FOOTBALL NFL ARTICLES

A pair of rookies will take the spotlight on the first game of Monday Night Football’s doubleheader when the New York Jets visit the Detroit Lions in Week 1. The Jets’ quarterback of the future is now the quarterback of the present when it was announced No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold would start the opener. Darnold did enough during the preseason to unseat incumbent Josh McCown and get Teddy Bridgewater traded. The other rookie is Detroit coach Matt Patricia, who will attempt to put a game plan ... 

If you’re a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, don’t read anything into the preseason results. The Boys went winless in their four tune-up games and scored just 43 points total. The offense struggled because Dak Prescott played four series and Ezekiel Elliott never touched the field. And the last time the Cowboys failed to win a preseason game, they went 12-4 and won the NFC East title in 2014. For the first time since 2002 the Cowboys open a season without Jason Witten on the roster with a Week 1 visit... 

There’s nothing like coming out of the gate to a good old fashioned AFC West showdown between the division’s top teams in Week 1. A slow start to last season cost the Los Angeles Chargers a shot at winning the division and reaching the postseason, and the Bolts look to continue their torrid play that saw them win nine of their last 12 games. They will need to beat the defending division champs to get over the hump and wins over the Kansas City Chiefs have been hard to come by. The Bolts lost bot... 

Clearing up their training camp-long quarterback battle, the Buffalo Bills dealt A.J. McCarron to Oakland and named second-year player Nathan Peterman the starter over Josh Allen. The Bills used the seventh overall pick in the last draft on Allen, making him the highest quarterback ever selected by the team, so it’s just a matter of time before he gets a shot. Many feel the Bills have taken a step back after ending a 17-year playoff drought last season, but they surprised the masses last year. T... 

Add a former Defensive Player of the Year award winner in his prime to your roster and watch your odds of winning the Super Bowl increase dramatically. That’s what happened to the Chicago Bears after swinging a blockbuster deal for Khalil Mack. The former Raider joins a defense that has the talent to be one of the best. But we still don’t know about Mitchell Trubisky and the offense since he didn’t play much during the preseason. The longest and nastiest rivalry in the NFL just got much more int... 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers begin the season with the most difficult three-game stretch of the season, and they’ll have to navigate the gauntlet without suspended starting quarterback Jameis Winston. Instead, the Bucs will turn to veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, who will tangle with another old-timer when the Bucs hook up with the New Orleans Saints in one of three divisional matchups on the Week 1 schedule. Fitzpatrick and Brees have combined to play 379 games, and throw for over 97,000 yards with 661 t... 

As one of seven new head coaches in the NFL this season, Mike Vrabel is in a no-win situation. The Tennessee Titans won nine games and qualified for the playoffs last year, meaning that’s the absolute floor for the 2018 team. Anything less is a failure. The expectations are high in Nashville and in an effort to make sure those are met, Vrabel brought in a new coaching staff and vowed to be more diverse with his offense, taking advantage of Marcus Mariota’s unique skill set. We’ll see how that wo... 

There is nowhere to go but up for the Cleveland Browns after becoming only the second team in NFL history to go winless in a 16-game season. Less than half the players from the 2017 opening-day roster remain on the club, a move that shouldn’t surprise people given what the Browns were able to accomplish last year. And it resulted in another good haul at the draft table. No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield will be the starter at some point, but Hue Jackson has delivered on his plan of starting Tyro... 

The Jimmy Garoppolo era gets under way for real on Sunday when the San Francisco 49ers visit the Minnesota Vikings in the Week 1 opener. Garoppolo led the Niners to five straight wins to close out last season and he’s undefeated in his career as a starter, giving the faithful hope that the Niners may actually compete for something other than last place. However, this will be the first time he enters a season No. 1 on the depth chart after serving as Tom Brady’s backup, and the stakes are a littl... 

Now comes the hard part for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Finally climbing the mountain after years of struggles, the team won the AFC South and reached the conference championship game behind the NFL’s best ground game and a ferocious defense. Winning 10 games last season was easy compared to sustaining the success and doing it again. The defense remains virtually intact, which is a good thing, and Blake Bortles was given an extension during the offseason, which many feel isn’t a good thing. Bortle... 

Tom Brady is still the man, but his tenure is coming to a close. Who’s next in line? How about Deshaun Watson. The Houston Texans No. 1 pick from a year ago was having a standout rookie season until a knee injury prematurely ended it. With him went any chance the Texans had of reaching the postseason. Instead, Houston limped to a 4-12 record playing primarily with backups after injuries depleted the roster. Houston has a healthy lineup entering the season and will look to put that miserable 2017... 

The fate of the Indianapolis Colts rests on the surgically-repaired shoulder of Andrew Luck, who returns to the field in Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals after missing all of last season. And the Colts felt the brunt of his absence by sinking to 4-12, costing Chuck Pagano his job. Luck hasn’t played a regular season game since leading Indy to a victory in the 2016 finale and the roster has been overhauled since then with just a handful of players still on the team from that contest.... 

