TAMPA, Fla. — Bucs coach Bruce Arians has been fined $50,000 by the National Football League for slapping the helmet of safety Andrew Adams during Sunday’s 31-15 win over the Eagles in an NFC wild-card playoff game.

Arians said he was trying to prevent Adams from getting a penalty for pulling Eagles players off the pile following a muffed ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts’ offseason started with a vote of confidence from Howie Roseman.

During his season-ending news conference, the Eagles general manager said Wednesday that Hurts did enough good things last year to earn the starting job in 2022 and the offseason would be spent building a team around the 23-year-old quarterback.

“...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger is gone, off to his wife and three kids and his life's work, waiting for his gold jacket from Canton. Joe Haden, Terrell Edmunds, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ahkello Witherspoon, Trai Turner, Chuks Okorafor, Ray-Ray McCloud, James Washington and Miles Killebrew could leave as free agents. Stephon Tuitt might not be ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts was asked Monday if he felt he did enough this season to remain the Eagles’ starting quarterback.

“I think I’ve done a lot of great things this year, a lot of things to learn from,” Hurts said the day after his season ended with a dismal 31-15 playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

His response wasn’t ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Conventional wisdom holds that Bill Belichick is the best football coach ever, and that Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback ever, and that Aaron Rodgers is this year's Most Valuable Player.

After watching the NFL playoffs this weekend, you have to wonder if only one of those three presumptions holds true.

On Sunday, Brady, ...Read more

CHICAGO — In the week since firing general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy, Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey has been inching his way through an interview schedule of more than two dozen candidates to replace them.

As the five-person Bears search committee narrows its choices, it also will be selling what the franchise has to ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — You began the week in a great mood.

The Bucs had shown up for the playoffs on their best behavior, and the roster was finally beginning to look semi-healthy again. Not to mention, everyone in Tampa Bay was preparing for back-to-back playoff games at home for the first time since 1979.

Then you watched the Rams humiliate the ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott apologized on social media Tuesday night for his comments after Sunday’s playoff loss.

Prescott praised fans for throwing debris toward NFL referees as they left the field after the game at AT&T Stadium.

“I deeply regret the comments I made regarding the officials after the game...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Lerentee McCray is charged with attempting to flee a law enforcement officer after a high-speed chase Sunday in Lake County, according to an arrest affidavit.

Officers in Fruitland Park tried to pull over McCray in a Dodge Ram around 1 a.m. after he was clocked going 88 mph in a 50-mph zone ...Read more

The NFL and its partners have to be beaming right now.

First the 49ers — football's dominant force on the West Coast — played the Cowboys in the playoffs. Ca-ching!

Now, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers — one of the premier brands in the NFL — host the Niners?

The good stuff just keeps flowing our way.

Last week's game looked clear in ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Rams manhandled the Arizona Cardinals in an NFC wild-card game Monday night, their 34-11 victory before 70,625 in SoFi Stadium earning them a berth in the divisional round against the defending Super Bowl-champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a $500,000 bonus for star receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

Beckham's contract contains $3 ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — The Bucs offensive line is hurting.

All-Pro tackle Tristan Wirfs is in a walking boot. His backup, Josh Wells, has a quad injury. Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen gutted out Sunday’s 31-15 win over the Eagles with a severely sprained ankle but finished the game because “that thing was going to have to be broken for him not to go ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The NFL is a copycat league — and now the Rams are angling for an instant replay.

They're looking to become the second consecutive team to win the Super Bowl in their home stadium.

A year ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made NFL history by doing that, and now the Rams have to get through them — and quarterback Tom Brady — ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In the heat of the moment, in the late stages of a dominant performance by the Rams that carried them to a wild-card playoff victory over Arizona on Monday, running back Cam Akers did something he soon regretted.

The Rams were up by 20 late in the third quarter, on the way to a 34-11 rout of the Cardinals, when Akers took a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — There was humor.

"I'm not playing against him one-on-one," Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said.

There were nervous smiles.

"It's tough, man," linebacker Von Miller said.

Listening to the Rams speak about Tom Brady was like traveling back in time and hearing basketball players describe Michael Jordan.

Or soccer players ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Vikings announced Monday afternoon they had completed interviews with Buccaneers Vice President of Player Personnel John Spytek and Browns VP of Football Operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah for their open general manager position. On Monday night, they announced they had completed an interview with Eagles VP of Football Operations ...Read more

With the NFL’s first “Super Wild Card Weekend” in the books, only eight teams remain in the hunt for the Super Bowl title.

After ranking all 32 teams throughout the 18-week regular season, The Baltimore Sun examines the top contenders heading into the divisional round:

1. Green Bay Packers

Thanks to their first-round bye, the Packers (...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — By all accounts, the Dallas Cowboys are not replacing head coach Mike McCarthy.

But the shocking 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday’s NFC wild-card game, abruptly ended a record-setting season and has ushered in an offseason of uncertainty for the Cowboys, who are facing looming coordinator losses and major ...Read more