ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Saturday night’s AFC wild-card game at Highmark Stadium was never in doubt.

As soon as the Buffalo Bills touched the ball following the opening kickoff, you knew it. The Patriots never stood a chance. For the Pats’ defense, it was a nightmare in Orchard Park, and very similar to the group’s effort, or lack thereof, ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Imagine the regular season as a journey. A vacation, if you will.

You start off with all kinds of hopes and plans. The caravan is gassed up and the schedule stretches out ahead like an invitation to better days.

And then your tight end breaks down.

And a receiver goes missing.

Before you know it, there are leaks in the ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — It is bigger than the game against Clemson. It is bigger than either game against Georgia. It is bigger than the Heisman Trophy stage. Jalen Hurts has seen plenty of days that cause sleepless nights. On Sunday, he will awake to the biggest.

I might feel bad about writing such a thing if I thought that Hurts might read it. ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — As a result of playing football, Ralph Neely had dementia, a bad back, a bad neck, replaced knees, a hip and a shoulder, scoliosis of the spine, and by the end he was in so much pain he told his wife he no longer wanted to live.

"He said he would do it all over again," said Neely's widow, Janis, in a phone interview.

Last...Read more

With the conclusion of Week 18, it’s officially draft season for more than half the NFL.

The top 18 picks are solidified, with the Jacksonville Jaguars claiming the No. 1 overall selection for the second year in a row. Here are The Baltimore Sun’s initial projections for the first round, which begins April 28 in Las Vegas:

— Note: Picks ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Patrick Mahomes betrayed some fleeting moments of mortality earlier this season, you'd have thought this revolutionary star had burst just like a supernova.

Kaboom, just like that, no more was he the stellar force who had transformed everything for and about the Chiefs.

No longer was he the guy who stoked them to ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Max Starks was there in 2005 when the Steelers went back to Indianapolis to play the No. 1 seed Colts in an AFC divisional-round playoff game. Two months earlier, they had lost to the Colts, 26-7, a game in which Peyton Manning threw an 80-yard touchdown to Marvin Harrison on their first play from scrimmage, rocking the already ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams apparently cannot stop collecting star players to fulfill a mandate to play in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium.

It started in January when they traded for Matthew Stafford. It continued in November when they traded for linebacker Von Miller and signed free agent receiver Odell Beckham Jr. This week, they ...Read more

The NFL playoffs have arrived.

This time of year on the football calendar is when quarterbacks are asked to rise to an even greater challenge as teams fight to reach the Super Bowl. And most of the time, a team can only reach that championship game if their QB performs like a star.

There are 14 QBs with their eyes on Super Bowl LVI and their ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady has been asked about retirement more times than you can shake a walking stick at.

The 44-year-old typically smiles and says only that he knows his body won’t give out before he gives up football to spend more time with his family.

But as Sunday’s wild-card playoff game against the Eagles approaches, Bucs ...Read more

Jimmy Garoppolo says he has a good feeling about this 49ers team as they head into the playoffs.

You know what? I do too.

The Niners have their flaws, no doubt, and Garoppolo doesn't crack the top 10 of playoff quarterbacks this season, but the 49ers have multiple reasons to believe in themselves and their chances in the tournament.

Health

...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Rob Gronkowski needed one more reception — his seventh of the game — to reach another $500,000 performance bonus in the fourth quarter of the Bucs’ 41-17 win over the Panthers last Sunday.

Having already earned a half-million dollars earlier in the game for a receiving yardage bonus, he saddled up to Mike Greenberg, the ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — T.J. Watt isn't sweating the sack record — at least not anymore. There was a glimmer of hope that his first-quarter takedown of Tyler Huntley would be changed from just a forced fumble to a full sack to give him full ownership of the single-season record, but Watt is putting that in the rearview, and 22 1/2 is where it will ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The word "crazy" came up several times during a 46-minute video call in which Eric Weddle discussed his decision to come out of retirement and sign with the Rams this week. So did the words "surreal" and "mind-boggling."

At one point, Weddle was asked if it was "nuts" to think the 37-year-old safety, a full two years removed ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the Chiefs were trudging along at 4-4 entering their game against Green Bay, we were struck by the question of how much their funk was about inexplicably plummeting into a crummy team and how much was about twists of fortune.

Or maybe it was somewhere in between — considering the uncharacteristic blooper reel of ...Read more

Los Angeles Times’ NFL writer, Sam Farmer, examines this week’s playoff matchups in the NFL wild-card round. Lines according to FanDuel. Last week’s record 10-6 (.625); season 174-97-1 (.642). Using point spreads with the scores Farmer had predicted, the record against the spread last week would have been 10-6 (.625); season 135-135-2 (....Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs will not have their starting running back for the first round of the playoffs.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid announced Friday that Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who is still recovering from a shoulder injury, will not play in Sunday night's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Arrowhead Stadium.

"He tested it out a few ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — The lowest point of the Dallas Cowboys in the last 25 years starts with the San Francisco 49ers, and a specific moment that featured the original "X" thrown up by someone long before Dez Bryant made it fashionable.

Bryant is credited as the creative genius who made "throw up the X" a thing, but video evidence conclusively ...Read more