A return trip to the Super Bowl is going to be much more difficult for the Philadelphia Eagles. They won’t be sneaking up on any teams and instead will have the proverbial target on their back. They also open the season without Carson Wentz behind center. The good news for the defending champs is that they have the best quarterback situation in the NFL and will go with Nick Foles against the Atlanta Falcons in Thursday’s season opener. Foles dealt with injury issues during the preseason and stru... 

If any team needs a do-over it’s the Houston Texans after what they went through last season. No team suffered more with injuries to their biggest stars and the team fell to the basement of the AFC South with a 4-12 record after recording back-to-back division titles. Through no fault of his own, Bill O’Brien had to deal with the loss of quarterback Deshaun Watson, along with defenders J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus among others. Better health to key personnel should make Houston a threat to exc... 

Now comes the hard part for the Jacksonville Jaguars. After years of struggles, instability and losing, the Jags put it together in 2017 winning 10 games, the AFC South title and reaching the conference championship game. The recipe was simple: use the top-ranked ground game to churn out yards and let a disruptive defense wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks. The Jags had the NFL’s best pass defense and topped the AFC and ranked second overall in run defense, total defense and points allowed.... 

Following three seasons of diminishing returns, the Indianapolis Colts parted ways with Chuck Pagano and named Josh McDaniels ... uh, wait, I mean Frank Reich as their new coach. Reich wasn’t shy about being the team’s second choice after McDaniels reneged on his agreement to take over the team. Maybe McDaniels read the writing on the wall. The Colts went 4-12 last season, their worst since 2011 when a 2-win campaign landed them the top pick that was used on Andrew Luck. Reich is a better coach ... 

The Tennessee Titans aren’t good enough to dismiss a head coach who won nine games in 2017 and led the club to its first playoff appearance in nearly a decade. But that’s exactly what they did by giving Mike Mularkey his walking papers and bringing in former New England linebacker Mike Vrabel. A three-time Super Bowl champion during his playing days, Vrabel has more championship rings than head coaching victories, but the Titans are hopeful that success on the field translates to the sidelines i... 

The Kansas City Chiefs may be one of the most well-rounded teams in the NFL heading into 2018. The question is, do they have enough talent at the position that matters most? Patrick Mahomes will take over at quarterback, and all will eyes will be on him as he attempts to lead the Chiefs back to the playoffs.... 

The Oakland Raiders have just one winning season since 2003, but in order to surpass their projected win total in 2018, they will have to add another. The oddsmakers have pegged them to be a .500 team this season and it could be hard for Oakland to get above that unless things go very well.... 

The Denver Broncos won a Super Bowl just a couple of years ago but have not been able to find a quarterback ever since, torpedoing their chances at making another strong run. They added Case Keenum in free agency and hope he is the answer to their passing game woes. ... 

The general public may look at the AFC West and see several different teams capable of claiming the division, but the oddsmakers have pinpointed a clear favorite. The Los Angeles Chargers played well down the stretch last season and are entering the 2018 campaign as the team to beat in the division.... 

Of the seven head coaches new to the NFL in 2018 only one has yet to record a victory. Mike Vrabel has the most Super Bowl rings among the bunch, winning three as a standout linebacker with the Patriots, but his Tennessee Titans have yet to secure his first victory. Vrabel and the Titans will attempt to rectify that in the Week 4 preseason finale against the Minnesota Vikings, but it won’t be easy since the Vikes are 16-4 in exhibition games under Mike Zimmer.... 

Sean McVay is rewriting the preseason coaching manual, but we’ll have to wait and see how the Los Angeles Rams perform during the regular season before the pages are accepted. The 2017 Coach of the Year elected to sit most of his offensive starters for the entire preseason, while members of the defense saw very few reps. It’s a bold move by the second-year head coach, and one that will likely catch on if the Rams contend for a Super Bowl, like many expect. The Rams close the exhibition slate in ... 

Prior to realignment in 2002, the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks were division rivals for a quarter century in the old AFC West. They had some heated battles with the Raiders coming out on top in most of them, including a meeting in the AFC Championship Game following the 1983 season. In an effort to rekindle the rivalry, the teams have met every year since 2006 in the final preseason game. It doesn’t make up for all those losses from the early years, but the Seahawks are 10-2 over that sp... 

For those old enough to remember, it was these two franchises that played in the very first Super Bowl over a half century ago. The big game was far from the spectacle it is today and it wasn’t even named the Super Bowl back then, rather it was called the AFL-NFL Championship. The Green Bay Packers were in the middle of a dynastic run under Vince Lombardi, who would later have the Super Bowl trophy named after him. The Kansas City Chiefs haven’t appeared in a Super Bowl since the league’s merged...