ATLANTA — Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins tossed two interceptions and led the team on just one touchdown drive as the Pittsburgh Steelers beat them 18-10 in the season opener on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Cousins, who was signed to a four-year $180 million contract in free agency, was thought to be the missing piece to the team’s ...Read more

The New England Patriots shut up a sea of orange, and an endless list of pundits predicting them for a league-worst finish, in Jerod Mayo’s first career win as head coach.

Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt’s unit proved the old adage that you have to learn to walk before you can run in the Patriots’ 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals...Read more

MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins’ surreal opening day of the 2024 NFL season began with an incident involving star wide receiver Tyreek Hill and local police hours before kickoff.

It ended with Jason Sanders booting a 53-yard game-winning field goal as time expired to lift Miami to a 20-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Hard Rock ...Read more

MIAMI — Hours after Miami Dolphins All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill was handcuffed Sunday morning on his way to the team’s season-opening game against Jacksonville, the Miami-Dade Police Department is investigating the officers involved in the stop, during which Hill was pinned to the ground.

Video and photos posted to social media showed ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — During the Kansas City Chiefs’ 27-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, Sept. 5, the NBC broadcast took some time to talk about Carson Steele, the Chiefs’ undrafted rookie running back.

The broadcast discussed Steele’s pet alligator, Crocky-J, who was a Christmas present Steele received in elementary ...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It’s not like Brock Purdy has grown in stature, although his thighs have taken on a Bosa-like quality through work in the weight room.

Yet it’s pretty clear Purdy has seized control of the 49ers’ offense, if not the team. The false narrative of Purdy being a mechanical ball distributor on behalf of coach Kyle ...Read more

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — For all the months of chatter about returning Jalen Hurts to how he performed in 2022 — the changes at offensive coordinator and in scheme that were made to get him back there, and how he seemed on his way following a strong training camp — the quarterback looked a lot like he did last season in the Eagles' season ...Read more

DENVER — You could count on one hand the number of times Sean Payton seemed relaxed in his Friday news conferences last season. Maybe one finger. Like the middle one.

That is what made Friday interesting and further proof of his comfort level with his second Broncos team entering its first game of the season. He entertained questions, both ...Read more

CHICAGO — Black-and-white photographs and grainy videos are all you ever see of Sid Luckman.

The greatest quarterback in Chicago Bears history, who retired in 1950 after leading the team to four NFL championships, played in an era so far removed from today’s game, it’s impossible to compare him to any modern QB, much less one of our own. ...Read more

Sometimes a team will make a trade knowing they are giving up a good player with the idea being, “Let him be good someplace else.”

Ultimately, that’s how they felt about No. 1 wide receiver Amari Cooper. They let him be good someplace else, and on Sunday in Cleveland it’s apt to bite them in their smug faces. If Cooper goes off and ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Jets acquired Haason Reddick in late March to help bolster their pass rush.

But they will be without the two-time Pro Bowler in the season-opening game against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.

Reddick, who has been holding out looking for a new contract, has still not reported to the team facility. When asked ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Every leader in every business hits a crossroads. In that regard the Los Angeles Rams' Les Snead is no different. It's how he decides which way to go that sets him apart — and perhaps there's a lesson in that for all of us.

At the season opener against the Lions on Sunday night, for the first time in a decade, Los Angeles will...Read more

Joe Burrow has a new haircut. You might have seen it. The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback has gone bleached blond. Why? Burrow said he was bored. Said he was in the mood for something different.

You know what would be something different? A healthy Joe Burrow for a full 17 games and the postseason. That didn’t happen in 2023. The Bengals ...Read more

RENTON, Wash. — In Mike Macdonald's 37 years — an age that makes him the youngest head coach in the NFL in 2024 and the youngest in Seahawks history — the one constant has been football.

"Actually my first memory is throwing a football," he said in August following a training-camp practice.

He paused, trying to recall more vividly that ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some 55 hours before his 12th NFL season, Travis Kelce walked into a crowded media room at the Chiefs’ practice facility that had been waiting for his arrival.

He’d been here, in a similar room, for the first time more than a dozen years earlier, a teleconference introduction of a third-round draft pick that came ...Read more

MIAMI — You never forget your first love, so it is often said. For many or us, that first love was sports.

That one magical year that made us smitten. A certain player, maybe. A championship season. A memory that never left. That one team that was, is, interwoven in your life’s timeline. The team that helped raise you and never left you. ...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Christian McCaffrey insisted Friday his calf is feeling “much better” and his Achilles is “not a concern for me,” even though he has remained limited in this week’s practices leading into the 49ers’ season opener Monday night.

Any doubt in his mind if he will play against the New York Jets at Levi’s Stadium...Read more

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Why?

The question is as difficult to ignore as the traffic here in South America's largest city. It hangs in the air like the smoggy veil of wildfire smoke that has shrouded the sky for much of the week.

It has been stated openly by players and muttered privately by staffers. The two head coaches have mostly ignored it. ...Read more