EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — They finished the game without Jamal Adams and without a single member of their usual starting offensive line playing at his regular spot.

And they played it with their starting quarterback hobbling through a knee injury that briefly forced him out in the first half.

But what the Seahawks had Monday night was a ...Read more

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — We might not have watched the quarterback matchup that turned the Chiefs-Jets into a prime-time feature, but we still saw some pretty good quarterback play.

From the other guy.

Mostly.

Zach Wilson had his best stretch as an NFL quarterback, and Patrick Mahomes overlapped it with one of his worst.

That’s not a ...Read more

Chase Claypool’s days with the Chicago Bears appear to be numbered.

During a news conference Monday at Halas Hall that was at times tense and awkward, coach Matt Eberflus said Claypool has been asked to stay away from the team this week — and perhaps permanently — as the Bears face a short turnaround before Thursday’s game against the ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — The jury has returned.

The verdict is in.

The Patriots are guilty.

Of roster-building arrogance. Of quarterback malpractice. Of deluding a fanbase and themselves they were capable of launching a playoff campaign against the NFL’s hardest schedule.

Their sentencing came down Sunday with a calamitous 38-3 loss at Dallas,...Read more

Former Patriots tight end Russ Francis died in a plane crash Sunday in Lake Placid, N.Y., the team announced Monday.

Francis, 70, played 13 NFL seasons, including two stints in New England from 1975-80 and 1987-88. Francis made two All-Pro teams and three Pro Bowls during his career. The Patriots drafted him in the first round of the 1975 NFL ...Read more

Brandon Staley beamed at the lectern.

The embattled Chargers coach raved about the resolve of Justin Herbert, who sealed a 24-17 victory over the visiting Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday by completing a 51-yard pass. He applauded the tenacity of Khalil Mack, who registered a team-record six sacks. He praised the collective effort of his defense, ...Read more

If this was indeed one of those so-called statement games (and it was), the statements on either side were succinct.

“Our time,” declared the Miami Dolphins, hopefully.

“Not yet,” countered the Buffalo Bills, with a big brother’s smirk.

The football map has not changed.

The AFC East still goes through Buffalo.

There was doubt ...Read more

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- We might not have watched the quarterback matchup that turned the Chiefs-Jets into a primetime feature, but we still saw some pretty good quarterback play.

From the other guy.

Mostly.

Zach Wilson had his best stretch as an NFL quarterback, and Patrick Mahomes overlapped it with one of his worst.

That’s not a ...Read more

Inside a downcast home locker room at Soldier Field, Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields lay down inside his stall, full uniform still on and the wheels in his brain spinning in all directions. Fields couldn’t really comprehend how such a fun and positive afternoon had turned so dreadful, how his most productive outing as an NFL ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The microphones had scattered. Harrison Smith, after one of the best games of what might prove to be a Hall of Fame career, was still standing next to a large hamper, in the strange way that sport so often juxtaposes the regal and the mundane.

Smith had just won an NFL game with a handful of pivotal plays. His reward: shower...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Three touchdowns by Christian McCaffrey put the undefeated 49ers’ fourth win in motion Sunday.

But 35 minutes remained. Things stalled. The Arizona Cardinals rallied. The 49ers needed more.

Sure enough, McCaffrey delivered with his fourth touchdown, and that fourth-quarter score vaulted the 49ers toward an eventual 35...Read more

CHICAGO — When the Broncos had every right to quit on Sean Payton, proud NFL veterans Russell Wilson and Kareem Jackson stepped up to save this irascible, unlovable Denver coach from another crisis of his own making.

After the Broncos came back from a 21-point deficit Sunday to beat the bad news Chicago Bears, 31-28, franchise owner Greg ...Read more

The press box at Lincoln Financial Field early Sunday evening, quiet save for the tiny tapping on laptop keyboards and low whispers between colleagues. Not quite two hours since Jake Elliott’s 54-yard field goal cut through the uprights, since the Eagles survived the Commanders and themselves, 34-31 in overtime. A Washington-area writer had ...Read more

CLEVELAND — A month into the season, the AFC North isn’t looking so tough anymore.

On Sept. 9, a genius sports columnist from The Baltimore Sun wrote that it was the toughest division in the NFL. He apologizes. OK, it was me. At this point of the season, I stand corrected.

If the season continues to unfold the way it has during the first ...Read more

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — OK, no one needed this. Let’s address that lunacy right away. No one in Sunday’s losing locker room needed to get hung with humility because they were too giddy about last week’s 50-point margin of victory against the Denver Broncos.

Sure, the Miami Dolphins got the reality check that was bound to come sooner or ...Read more