BALTIMORE — This offseason is shaping up to be a new test for Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta.

For the first time in his tenure, DeCosta will be tasked with retooling a roster alongside a head coach not named John Harbaugh.

Is the team’s top football chief ready for the challenge?

On Tuesday, owner Steve Bisciotti offered DeCosta a ...Read more

DENVER — Nix man up.

If there’s a template for Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham next week in the AFC championship, he can follow Marvin Mims Jr.’s footsteps from Saturday. Better than the Bills’ secondary did, at any rate.

“Just (given) the moment, and with Troy (Franklin) and Pat (Bryant) being out, somebody’s just got to step ...Read more

DENVER — Super Bo or bust. Just went boom.

Dream, deferred. Rings on layaway.

An awkward silence fell over the media room Saturday night as Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton returned for a second press conference just minutes after his first. Somehow, the Broncos’ biggest win in a decade became hollow as Payton announced that Bo Nix broke a...Read more

SEATTLE — A second consecutive game against the 49ers repeated itself in result only.

Little else about how the Seahawks won this game — a stunningly easy 41-6 win over the 49ers in a divisional playoff game at Lumen Field — compared to their last meeting two weeks, a slog of a 13-3 win. That wasn’t decided until the final minutes and ...Read more

DENVER — The Broncos punched a ticket to the AFC championship game and then took a major gut punch.

Quarterback Bo Nix fractured a bone in his right ankle on the second-to-last play of overtime and his season is over, head coach Sean Payton said.

Nix threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns in a dramatic, 33-30 win over Buffalo in the ...Read more

DENVER — The Broncos punched a ticket to the AFC championship game and then took a major gut punch.

Quarterback Bo Nix fractured his right ankle on the second-to-last play of overtime and his season is over, head coach Sean Payton said.

Payton did his normal post-game news conference but then came back to address reporters and deliver the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Sean McVay, taking a cue from quarterback Matthew Stafford, will don an upper-body neoprene undergarment. Perhaps a heated vest. And his gelled hair spike will be covered with a beanie.

The Rams' coach does not need any weather-related distractions on the field or on the sideline when his team plays the Chicago Bears on Sunday ...Read more

CHICAGO — When the Chicago Bears were formulating how to rebuild the offensive line early in the offseason, a process that began with trades for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and the addition of center Drew Dalman in free agency, questions loomed at left tackle.

Who was going to protect Caleb Williams’ blind side?

The plan, as it was...Read more

DENVER — Initial thoughts from the Denver Broncos’ 33-30 win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Round at Empower Field:

— Mile High Miracle: Mims the word. And the winner. With Denver’s hearts in its collective throats, or what’s left of those throats, the Broncos advanced to the AFC Championship next week on a game-winning ...Read more

SEATTLE — Sam Darnold has yet to be seen on the field during warmups for the Seattle Seahawks, but he is among the team’s active players for Saturday’s NFC Divisional Round playoff game against the 49ers.

The six inactive players are quarterback Jalen Milroe, offensive linemen Josh Jones, Mason Richman and Bryce Cabeldue, rush end Jared ...Read more

CHICAGO — When Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson faces off against Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams in Sunday’s NFC divisional-round playoff game at Soldier Field, at least one legendary offensive mind will be digesting the chess match of X’s and O’s from home.

“Oh, yeah, sure, I’ll watch it,” Tom Moore told the Chicago Tribune.

The...Read more

NEW YORK — This was supposed to be a triumphant moment for the Giants.

And it still will be, to an extent, now that John Harbaugh has signed on the dotted line. The two sides finally made it official mid-afternoon Saturday after a tense 48 hours of back-and-forth negotiation.

But the confirmed “power struggle,” as a source called it, ...Read more

Oregon’s lopsided loss to Indiana in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl may have produced a silver lining for the Ducks.

Several veteran players who were likely first or second round picks are returning for the 2026 season, including quarterback Dante Moore, defensive tackle A’Mauri Washington, edge rushers Matayo Uiagalelei and Teitum Tuioti, and ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin's decision to walk away from approximately $16 million to $17 million when he could have remained at least another year as Steelers coach had the possibility of eventually becoming a beneficial bonanza for the franchise.

Because the Steelers own the rights to Tomlin for one more year, they could have done what eight ...Read more

KANSAS City, Mo. — When Jackson County voters in June 1967 approved $43 million in capital improvement bonds toward building twin stadiums conceptualized with a rolling roof, the Chiefs were only months removed from playing in the first Super Bowl and amid winning three AFL titles in eight seasons.

Befitting an emerging “it” team of the ...Read more

CHICAGO — One win from reaching the NFC championship game and two shy of the third Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, the Chicago Bears have shattered expectations at seemingly every turn.

The NFC North champions host the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs Sunday at Soldier Field (5:30 p.m., Fox-32). The ...Read more

DENVER — You carve Josh Allen in the playoffs the way you carve a turkey at Thanksgiving. Cut off the legs.

Don’t let him be John Elway in John Elway’s house. It’s bad enough that Allen comes into Denver with Disney dropping rose petals at his feet and the NFL blowing sweet kisses at his back.

He’s the best player left in the ...Read more

RENTON, Wash. — Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said the team is “really optimistic quarterback Sam Darnold will be able to play in Saturday’s divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers while dealing with an oblique injury.

But Macdonald stopped short of saying Darnold is certain to start and that he will have to pass some ...Read more

NEW YORK — Change is uncomfortable.

John Harbaugh’s delay in signing his Giants contract, which dragged deep into Friday, was a reminder that hiring him will come with a price.

Not just a price in years and money. But a price in creating necessary but uncomfortable change to how the Giants have done things for a long time.

Harbaugh, 63, ...Read more

SEATTLE — Home field is an advantage only if you make it matter.

It didn’t matter for the Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, home teams that tumbled in the wild-card round. It didn’t matter in nearly half (46.3%) of all NFL regular-season games this season, either.

Heck, does it matter in an era where rising...Read more