MINNEAPOLIS — Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy will miss the team’s Christmas Day game against the Detroit Lions with a hairline fracture in his right throwing hand, coach Kevin O’Connell announced Tuesday.

Rookie Max Brosmer will start in McCarthy’s place for the second time this season. O’Connell left McCarthy’s status for the ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are finally playing modern-day football, and the results have spoken for themselves.

Mike Tomlin has generally been the most conservative coach in the NFL and he believes that old adage, “Defense wins championships.” He has been firm in that belief, and his overall philosophy has been molded by the ...Read more

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — How good of a head coach is Mike McDaniel? Not how good is he as an offensive theorist or drawing up plays.

How strong is his leadership gene? How sturdy is his built culture? Does he successfully manage stars, develop young players, build a good coaching staff, manage a game and serve as de facto general manager if ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At this time a year ago, the Kansas City Chiefs were consumed with a quest: to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. They arrived at that rendezvous point having won 23 of the last 24 games started by Patrick Mahomes.

You could call that the pinnacle of motivation — even if it was pulped out of them ...Read more

DETROIT– A chaotic finish near the end of a chaotic season, that’s how it had to unfold, of course. It culminated with the Detroit Lions looking bewildered, wondering what happened to the touchdown they thought they’d just scored, what happened to their stirring rally, what happened to their stirring season?

Bewildering and befitting.

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NEW YORK — The NFL playoffs are poised to look pretty weird.

Patrick Mahomes will not appear in the postseason next month.

Nor will Joe Burrow or Dak Prescott.

Lamar Jackson is dangerously close to joining them, and he may not be healthy enough to play next weekend as his Baltimore Ravens (7-8) attempt to keep their dwindling playoff hopes ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS –San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy threw a career-high five touchdown passes Monday night, outdueling unretired Indianapolis Colts counterpart Philip Rivers.

By winning Monday night’s final regular-season road game in a 48-27 shootout over the Colts, the 49ers remained in control of their playoff destiny, which could ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh is signed through the 2028 season after inking a three-year extension in March. Whether he is still in Baltimore by then, though, perhaps remains to be seen after what has been a disastrous 2025 season.

Asked on Monday following an epitomizing 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is day to day after suffering a contusion to his back during Sunday night’s loss to the New England Patriots, coach John Harbaugh said Monday, less than 24 hours after the quarterback was knocked out of the 28-24 defeat at M&T Bank Stadium.

“It doesn’t look like it’s more than ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Chargers will be without starting linebacker Denzel Perryman for the remainder of the regular season.

The NFL on Monday suspended Perryman without pay for two games for repeated violations of rules designed to protect player health and safety, including an incident during Sunday's win over the Dallas Cowboys.

In...Read more

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas City Chiefs announced Monday their plans to move across the state line and build a new stadium in Wyandotte County.

The announcement came after a group of top Kansas lawmakers met in Topeka to approve an incentive package, and as Gov. Laura Kelly spoke at a news conference to announce some of the details.

The ...Read more

DETROIT — If the Pittsburgh Steelers have to clinch a playoff berth on their own they’re going to have to do it without DK Metcalf, their top receiver who was suspended for two games by the NFL for “conduct detrimental to the NFL” following his sideline incident with a Detroit Lions fan during Sunday’s 29-24 victory at Ford Field.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Lamar Hunt moved his Dallas Texans here in 1963, it was well-understood that the most pivotal force in the decision was then-Kansas City Mayor H. Roe Bartle — who liked to say he went to Hunt “on bended knee and begged him to move to Kansas City.”

There was much more to it than that, including some skullduggery ...Read more

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas City Chiefs have informed administrative officials that they will announce their move to Kansas today, according to sources who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The move was pending the approval of top Kansas lawmakers, who met Monday in Topeka, Kan., to vote on ...Read more

DETROIT — The NFL could hand down discipline to Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf at any time now as they review his sideline incident with a Detroit Lions fan during Sunday's win at Ford Field.

When Cincinnati Bengals wideout Ja'Marr Chase spit on Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey last month, the league announced his one-game ...Read more

BALTIMORE — It was a night of firsts for quarterback Drake Maye in the New England Patriots’ 28-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens.

Maye delivered the first fourth-quarter comeback of his NFL career in his first 300-yard performance.

It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but it should still serve as a morale-booster for the Patriots after last ...Read more

DK Metcalf could soon find himself in some trouble with the NFL.

The Pittsburgh Steelers receiver was seen by CBS cameras swiping at a fan in the stands at Ford Field during the second quarter of his team’s game against the Lions Sunday in Detroit.

CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson reported that no one else on the Steelers’ bench ...Read more

DETROIT — The Detroit Lions’ season was hanging by a thread, their playoff hopes fading fast, but it was the Pittsburgh Steelers who visited Michigan and came out like the team with its back against the wall.

A banged-up offensive line bullied a beleaguered defense to the tune of 230 rushing yards, a front five missing T.J. Watt and Nick ...Read more