DETROIT — Was it ownership? The front office? The players in the locker room? A mix of all the above?

Matthew Stafford is one win from reaching the Super Bowl in his first season with the Los Angeles Rams, and the former Detroit Lions quarterback said Wednesday he has not had time to reflect yet on why he never approached this kind of success...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After Twitter account Chiefs Kingdom Memes suggested on Monday that Chiefs fans donate $13 to The Patricia Allen Fund, Bills quarterback Josh Allen's foundation benefiting John R. Oishei Children's Hospital in Buffalo, members of the Chiefs Kingdom rallied in a big way.

Brayton Wilson, a reporter with WBEN in Buffalo, N.Y.,...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles is hosting the final four this week.

Not college basketball, but the four surviving NFL teams who are headed to their respective conference championship games.

Representatives from each of those clubs — the Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs — will check out the Super Bowl ...Read more

Almost 15 years after Byron Leftwich was surprisingly kicked to the curb by the Jaguars, it seems rather surreal that the exiled quarterback could be summoned back as the franchise's seventh head coach.

Since late Tuesday night through noon Wednesday, there was varying speculation on social media about Leftwich either becoming the next coach or...Read more

Jimmy Garoppolo is no stranger to this situation.

The 49ers covered up his anything-but-elite quarterback play for not one, but two playoff games only two seasons ago.

But eventually, as it always does, the burden of offensive success fell on the quarterback.

The Niners tried to hide him as long as they could, but in the third game — Super ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Interviews for the Ravens’ vacant defensive coordinator position are expected to continue this week, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, even as multiple reports suggest Michigan defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald has emerged as the front-runner for the job.

Macdonald, who served on coach John Harbaugh’s ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Vikings have their next general manager: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

After bringing the Browns vice president of football operations to the Twin Cities for a second interview on Tuesday, the Vikings finalized a deal with him on Wednesday morning, a league source confirmed. The 40-year-old Adofo-Mensah had been with the Browns since ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Byron Leftwich could be the Jaguars’ first choice again.

The Bucs’ offensive coordinator, who was Jacksonville’s first-round pick in 2003 as a quarterback out of Marshall, could be hired as the Jaguars’ next head coach. There are some items to clear up contractually, but Leftwich and the Jaguars are working to finalize ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It took 13 seconds for the Kansas City Chiefs to tie the game and set up a wild 42-36 finish in overtime against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. It was a heartbreaker for Buffalo fans, but some Chiefs fans are doing some good with the number 13 and raising money for kids in the hospital.

The user behind Twitter account Chiefs ...Read more

NEW YORK — John Mara unequivocally said Wednesday that the Giants aren’t pursuing Texans QB Deshaun Watson.

“We’re not trading for Deshaun Watson,” Mara said, citing the more than 20 women who have accused Watson of sexual assault and harassment in lawsuits. “There’s so many reasons why we wouldn’t do that. For cap reasons we ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Less than 24 hours after his team’s season ended, Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski said he’d allow his mind to clear and his 32-year-old body to heal before pondering his football future.

But if forced to decide before decompressing, Gronkowski says he’d retire from the NFL.

“If they’re like, ‘Rob, you’ve got to ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Brandon Brooks will retire after six years with the Eagles and 10 years in the NFL.

The Pro Bowl guard made the announcement in a video news conference with local reporters Wednesday, thanking the Eagles organization and saying the decision came down to health. Brooks, 32, has suffered season-ending injuries every year since ...Read more

BALTIMORE — As the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills were playing in their epic game Sunday night, it was hard to imagine how the Ravens could compete with either of those teams or the Cincinnati Bengals.

The conclusion was simple: They couldn’t.

If the Ravens had made the playoffs, they would have been a one-and-done reject like ...Read more

SEATTLE — Unfortunately, it had to end eventually.

That Chiefs-Bills playoff contest Sunday — a reminder of why NFL games are consistently this country's most-watched events — might have been the best 60-minutes-plus of football we'll see for the next 10 years.

But it's the 60-minutes plus that is the point of emphasis here, because two ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — There were a few ways to watch the NFL’s two playoff games Sunday, the two games that have had the whole football-loving world buzzing ever since. One way, if you were a Buffalo Bills fan, was to ricochet from joy to horror to ecstasy to complete heartbreak. Another way was to sit back, be an engaged and overjoyed observer of ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — You can ask Bruce Arians. You can ask Peter King. You can ask Gisele.

You can listen to the whispers, you can read between the lines, you can play his podcast backwards and search for hidden clues.

You can speculate all you want about Tom Brady’s potential retirement plans but you will never know for sure what is in his heart...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs are hosting a fourth straight American Football Conference Championship game, something that's never happened in the National Football League. If you aren't a fan yet or you're looking to jumpstart your fandom, there's no better time than now.

Before they kickoff against the Cincinnati Bengals at 2 p....Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — As the Bucs and the NFL wait to hear whether Tom Brady is going to play or retire, the quarterback had something else to say Tuesday: Thank you.

In a social-media post, Brady said he understands the interest in his future but wanted to take time to express his appreciation for all those who made the 2021 Bucs season so special, ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — The first shoe has officially dropped on Jerry Jones’ dream scenario of hiring Sean Payton as coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

But hold on to your britches.

The second shoe is at least year away.

Never say never, but Payton’s decision to walk away from the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday after 15 seasons has too many legs ...Read more