Sign of the times: NCAA approves coach-to-player helmet communication for 2024 football season
Following a sign-stealing scandal that rocked college football and hung over Michiganโs championship run in 2023, the NCAAโs oversight committee approved the use of coach-to-player helmet communications in games for the 2024 season.
Taylor Swift's NFL playoff tour takes her to Buffalo for Chiefs game against Bills
Taylor Swift blew a kiss after someone greeted her by yelling โBills by a billion,โ upon arriving at Highmark Stadium to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills 27-24 in a divisional playoff game.
Party for the Playoffs: Fans are pumped up for Jaguars AFC divisional playoff game in KC
News4JAX has reporters up in Kansas City for the game and also back here as Jacksonville cheers on its Jaguars. Thereโs a watch party at Dailyโs Place and sports bars and restaurants across town will be going strong before, during and after the game.
Party for the Playoffs: Weโre keeping up with the festive atmosphere live ahead of Jagsโ wild-card game
News4JAX will be all around the pregame festivities on Saturday and will be tweeting out photos and videos throughout the lead up to the game. Follow along with this story and track our reporters as they move all around and talk to fans who are celebrating Jacksonvilleโs best season since 2017.
Bengals top Chiefs 27-24 in OT to clinch Super Bowl trip
Evan McPherson kicked a 31-yard field goal in overtime after Joe Burrow kept his cool while leading a furious second-half comeback to get the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years with a 27-24 victory over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game.
Bengals hold on, finally win in playoffs, 26-19 over Raiders
Joe Burrow led an efficient offense that scored on six drives, including two of his touchdown passes, and rookie Evan McPherson made four field goals as the Cincinnati Bengals finally advanced in the playoffs with a 26-19 win over Las Vegas in Saturdayโs wild-card game.
Chiefs following patchwork O-line into Super Bowl vs Bucs
Kansas City Chiefs guard Stefen Wisniewski celebrates at the end of the AFC championship NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo. โ The Kansas City Chiefs were supposed to have a talented lineup of millionaires, each a seasoned veteran of the rough-and-tumble NFL, protecting their half-billion dollar quarterback as they defended their Super Bowl title this season. Instead, they'll have a motley cast of late-round draft picks, journeymen and castoffs making up their offensive line. Austin Reiter was the expected center with Laurent Duvernay-Tardif at right guard and Mitchell Schwartz, also a former All-Pro and one of the league's most durable players, handling right tackle. Get it to my playmakers in space and let them make some good things happen.โ___More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Bills fall short in breakout season with 38-24 loss to KC
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) is sacked by Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark (55) during the second half of the AFC championship NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Josh Allen led the Buffalo Bills to their first AFC championship game in 27 years. The Bills were unable to solve the Chiefs twice this season. They were trampled in a 26-17 loss in Week 6 in a game rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire had 161 yards rushing. On the bright side, the Bills made tremendous strides over last season, which ended with Buffalo squandering a 16-0 third-quarter lead in a wild-card playoff loss at Houston.
Defending champion Kansas City Chiefs advance to face Tampa Bay in Super Bowl, beating Buffalo 38-24 in AFC championship
โ Defending champion Kansas City Chiefs advance to face Tampa Bay in Super Bowl, beating Buffalo 38-24 in AFC championship. The win by Kansas City sets up the first-ever Super Bowl matchup between the two winning quarterbacks of the last two Super Bowls. Last season, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl championship with a win over the San Francisco 49ers. Two years ago, Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to a Super Bowl win over the Los Angeles Rams. Kansas City hosted the AFC championship game for the third straight year, winning in back-to-back seasons thanks to a dominant offense.
Reigning champion Chiefs dump Bills 38-24 in AFC title game
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes celebrates after the AFC championship NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo. โ It took the Kansas City Chiefs five frustrating decades to make their third Super Bowl appearance. Thatโs not how youโre supposed to play football.โIt capped a bitter night for the Bills, who had reached their first AFC title game since beating Kansas City at home on Jan. 1, 1994. You don't beat Kansas City by kicking field goals from the 3-yard line, though. Heโs fast.โAny hopes the Bills had of a comeback were dashed when Rashad Fenton picked off a tipped pass deep in Kansas City territory.
Brady vs Rodgers, possibly Mahomes vs. Allen in title games
Tom Brady will take on Aaron Rodgers in a matchup of quarterback legends in the NFC title game. Brady threw two TD passes and relied on his defense to make it to his 14th conference title game and first since joining Tampa Bay (13-5) in the offseason. SATURDAYโS GAMESPackers 32, Rams 18Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and also ran for a score as the top-seeded Green Bay Packers beat the Los Angeles Rams 32-18. The win sends Rodgers to his fifth NFC title game as starting quarterback and the first at home since taking over from Brett Favre in 2008. Rodgers threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams and a game-clinching 58-yarder to Allen Lazard with 6:52 left for Green Bay (14-3).
Chiefs advance to 3rd straight AFC title game at home
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)The AFC title game is returning to a familiar place in Kansas City. The question all week will be whether Patrick Mahomes will be able to play quarterback for the Chiefs. Coach Andy Reidโs gutsy call helped make sure the Chiefs would become the first team to host the AFC championship game for the third straight year. New Orleans (13-4) is hosting Tampa Bay (12-5) later Sunday for the right to visit Green Bay in the NFC title game next week. The win sends Rodgers to his fifth NFC title game as starting quarterback and the first at home since taking over from Brett Favre in 2008.
