the-nfl Page 25 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Steelers made Brock Purdy look like Joe Montana and Steve Young rolled into one
The Pittsburgh Steelers defense made Brock Purdy look like the second coming of Joe Montana and Steve Young rolled into one. Seriously, Mr. Purdy was nearly flawless during the first two quarters, completing over 66 percent of his passes, connecting for two touchdowns with Brandon Aiyuk and 154 yard...

Getting Travis Kelce, Chris Jones back won't fix Kansas City's flaws
No matter how it went down, it was shocking to see the Kanas City Chiefs lose last night. Even with the Detroit Lions being a trendy upset pick and KC being down its second and third-best players in Travis Kelce and Chris Jones, the defending Super Bowl champions have found a way more times than not...

Ever wonder what the worst team of NFL starters would look like? Here it is
On an individual level, NFL Top 100 Player Lists are what get people excited. We get it. Patrick Mahomes is number one and the most competitive race is the scrum for number two. However, half of NFL fandom is groaning about the weak links on each unit. There’s enough glowing coverage of the NFL out ...

Now that Joe Burrow is the NFL's richest player, here's a look at the QBs he surpassed on the highest-paid list
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is now the highest-paid player in NFL history. The 2020 No. 1 overall pick received a five-year, $275 million extension — an average $55 million per season — as he heads into his fourth year....

Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions won a game that mattered
Sometimes overreactions are appropriate. And in the case of Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions, they’ve earned every hysterical and asinine hot take fans and analysts will make about them Friday morning — and maybe throughout the rest of the season. It’s time to drink the Kool-Aid. The Lions are leg...

MetLife Stadium may no longer have the worst playing surface in the NFL
For all of the talk about the new look New York Jets and Saquon Barkley’s contract dispute with the New York Giants, one major change in East Rutherford N.J. has been undercovered — the new turf at MetLife stadium....

The NFL buried its best Week 1 matchup, Dolphins-Chargers, in an afternoon slot
Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season is finally upon us, and the most intriguing matchup based on what will happen on the field won’t even be available for most fans to watch live. The Miami Dolphins travel to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers in a battle of two No. 1 picks from the 2020 draft. Tua Tagov...

Russell Wilson and his diva ways weren't ready for a coach like Sean Payton
Sean Payton is an old-school head coach in his approach and one of the few remaining in the NFL. As part of the Bill Parcells coaching tree, Payton mirrors his mentor in many ways regarding his no-nonsense way of dealing with players. It doesn’t matter who the player is or what they think of themsel...

The Ravens offense will only be as good as its backup plan
The Baltimore Ravens co-opted college tactics as much as any team in the NFL over the past five years — it just wasn’t the trendy playbook. The staff built a run-oriented scheme around Lamar Jackson, taking QB-run tactics from college, and tweaking them for the pros. It worked for a while, and earne...

Caleb Williams can return to USC instead of playing for the NFL team with the No. 1 overall pick
Caleb Williams’ father is absolutely right. Carl Williams talked to GQ’s Sam Schube for a profile about his son. He said that the NFL Draft system is “completely backwards.” After years of playing and training with the best programs at each level of football, Caleb is now forced to go play for the w...

Jerry Jones traded for Trey Lance and didn't even tell Mike McCarthy
Recently, Jerry Jones made a front-office move that shocked many around the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys owner traded a fourth-round draft pick to the San Francisco 49ers for Trey Lance. In the aftermath of that deal, what wasn’t reported at the time is that Jones made the swap without consulting his foo...

Is Deion Sanders ushering in a positionless era at Colorado?
Deion Sanders is an iconoclast, if nothing else. Sanders has gone against the grain by taking the rarely traveled SWAC route to a Power 5 coaching job, in addition to his use of the transfer portal, his braggadocious coaching style, his deals with Barstool and decision to sign with Colorado over mor...

Maybe Dabo Swinney's success was tied to a string of good QBs all along...
This isn’t a referendum only on Clemson’s embarrassing 3-touchdown loss to unranked Duke. Things have been unraveling in South Carolina for nearly two years now and the signs of Clemson being brought down a few notches on college football’s hierarchy happens regardless of the result against Duke, si...

The NCAA shortened football games only to shove more ads into broadcasts
College football is changing at such a rapid pace that it’s hard to keep track of every alteration. One example is the new rule that keeps the clock rolling after a first down. In recent years, it went from a full stop after moving the chains to pausing until the ref spots the ball. Now it only stop...

Life without Tom Brady: For the first time since 1999, here are all the things we (thankfully) never have to think about again
As far as we can tell, Tom Brady is retired from the NFL. That doesn’t mean he definitely won’t change his mind once Week 1 is underway and Brady is sitting at home, asking people if they think he can throw a football over them there mountains, or whatever. He’s kinda sorta retired before, only to c...

How much is Travis Kelce worth if TJ Hockenson can get $17M annually?
TJ Hockenson’s new contract makes him the NFL’s highest-paid tight end. The former Detroit Lion — who last year was traded to NFC North division rival Minnesota mid-season — will earn $17.125 million per year after receiving more targets, hauling in more receptions, and gaining more yards than only ...

College football is back, and Nebraska is still gonna suck
The obsession with college football led to the creation of “Week 0” and it’s an American oxymoron to which no one will object. The tribalism compared to the NFL’s fandom spreading to every corner of the country that comes with having a longer season – that will only get longer next season with the e...

It’s OK to feel uneasy about Damar Hamlin’s return to football
Damar Hamlin’s return is almost complete. Bronny James is “doing extremely well” in his recovery. You’re not a bad person for wondering if playing again is the best idea for both of them....

In defense of New York Giants LB Jihad Ward
I think I am on Jihad Ward’s side. Maybe the New York Giants LB shouldn’t have placed his hands on New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers at the end of a play when the ball was long gone. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and going after a person — who was minding his own business when the original wrong occur...

<i>Hard Knocks Episode 4</i>: Finally, something other than Aaron Rodgers
I would estimate that more than half of the fourth episode of Hard Knocks had nothing to do with Aaron Rodgers. Outside of an extended practice sequence that portrayed him as a conquering hero for turning the offense around after a poor drive, his lecture to Zach Wilson about Bluetooth EMF waves, an...