TAMPA, Fla. — If you just focus on the scoreboard, you might convince yourself it wasn’t so bad.

After all, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still had a chance against Cincinnati in the final minutes. And, it should be pointed out, it was a road game against a team with playoff aspirations. Also, it goes without saying, half the teams are going to ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Mike McCarthy said it was his decision to make cornerback Joey Porter Jr. inactive on Sunday, and the Pittsburgh Steelers coach would not commit to a timeline for when Porter will play in a game.

Porter, who was removed from the physically unable to perform list on Aug. 30 and is medically cleared from a back injury, was listed ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — It goes too far to say that the Eagles have been trying to get rid of Dallas Goedert over the last two years, but it is fair to suggest that they’ve been open to other options. They signed him to a one-year contract before last season, then another one-year deal before this one, and those resolutions arrived with the feeling ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Rams coach Sean McVay said Monday morning that they had yet to determine a timeline for Myles Garrett, who is set to undergo knee surgery Monday and be placed on the injured reserve.

The reigning two-time Defensive Player of the Year will miss at least the next four games starting with next Monday’s game against the New York ...Read more

BOSTON — It’s going to be a long four weeks without A.J. Brown.

Maybe even five or six.

Brown’s high ankle sprain landed him on injured reserve Saturday, meaning he must miss the Patriots’ upcoming games versus the Steelers, at the Jaguars, at the Bills and against the Raiders at home. If Brown sits for six weeks, a common recovery ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — This season, for a game on the night before Thanksgiving, the Rams will don their new "Fearsome White" uniforms, which honor the era of the team's legendary Fearsome Foursome defensive line of the late 1960s and '70s.

After a season-opening performance more fragile than fearsome, the Rams' defensive front has work to do if it ...Read more

Ahead of Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara, Calif., this February, local officials touted a partnership with the NFL to provide $200,000 for services for sex trafficking victims as cities across the Bay Area anticipated thousands of football fans pouring into the region for the Big Game.

Seven months later, San Francisco 49ers principal owner and ...Read more

NEW YORK — That’s what the money’s for.

John Harbaugh’s $20 million a year salary was worth every penny in his Sunday night prime time New York Giants debut.

The Giants outcoached and outplayed the rival Dallas Cowboys in a statement 28-20 win at MetLife Stadium, announcing a new day in East Rutherford, N.J.

Jaxson Dart completed 23 ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ben Johnson slept well Saturday night. Better than he normally does the night before a game.

That’s because his quarterback was as prepared as he ever has been.

“I could kind of tell last night,” Johnson said after Sunday’s 59-37 win over the Carolina Panthers. “We do our quarterback meeting one last time, and he ...Read more

SEATTLE — Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is expected to miss next week’s game at Arizona, according to reports from both the NFL Network and FOX Sports during their pregame shows Sunday morning.

But each report stated there’s a chance Darnold could return for a Week 3 game at Washington on Sept. 27.

Both reports also clarified that ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — There are no easy wins in the NFL. Every victory should be celebrated, even the ugly ones.

But it’s hard to ignore the way the Steelers ground their way to a 20-13 win against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. Their Week 1 win felt rather … familiar.

On a day that marked the beginning of a new era, the ...Read more

MIAMI — This 61st Miami Dolphins season that kicked off Sunday is going to be all about seeing the positives, and sometimes having to look hard for them. It will be about divining hope that may not be obviously there.

This will not come in winning streaks, or playoff hunts. It will come in plays, in moments.

Up here, there are no 77-7 games,...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Kirk Cousins has 301 touchdown passes in his 15-year NFL career, his first three Sunday for the Las Vegas Raiders sparking their Week 1 victory.

The Raiders rolled to a 27-13 win over the Miami Dolphins at Allegiant Stadium, enthralling a raucous capacity crowd. Cousins completed 21 of 30 passes for 160 yards and first-half ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Chargers are trying to find their sea legs with their new offense.

More pre-snap motion. Imbalanced formations. A dizzying array of plays.

They unveiled the new scheme Sunday and mostly came away queasy, losing to the Arizona Cardinals 26-14 in what proved to be Jim Harbaugh’s first Week 1 defeat as an NFL head coach.

...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — After Kyler Murray beat J.J. McCarthy out for the Minnesota Vikings’ starting quarterback job, coach Kevin O’Connell went with veteran Carson Wentz as the team’s No. 2 QB over the 23-year-old.

It meant that just over a year after he led the Vikings to a double-digit comeback over a division rival in his first NFL start, ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — It wasn’t pretty, to be sure, but the Steelers began the Mike McCarthy era with a 20-13 victory against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.

And they saw the dominating return of a familiar face along the way.

Outside linebacker T.J. Watt looked like his old self in a five-play span in the second half, during ...Read more

DETROIT — When Amon-Ra St. Brown caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff to go up 21-0 with 8:59 left in the third quarter, it seemed the party had officially begun in the season opener at Ford Field.

And eventually, it did — but not until the Detroit Lions held off a go-ahead two-point attempt on the final play of overtime to steal...Read more