Bills advance to AFC championship with 17-3 win over Ravens
Johnsonโs pick-6 of Jacksonโs pass with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter helped secure a 17-3 win over the Ravens in a divisional-round playoff game Saturday night. He finished 14 of 24 for 162 yards passing, while being limited to 42 yards rushing on nine carries. The fifth-seeded Ravens (12-6) had their season come to an end after leading the NFL in yards rushing for a second consecutive year. โIโm not frustrated at all,โ Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in announcing Jackson sustained a concussion. Bills: Advance to AFC championship game for first time since 1994, where theyโll face Cleveland or play Kansas City for a second time this season following a 26-17 loss to the Chiefs on Oct. 19.
The Latest: Browns open 28-0 lead over Steelers
The Browns have raced to a 28-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Brownsโ 28 points are the most by any team in the first quarter of a playoff game since the 1970 merger. So, this will be the first NFL playoff game ever pitting two quadragenarian quarterbacks. Drew Brees is trying to join Brett Favre and Tom Brady as quarterbacks to win a playoff game after turning 40. That was his third career playoff game with 150 or more rushing yards, one game shy of Hall of Famer Terrell Davisโ record.
The Latest: NFC East will produce sub-.500 champ next week
(AP Photo/Mark Tenally)The Latest on Week 16 in the NFL (all times EST):___8 p.m.For the first time since 2014 there will be an NFL playoff team with a losing record. The winner will remain alive in the NFC East playoff race if Washington loses to Carolina. ___6:05 p.m.Washington is well on the way to blowing its first chance to clinch the NFC East. ___6 p.m.Eleven teams in the NFC are still harboring hopes of making a playoff run with Week 16 winding down. 1 seed in the NFC with a win Sunday night against the Titans and a Seattle loss or tie.
Vikings still committed to core, as Jaguars starting over
The Jaguars, 9-30 since October 2018, initiated an aggressive teardown before last season and fired general manager Dave Caldwell last week. Even teams with no wins or few wins, itโs still a bunch of pro athletes with a bunch of pride, and theyโre going to show up and theyโre going to play hard and theyโre going to be coached well. Losing to Minnesota would serve to lower the second-round selection the Jaguars obtained for defensive end Yannick Ngakoue in late August. Ngakoue still leads the Vikings with five sacks despite being traded to Baltimore after six games. GLENNON AGAINThe Jaguars are sticking with quarterback Mike Glennon despite Gardner Minshew now being fully healthy from his thumb injury.
NFL lacking parity through 10 weeks
A league built on parity has 15 teams with at least six wins and 12 others with three or fewer, the most ever in both categories through 10 weeks. The previous high was eight AFC teams in 2004. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the NFC East, where no team has won more than three games through the first 10 weeks. In all, there have been 31 games in which a team won after trailing by double digits, the most through Week 10 in NFL history. LONG KICKS: Heading into Week 9 this season, there had been only three weeks in NFL history that featured at least 10 field goals of at least 50 yards.
The Latest: Seahawks lead Cardinals 27-17 at halftime
___10:09 p.mArizona Cardinals linebacker Isaiah Irving has been carted off the field after a collision on a kickoff just before halftime against the Seattle Seahawks. Jacksonville rallied from a 16-0 deficit and took the lead, but the Jaguars have been blanked in the fourth quarter. ___7:10 p.m.Tom Brady moved one touchdown pass ahead of Drew Brees for the career lead. Mayfield threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Bryant to even the score in the second quarter. New York leads 3-0.
Win leads to national recognition for Jaguars, Minshew, Henderson
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ After beating the Colts to open the season 27-20, the Jaguars were nominated four three league-wide awards. 5 attempts) pic.twitter.com/PJd2og6BHN โ Tad Dickman (@TDickman89) September 15, 2020Rookie cornerback C.J. Henderson, who had an interception and the game-clinching pass defense was nominated for NFL rookie of the week honors, an award won by Minshew seven times last season. The nominated celebration was the bowling choreography with Laviska Shinault, Cam Robinson, DJ Chark, A.J. Cann and James Robinson, the latter four acting as bowling pins as Shinault celebrated his touchdown by bowling a strike with the football.
Ravens quarterback cancels Florida event amid virus surge
FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2020, file photo, AFC quarterback Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens smiles during Pro Bowl NFL football practice in Kissimmee, Fla. Lamar Jackson announced he will hold his annual Funday with LJ event in Florida amid the state's spike in coronavirus cases. Jackson's third annual event will be held Saturday and Sunday in his hometown of Pompano Beach, Florida, according to a flyer shared on his Instagram page Monday, July 6, 2020. Social gatherings in groups of more than 10 people is currently not allowed in Pompano Beach, according to the citys website. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File)
Ravens quarterback cancels Florida event amid virus surge
Jackson's third annual event will be held Saturday and Sunday in his hometown of Pompano Beach, Florida, according to a flyer shared on his Instagram page Monday, July 6, 2020. Social gatherings in groups of more than 10 people is currently not allowed in Pompano Beach, according to the citys website. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File)BALTIMORE Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has canceled his annual Funday with LJ event in Florida due to surging coronavirus cases in the state and strict gathering limits. Jackson's third annual event was set to be held Saturday and Sunday in his hometown of Pompano Beach, Florida, but a spokesperson told news outlets Tuesday that the event was canceled. Instead of allowing a few people to attend the event, Jackson decided to cancel it.
Ravens LB Judon blasts Goodell's 'black lives matter' speech
(AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File)BALTIMORE Ravens linebacker Matthew Judon criticized the timing of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's assertion that the league believes black lives matter," saying Monday that the message should have been delivered long ago. In the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck, Goodell said on June 5, We, the National Football League, believe black lives matter. Its not when Roger Goodell said black lives matter that now everybody can say it," Judon said. I think we should have been questioning why Roger Goodell didnt say black lives matter when he was born, or when he became commissioner or when he was re-elected commissioner. Black lives should always matter.