SEATTLE — The headline on a story Sunday morning on NFL.com — the league’s sanctioned website — was catchy.

“Seahawks QB Russell Wilson wants to explore options this offseason,” was the headline emblazoned across the top of a story written by one of the network’s main information reporters, Ian Rapoport.

And as expected, the ...Read more

Jerome Boger and the rest of the officials that worked Saturday night’s Bengals-Raiders game are probably out for the rest of the playoffs, according to an ESPN report Sunday morning.

It’s little consolation to Raiders fans after Saturday night’s debacle. And although leaking to Adam Schefter that Boger’s crew is out for the rest of the...Read more

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — The milestones keep looming larger. And grayer.

When the Bucs beat the Eagles 31-15 on Sunday, Tom Brady became the oldest starting quarterback to win a playoff game. He broke the record he set last season. And in 2020.

In fact, there have been only 12 playoff games won by a starting quarterback past the age of 40, and ...Read more

Shaquil Barrett’s interception, which leads to a touchdown, is one of three turnovers forced Sunday.

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Shaquil Barrett (knee) was among the many players missing from the Bucs’ starting lineup for the final two games of the regular season.

Well, Shaq is back and so is the Bucs defense.

The Pro Bowl linebacker made a ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — The Eagles were without top edge rusher Josh Sweat on Sunday as they faced the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC wild-card round.

Sweat was ruled out after he underwent an emergency procedure earlier in the week to address a life-threatening situation, the team announced in a statement.

“On Tuesday...Read more

LOS ANGELES — There are three things in life in this country you can always depend on: death, taxes and sports journalists admonishing the NFL for its lack of Black head coaches.

With the Houston Texans firing David Culley after just one season, the league is now down to a single Black head coach, the Pittsburgh Steelers' Mike Tomlin. And ...Read more

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