pull down his first-ever touchdown.

The 49ers had a four-point lead with 1 1/2 minutes remaining in ...Read more

GREEN BAY, Wis. — After the first game of the 2025 season, the Detroit Lions already have more road and divisional losses than they did the entire season prior.

The Lions' offense went 1 for 4 in the red zone — its lone touchdown came with 55 seconds left in the game — and couldn't run the football or couldn’t escape the Green Bay ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Matthew Stafford was not going to be deterred.

Bad back?

No problem, apparently.

“Whatever happens, happens,” Stafford said last week as the Rams prepared for Sunday’s season opener against the Houston Texans. “I’m playing like I always play.”

Stafford started slow but the 17th-year pro played well enough and ...Read more

DENVER — Initial thoughts from the Broncos’ 20-12 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 1 at Empower Field:

— Did Bo Nix prove Jeffery Simmons right?: We still want to Bo-lieve. We really do. We’re not quite sounding the alarm on a sophomore slump. Although full disclosure, those two words were muttered in the press box Sunday after Nix...Read more

ATLANTA — The Falcons put up a fight, but could not pull out the victory.

Behind the passing of Baker Mayfield, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Falcons 23-20 in the season opener on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Bucs start the season 1-0. The Falcons are 0-1.

Mayfield completed 17 of 32 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns...Read more