Los Angeles Times NFL writer Sam Farmer examines the matchups and makes his predictions for Week 1 of the NFL season.

Last season, including playoffs, Sam Farmer posted a 181-104 record (.635).

Using point spreads with the scores Farmer predicted, his record against the spread last season was 130-155 (.466). All team records shown below are ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman spoke for the first time Wednesday since news broke last month of his arrest earlier this summer on a family violence battery charge involving the mother of his child.

“There’s only so much I can say right now,” Bateman said. “It’s a legal situation. I’m looking forward to just ...Read more

Football loves an adage, an axiom, a sacred cow it can chew on talk radio until everyone’s teeth hurt.

And two of the sport’s favorites make zero sense when you shove them into the same room.

We’re told that football is the ultimate team game. Twenty-two starters, plus specialists, all must be locked in precise sync — where a single ...Read more

GREG COTE’S NFL WEEK 1 THURSDAY PICK

49ERS (0-0) vs. RAMS (0-0) in Melbourne, Australia

Line: LAR by 3 1/2.

Cote’s pick: LAR, 27-24.

TV: 8:35 p.m., Thursday, Netflix.

G’day, mate. Welcome to the land Down Und-ah. The first of Week 1’s five division games also is the first ever NFL regular-season faceoff in Australia — and first of...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Veteran quarterback Carson Wentz will back up Vikings starter Kyler Murray in Week 1, head coach Kevin O’Connell said in a news conference Wednesday.

Wentz, who re-signed this March after first joining the Vikings on a one-year contract in August 2025, supplants J.J. McCarthy in the No. 2 role.

“This gives us the best ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas Raiders got one of their star players back for Wednesday’s practice at the team facility.

Another was notably absent and is now expected to miss some time.

Tight end Brock Bowers underwent a procedure on his knee this week and will miss at least Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins, though his absence is not...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Ask Mike McDaniel where his head is, and you'll get a philosophical answer.

Ask him where his feet are, and you'll get the same.

"That's a huge compass for me, or a guiding measurement — being where my feet are," said McDaniel, Yale-educated offensive coordinator of the Chargers.

To him, that means living in the present. Not...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Before the Eagles won two Super Bowls, before they established themselves as a franchise that expects and is expected to compete for a championship every year, before they built the defense they have now — a defense that might be the best in the NFL this season — there was a moment that scarred everyone who cheered for or ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When their careers end, quarterback Matthew Stafford and receiver Davante Adams are probably headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Defensive tackle Aaron Donald and defensive end Myles Garrett are locks.

That is the top end of a Rams roster that also boasts All-Pro receiver Puka Nacua, All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, Pro ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Remember how the Ravens’ 2025 season ended? No, not the kick.

What stands out most is that then-42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 31 of 47 passes for 294 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown strike to Calvin Austin III with 55 seconds left to give the Steelers the lead in a 26-24 win that sealed the AFC North title...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Blockbuster trades and high-profile free-agent signings have been Rams trademarks during the Sean McVay era, but success also has been built on more subtle transactions.

After the Seattle Seahawks exposed the secondary — and especially cornerbacks — in the Rams' NFC championship game defeat last season, McVay and Rams ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — So much for the deadline. Baker Mayfield has a new deal.

The Buccaneers quarterback, who had refused to negotiate a contract extension after reporting to training camp, reached an agreement on a three-year deal with the team Tuesday.

Bucs general manager Jason Licht and assistant general manager Mike Greenberg reached out to ...Read more

The last player on your fantasy bench should never get comfortable.

He should know that every Tuesday morning you’re checking snap rates, goal-line carries, route participation and target shares for somebody younger, faster or simply more gainfully employed.

Too many fantasy managers treat the roster they drafted like a legally binding ...Read more

GREG COTE’S NFL WEEK 1 WEDNESDAY PICK

The NFL’s 107th season is the 36th year for our picks in the Miami Herald and the 21st season King Sport has kicked off early prime time — this year, for only the second time ever, on a Wednesday. (The other was in 2012 when the schedule moved up a day to avoid conflict with Barack Obama’s ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald will not travel with the team to Melbourne, Australia, to play in their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, coach Sean McVay said Tuesday.

Donald, who rejoined the Rams last month after a two-year retirement, wouldn’t confirm if he was planning to play in the season opener when ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Rams offensive lineman Kevin Dotson made the trip last spring. So did running back Kyren Williams, receiver Xavier Smith and defensive lineman Tyler Davis.

The four players traveled from Los Angeles to Australia as goodwill ambassadors.

But also as test cases.

First Dotson and Williams, and later Smith and Davis, endured the ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Kirk Cousins has great respect for Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak and offensive line coach Rick Dennison and all who put the time in to scheme things for those behemoths up front.

It all starts, according to the quarterback Cousins, with fundamentals and how they’re taught.

“Just the way the (offensive line) goes about ...Read more

DENVER — T.J. Ward would run through Jeremy Maclin again for Carrie and Greg. Happily. Sore knees and all.

“You guys are really lucky to play for the Penners,” the former Broncos safety, enforcer for the Super Bowl 50 champions, told me recently. “You know your owners are personable when they come up (and say), ‘Here’s my email. If ...Read more

If you were building a power ranking of the NFC right now, the San Francisco 49ers look like a podium team.

You can make an argument they’re the third-best team in the conference — a serious contender.

The problem? They’d be ranked third in their own division.

Yes, they’re currently staring up at the defending champion Seattle ...Read more