The final score was at least respectable. The performance was not.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began the 2026 season by giving the Bengals a 33-27 win in Cincinnati. And we do mean the Bucs gave the game away.

For the first time in a dozen years, the Bucs lost four fumbles in a game. The Bengals took advantage by converting the four turnovers ...Read more

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Geno Smith waited 3,612 days for another start in a New York Jets uniform.

He made it worth the wait.

Smith completed 19 of 24 passes for 215 yards, providing the steady hand the Jets (1-0) envisioned in a dominant 23-10 season-opening victory over the Tennessee Titans (0-1) at Nissan Stadium.

After a cautious first half ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — Explosive was the word of the summer among Baltimore Ravens players and coaches. There was mystery about how exactly it would manifest once they got to the regular season.

It didn’t take long to find out.

On Baltimore’s first offensive play of the game, Lamar Jackson faked a handoff to Derrick Henry, rolled back to his ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Rams, already reeling from an embarrassing season-opening defeat in Australia, suffered another major loss Sunday.

Star edge rusher Myles Garrett will have surgery on his left knee and be placed on injured reserve, a team official said.

Garrett must sit out a minimum of four games. The Rams' next four opponents are the New ...Read more

DENVER — Sean Payton is heading into his fourth season as the Broncos' head coach.

He has helped restore the franchise to regular contention in the AFC and has led the Broncos to the postseason in each of the past two seasons.

The Broncos have built a deep roster, have an apparent franchise quarterback in Bo Nix and stability atop their ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — It was dark on Jan. 11, 2017 when reports began spreading the news San Diego had spent years fearing: The Chargers were leaving for Los Angeles.

Dan Wellington was already out filming a video when he heard it on the radio.

By then, Wellington had built a sizable internet following making public prank videos, a hobby he had turned...Read more

NFL coaches are petty, ruthless thieves.

It’s a shameless, desperate profession, particularly at the highest level.

All of that worked out wonderfully for the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday (U.S. time) when new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris took the Los Angeles Rams’ special sauce and turned it right back on them.

Morris didn’t ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Eric DeCosta descended from his second-floor office at the Castle in Owings Mills on Friday morning and made his way toward practice.

Rap music blared from the speakers as the Ravens’ general manager stepped onto the grass wearing a dark gray long-sleeved shirt, black shorts and sunglasses. DeCosta observed the roster he ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — It wouldn’t be fair to say the Buccaneers have never drafted an elite pass rusher on the edge.

Tempting, perhaps. Mostly accurate, for sure. But not entirely fair.

Fifty years and 468 draft picks ago, Tampa Bay used the first pick in franchise history to select defensive end — and future Hall of Famer — Lee Roy Selmon. He...Read more

LAS VEGAS — What started as a playful way to shake up his company fantasy football league has become personal.

Gerald Kimble went viral for selecting Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty No. 1 overall in his work league. A video of his selection garnered over a million views on several social media platforms.

A reach? Kimble admitted...Read more

LAS VEGAS — It’s a big week for Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer.

Ahead of being thrust into a bigger role in the absence of star Brock Bowers for the start of the season, Mayer agreed to a lucrative three-year contract extension with the Raiders on Saturday morning.

Sources confirmed the details of the new deal to the Review-...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Roarrrrrrr-lando!

Can you feel it, Orlando?

Can you hear it?

Can you sense the teal tidal wave beginning to roll down I-95, hanging a right on I-4 and heading straight toward the City Beautiful?

Because I can.

And I have an announcement to make as we prepare for the first Sunday of the 2026 NFL season:

I am officially ...Read more

CHICAGO — The viral video was a Chicago sports fan’s dream.

Caleb Williams, with his beard freshly shaved, mustache remaining, looked into the TV camera and pointed. The camera panned from Williams in his front-row seat behind the Cubs dugout to the dugout itself, where Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong waved to his fan club before coolly ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Whether he was in shock or denial or simply thought he could summon his indomitable will to the cause, Patrick Mahomes’ first instinct after he was helped up and off the Arrowhead Stadium field with a horrendous knee injury last December was to lobby to get back in the game.

Even as it was being made clear hours later ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Their relationship was a joke.

Literally.

At least, that’s how it began.

“I just tried a couple jokes on him when he was first here and he laughed,” Ben Skowronek said. “I figured out, you know what, we’ll probably be friends.”

And they are.

The special teams guy and the iconic quarterback, an incongruous match if...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — The person who deserves his due credit for his role in one of the greatest plays in the history of the sport is not the quarterback who threw the ball, or the receiver who caught it, but the man who tried desperately to stop it and ultimately gave it up.

Former Dallas Cowboys defensive back Brandon Carr played 13 years in ...Read more

RENTON, Wash. — No matter what else happens, Drew Lock will always have a spot in Seahawks history as the quarterback they received as part of the Russell Wilson trade.

Lock was one of three players and five draft choices who came to Seattle from Denver on that momentous date of March 8, 2022.

The team regarded Lock as more than just a throw...Read more

SEATTLE — The injury bug bit Sam Darnold just five plays into the season opener against the Patriots on Wednesday night. The quarterback was injured after landing awkwardly on a sack by former Seahawk and current New England linebacker Dre'Mont Jones.

Darnold was transferred to Harborview that night. The most recent report says that he is ...Read more

CHICAGO — Chicago Bears receiver Rome Odunze was again a limited participant in practice Friday and has been listed as questionable for Sunday’s season opener against the Carolina Panthers.

Odunze injured his right calf last week in practice. He sat out practice Monday and Tuesday before returning to the practice field Thursday and Friday ...Read more