Some fantasy leagues have standings. One of mine has a traffic jam.

Seven teams entered Week 9 at 4-4, tied for second in a 10-team league. The leader was 6-2. The other two were 3-5.

The good news? Nobody’s out of it. The bad news? Nobody can afford to waste a roster spot.

Week 10 is where short-term survival meets long-term ambition. The ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Monday night meltdown represented the point of no return. Hope, as the saying goes, is not a strategy.

The Minnesota Vikings had no other option than to trade for a quarterback because they don’t have one on the roster capable of operating at a basic, functional level. Continuing down that path would be organizational ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs have added to their wide receiver group.

The Chiefs sent a fourth- and a fifth-round pick in the 2027 NFL draft to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for wide receiver Josh Downs and a 2027 seventh-round pick, a source confirmed to The Kansas City Star.

Downs, 25, entered the league as a third-round ...Read more

Kirk Cousins is returning to the Minnesota Vikings more than two years after the team allowed the veteran quarterback to leave as a free agent.

The Vikings announced Tuesday that they have acquired Cousins, pending a physical, from the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a third-round draft pick in 2027.

A 15-year player, Cousins played for the ...Read more

The groin injury for Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis has worsened to the point that he will miss significant time on injured reserve.

The Dolphins placed Willis on IR, the team announced Tuesday afternoon, which will sideline him a minimum of four games.

Willis had been receiving treatment on a groin injury the past two weeks. He ran ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Chargers traded linebacker Daiyan Henley to the Denver Broncos on Tuesday for a 2027 fourth-round draft pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick, according to a person with knowledge of the deal not authorized to speak publicly.

Henley, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, was sent to the Broncos just before ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Aaron Rodgers is old.

That hasn’t been a problem for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. It will be come February.

This is Rodgers’ final season. His looming departure serves as a rallying point for now, inspiration for the Steelers to send an all-time great out on top.

But when he’s gone, the franchise will again find ...Read more

MIAMI — This Miami Dolphins team isn’t good, but if we’re being hand-to-the-Bible honest, nobody expected them to be.

The team general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan is building has talent, but an ultra-thin roster.

They have a few impact players, talents such as Zach Sieler, Aaron Brewer and Jordyn Brooks, but most of the roster lacks ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Just when the Carolina Panthers thought they could call the tune, the Denver Broncos changed the Key.

How do you rack up an NFL-record 16 one-score wins in a row? How do you go from humbled in Week 1 to 7-2 and leading the AFC West heading into Week 10? Because your players trust each other. Because the coaches trust players...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings lost 23-6 to the Buffalo Bills on "Monday Night Football" at U.S. Bank Stadium after an ugly offensive performance with Carson Wentz starting in place of Kyler Murray, who was ruled out with a hamstring strain.

Wentz was 8 of 25 for 81 yards with two interceptions.

The Vikings defense limited the league-...Read more

BOSTON — New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson is expected to miss multiple weeks with a knee injury that has affected his plantaris tendon, according to ESPN.

Stevenson left Sunday’s loss to Green Bay in the second half and will be out this Sunday when the Patriots kick off against the Detroit Lions at 9:30 a.m. ET in ...Read more

NEW YORK — John Harbaugh left little doubt on Monday that the New York Giants intend to acquire at least one player if not more before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET NFL trade deadline.

“The now weighs more important than the future, if you’re gonna put it on a scale,” Harbaugh said. “And you go from there.”

But the first-place Giants (5-2-...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Brandon Aiyuk has been reinstated by the NFL, which granted the San Francisco 49ers a two-game roster exemption as they presumably finalize his exit strategy.

The 49ers might need less than 24 hours, so long as another team bites on a trade for Aiyuk before Tuesday’s 1 p.m. PT deadline.

Coach Kyle Shanahan and general...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Rams’ receiver corps — and the team’s aspirations for another Super Bowl title — continue to sustain major hits.

Star Puka Nacua likely will be placed on injured reserve because of a right knee sprain he suffered during the Rams’ victory over the Washington Commanders, coach Sean McVay said Monday.

Nacua caught 14...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Tired of merely rolling their eyes when teammates engage in locker-room talk that questions space travel authenticity and the curvature of the earth, NFL players turned media personalities Travis and Jason Kelce brought on astrophysicist and fellow media personality Neil deGrasse Tyson to set the record straight on their podcast ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Left tackle Ronnie Stanley likes the addition of Jacoby Brissett, but he knows the veteran quarterback isn’t the cure-all for the Baltimore Ravens.

“There are a lot of things that we need to fix on our end,” said Stanley, an 11-year veteran. “I don’t think anyone can just come in and fix all the problems.”

He is right...Read more

OAKLAND, Calif. — It didn’t take long walking around the area of Oakland Coliseum on Saturday to start to feel nostalgic.

Sad, too.

Maybe even guilty?

In the end, we the people of southern Nevada did this.

Even if the blame partly, or even mostly, falls on the city of Oakland for failing to make it work here. And even if the Raiders and ...Read more

CHICAGO — Caleb Williams threw four interceptions Sunday night at Soldier Field, and still the Chicago Bears found a way to win.

The Bears turned the ball over five times, the final one a Luther Burden III fumble late in the fourth quarter that gave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a short field. They turned it into a touchdown and converted a 2-...Read more