With Bill Belichick off to college, Mike McCarthy’s chances to remain as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys improved but there is zero chance he will stay as the play caller next season.

The lame duck head coach is still in play to sign an extension, but it will come with conditions, and promises of major changes. There is no way Cowboys ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — In his opening comments of training camp, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell set forth a vision for a team that would build its foundation differently than in the coach’s first two seasons. O’Connell frequently invoked the phrase “play style” as shorthand for a physical approach that would incorporate heavier personnel,...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — De’Vondre Campbell’s expulsion from the San Francisco 49ers has come via an unpaid suspension for their final three games.

That discipline was announced in a two-line statement from general manager John Lynch just before noon as the 49ers (6-8) reconvene after Thursday’s dramatic 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams ...Read more

DETROIT — After significant injuries to defensive tackle Alim McNeill and cornerback Carlton Davis, it was hard to imagine the Detroit Lions' injury outlook could get much worse.

But it has.

According to a league source, Lions running back David Montgomery suffered an MCL injury in Sunday's 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills and will be out ...Read more

DETROIT — The Detroit Lions' worst fears about injuries to defensive tackle Alim McNeill and cornerback Carlton Davis III have come true.

McNeill suffered a torn ACL and is out for the season, while Davis suffered a broken jaw that'll keep him out at least six weeks, a league source confirmed to The Detroit News on Monday.

After Sunday's 48-...Read more

The injury that forced Patrick Mahomes out of Sunday’s fourth quarter is feared to be a high-ankle sprain, according to a report.

Mahomes was scheduled to undergo further testing on his right ankle Monday, according to NFL Media, but the situation reportedly does not seem dire for the Chiefs’ superstar quarterback.

Still, high-ankle ...Read more

CLEVELAND — It’s 11 minutes after a Chiefs victory here in Cleveland, the team’s first double-digit win in eight weeks, and the most relevant story is the cart barreling toward the visitors’ locker room.

Within a few seconds, Patrick Mahomes — a back-seat passenger on that cart — emerges from the set of double doors, still in ...Read more

MIAMI — Yet another clutch game choke job!

That’s the only accurate way to summarize what the Miami Dolphins did in Sunday’s critical must-win game against the Houston Texans, which turned into a 20-12 loss when the offense kept spitting up on itself in scoring territory.

That’s the best way to describe three interceptions and one ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Once the singing of "Fly Eagles, Fly" had concluded, as his players sat silently thumbing through their phones in an adjacent locker room, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin tried his best to caution against overreaction following a 27-13 loss in Philadelphia on Sunday.

"It's a loss," Tomlin said. "I mean, let's not get dramatic."

A ...Read more

SEATTLE — The thought had crossed my mind, as it may have yours at some point this season. Maybe it was after his second interception vs. the Niners in Week 6, or his third pick vs. the Rams in Week 9, when the Seahawks dropped their fifth game in six tries.

Seattle quarterback Geno Smith has struggled at times this season, particularly ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs waived former first-round running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, according to the NFL’s transactions page.

That move potentially ends Edwards-Helaire’s five-year tenure with Kansas City.

The 25-year-old wrote about the transaction Monday afternoon, sending a message to Chiefs fans on X (formerly ...Read more

SEATTLE — Reality smelled like cheese.

It looked like Geno Smith staring in disbelief at the south video board, his left shoulder pad popping out, and raising both arms as his end-zone interception was relentlessly replayed. It looked like Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs catching a slant at the 6-yard line, and hauling Seahawks cornerback ...Read more

The San Francisco 49ers’ season has been excruciating, taxing, frustrating, and, above all, disappointing.

The Niners have only themselves to blame for that.

But wouldn’t it make things easier if the Niners could blame someone else?

Perhaps the most annoying aspect of this season from hell is the fact that the bar turned out to be set so ...Read more

DENVER — Like a 1911 Model T, the Broncos’ run game has three gears: first, second and reverse. Surely, Sean Payton is as sick of this shift as the rest of us.

“I would say there’s some looks that we have to be better at, relative to when we’re running a certain play into some tough looks, where now you don’t really have the ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — A year ago, they were just fodder for the mock draft industry.

Decent numbers with intriguing talent, but lacking the star power to warrant an official invite to the NFL draft party. For the most part, they were second- and third-day guys in the draft pecking order. The type of players familiar to scouts and diehards, but hardly...Read more

NEW YORK — On Monday, the Jets began their search for a new general manager by interviewing a candidate with previous experience.

Former Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff is the first known candidate to interview with the Jets for their vacant general manager position.

From 2008-20, Dimitroff oversaw the Atlanta Falcons, who won 113 ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — It was not a dazzling affair, but the Atlanta Falcons, desperate for a victory, did enough to end their four-game losing streak.

It was not decided until safety Jessie Bates III came down with an interception in the end zone as time expired on a Las Vegas Raiders’ pass into the end zone.

Behind the running of Bijan Robinson, a ...Read more

SEATTLE — As Sunday night’s dreary 30-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers mercifully concluded, the concern wasn’t just that the Seahawks had lost control of their playoff positioning, but that they might also have lost quarterback Geno Smith for some or all of what’s left of the season.

Smith departed with a knee injury midway through the...Read more

NEW YORK — This season was supposed to be different for the Jets.

Gang Green came into Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a 3-10 record and losers of four straight.

But Sunday’s game was a glimpse of what many people expected the Jets to be when they were picked to win the AFC East crown and contend for a Super Bowl, ...Read more