CLEVELAND — All the Steelers had to do to give themselves a makeshift bye going into the playoffs was take care of business against a three-win Cleveland Browns team on a four-game losing streak with a rookie quarterback in his fifth NFL start.

Instead, they’ll have to beat the Baltimore Ravens with their season on the line. If they can’t...Read more

Everybody remembers their first.

Their first kiss. Their first car. Their first house.

For Quinn Ewers, he will always remember Dec. 28, 2025 because it was the day he not only threw his first touchdown pass but also notched his first win.

The rookie signal caller tossed two touchdowns en route to the Miami Dolphins’ 20-17 over the Tampa...Read more

American sports leagues treated global expansion as an aspiration for decades, but it was something to pursue only when convenient — and often without much strategic forethought.

The calculus changed in 2025, as evidenced by the organizations that signaled that going global is now a permanent feature of doing business as an American sports ...Read more

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Ravens arrived at the cathedral of pro football confronted with their own mortality, last rites at the ready.

Win at Lambeau Field against the Packers and they would keep their faint playoff pulse going for at least another day. Lose — as they have so often in the biggest of moments this season — and they would be ...Read more

The 49ers’ Sunday night matchup with the Chicago Bears isn’t just a game. It’s a dress rehearsal.

For the last month, the 49ers have been feasting on the NFL’s middle class (at best), stacking five straight wins like poker chips. But beating the Titans or the Colts is like winning a sparring match. Nice for the record, sure, but it ...Read more

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — What began as a blowout, ended as a down-to-the-wire finish Saturday, as the Houston Texans held off the Chargers with a 20-16 victory at SoFi Stadium.

The outcome rippled through the AFC, with the Denver Broncos clinching the AFC West, and the Indianapolis Colts eliminated from playoff contention. The Broncos are the ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Jets continue to search for their future quarterback.

But this week’s starter against New England, Brady Cook, certainly isn’t the answer.

In Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey’s first year as coach and general manager, they signed Justin Fields, hoping he could be a reclamation project like Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold.

...Read more

CHICAGO — There’s a gravitational force in the NFL that tends to pull the 32 teams toward the middle of the pack.

That’s why the idea of parity is constantly bandied about. The salary cap and a draft based on the reverse order of standings fuel competitive balance. Well-stocked rosters for well-run organizations can be outliers for a good...Read more

The Patriots placed starting wide receiver Mack Hollins on injured reserve, knocking him out for at least four games.

That means, at minimum, Hollins, who’s dealing with an abdomen injury, will miss the Patriots’ final two regular-season games against the Jets and Dolphins, plus at least two potential playoff games.

The earliest he could ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Star defensive end Maxx Crosby’s season appeared likely over when the Raiders informed him he wouldn’t play in the team’s final two games on Friday.

The team made it official Saturday, placing Crosby on injured reserve.

Crosby is likely to require surgery this offseason on a left knee injury that has been lingering ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Travis Kelce drove into work this week, a couple of days shy of the Chiefs’ final home game of the season, and that’s when he says the question we’ve been asking him is the question that popped into his mind.

Is this it?

It wasn’t unprompted. On Christmas night, shortly after the Chiefs’ 20-13 loss to the Broncos...Read more

MIAMI — Bradly Chubb suggests every Miami Dolphins player struggling to find their motivation for the final two games, searching for their reason to not mail it in for the final two meaningless games of 2025 to look his way.

Keeping his eight-year career, his struggles, his injuries, his resurgence, and most importantly, his paycheck in mind ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Rams players enjoyed the day off they got for Christmas, perhaps no one more than Puka Nacua.

The previous week, the star receiver was fined $25,000 by the NFL after he made critical comments about officials during a livestream and then again in a social media post immediately after the Rams' crushing 38-37 overtime defeat by ...Read more

The Kansas City Chiefs raised eyebrows after their Christmas Day loss when a staffer turned cameras away from following Travis Kelce, after what may have been his last home game, in an awkward moment making the rounds on social media.

The camera was zooming in on the tight end, 36, walking off through the halls of Arrowhead Stadium when a man ...Read more

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — The Lions' playoff hopes are over.

But a Lions fan's potential legal battle in the wake of an altercation with Pittsburgh Steelers receiver DK Metcalf last week at Ford Field might just be getting started.

A lawyer for Lions fan Ryan Kennedy said they are "evaluating all of our options," speaking during a press ...Read more

While the swirl of chatter around Travis Kelce on Christmas Day was on whether he plans to retire at the end of the season, the 11-time Pro Bowl tight end quietly moved up to No. 9 on the NFL all-time receiving list.

Kelce's fifth and last catch in the Kansas City Chiefs' 20-13 loss to the Denver Broncos was No. 1,077, pushing him past Anquan ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nearing kickoff on Christmas night, thick fog hovered over and around GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. And it made for an appropriately murky backdrop for a franchise abruptly at a crossroads — and in more ways than just the franchise’s planned move to Kansas in 2031.

Because after a dynastic run forged with remarkable ...Read more

CHICAGO — Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze will miss his fourth consecutive game after he was ruled out Friday afternoon ahead of Sunday night’s matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.

Odunze sat out the entire week of practice with a foot injury that has been nagging him for several weeks. The 2024 first-round draft pick hasn’t ...Read more