Category: NFL News

NEW ORLEANS — For nearly two decades the New England Patriots dominated the NFL like no other franchise ever.

Across 19 seasons (2001-2019), they won 17 AFC East divisional crowns, made 17 playoff appearances and reached nine Super Bowls, winning six of them. Arguably their best team — in 2007 — was the first to go 18-0 … only to lose at the end.

It’s not a shock that some team would come along to challenge that run of greatness. It is that it happened immediately — the end of the Patriots’ reign corresponds with the ascension of these Kansas City Chiefs, who are seeking their fourth Super Bowl title, and third consecutive, in six seasons when they face Philadelphia Sunday.

Let’s be clear: the Chiefs haven’t reached New England’s level yet.

Over the last dozen years, Kansas City has been to five Super Bowls (and with a chance to add to those three titles) while making 11 playoff appearances via nine division crowns.

It’s an incredible stretch, but do it for another half decade and then let’s compare.

Likewise, while quarterback Patrick Mahomes is making a charge at Tom Brady’s illustrious career, he isn’t there yet. Mahomes has three titles to Brady’s seven (six of them with New England).

Mahomes is only 29 years old, so there is time.

There is one place, though, that the supremacy debate is getting particularly close — Chiefs’ coach Andy Reid vs. New England’s Bill Belichick.

Belichick, 72, is now the head coach at the University of North Carolina. He is widely regarded as the greatest coach of all time, in part because of his six Super Bowl titles, his innovative game plans and his two Lombardi’s won as defensive coordinator with the 1980s New York Giants.

Reid, 66, may never be as appreciated as Belichick, but he is quickly making the case that his resume as a head coach is on par with BB. Another Super Bowl would be a step in that direction.

As of now, Belichick has a lot going for him. His six titles to Reid’s current three is a…

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All eyes will be on the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans when the Kansas City Chiefs try to win their third straight world championship against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59. The Chiefs are favored by 1.5 points and the over/under is 49 in the latest 2025 Super Bowl odds. The Chiefs are -127 money-line favorites, while the Eagles are +107 underdogs. The Chiefs and Eagles played in Super Bowl LVII in 2023, with Kansas City winning, 38-35, in a thriller. Patrick Mahomes was named Super Bowl MVP in that game after throwing for 182 yards and three touchdowns, one of which went to tight end Travis Kelce. Most of the core players from both teams will be back for Super Bowl 59, but the Eagles have since added All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley. Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith sat out practice last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday due to a hamstring injury. Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert was also sidelined all three days with an ankle injury.

The 2025 Super Bowl kickoff in New Orleans is at 6:30 p.m. ET. Will Barkley be the difference-maker Philadelphia needs to dethrone the Chiefs, or will Mahomes and Kelce lead Kansas City to its third consecutive Super Bowl title? SportsLine’s team of experts have teamed up to give you the NFL betting advice and NFL score predictions needed to make the best 2025 Super Bowl picks possible.

SportsLine’s NFL experts teamed up to give members the exact score projections for the Big Game. Their team of experts includes Mike Tierney (61-39-3 NFL ATS this season) and Jimmie Kaylor (35-24-4 NFL ATS this season). Tierney has red-hot going 61-39-3 against the spread, returning $1,787 for $100 bettors on NFL ATS picks, while Kaylor is 35-24-4 against the spread and 16-9 on over/under picks, returning $1,377.50 for $100 bettors.

Now, SportsLine’s NFL experts have analyzed the 2025 Super Bowl odds and locked in their final score projections for Chiefs vs. Eagles. You…

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Many believed the Chiefs were given questionable calls in their victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game. Photograph: Jason Squires/REX/Shutterstock

The Roman philosopher Seneca is credited with saying, “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.”

In sports, some teams prepare better than others. But some also get more opportunities than others.

Luck can take many forms. It can be a fortuitous bounce, particularly with an oblong-ish football that can go any direction after a punt or a fumble hits the ground. It can be an opponent’s baffling, uncharacteristic mistake. And it can be officiating decisions that are 50-50 calls – or just plain wrong.

Consider the Kansas City Chiefs, who are headed to the Super Bowl for a third year in succession. The popular opinion on social media these days is that NFL officials have felt pressure to get Taylor Swift to the Super Bowl; therefore, they give the Chiefs a lot of dubious decisions.

Related: Allen v Jackson for MVP and a breathtaking play: NFL end of season awards

That’s a far-fetched conspiracy theory, but it’s hard to deny that the Chiefs have been a rather fortunate team this year. They’ve benefited from close but correct decisions like the pass interference call that set up their game-winning field goal against Cincinnati or the nullified Baltimore touchdown in which Isaiah Likely’s toe was maybe an inch out of bounds. (On the play before that, they were fortunate that Lamar Jackson missed a wide-open Zay Flowers in the end zone.)

Then, in the AFC Championship, referees looked to have botched the spot on a quarterback sneak by Buffalo’s Josh Allen, costing the Bills possession of the ball at a crucial time, and Kansas City’s Xavier Worthy was credited with a catch in a truly benevolent piece of work by the officiating crew.

A few bizarre plays went the Chiefs’ way as well. They beat the Raiders when Las Vegas prematurely snapped the ball, leading to a fumble that stopped a…

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The New England Patriots have their quarterback of the future. Drake Maye played well in 2024 despite being thrown into poor circumstances, completing 66.6% of his passes at an average of 6.7 yards per attempt, with 15 touchdowns against 10 interceptions in 13 starts. He also ran for 421 yards and two additional scores on his 54 carries. Considering the offensive line in front of him and the pass-catching corps at his disposal, it was a pretty fantastic rookie season.

But the Patriots themselves were kind of a disaster, and so the Jerod Mayo-led coaching staff was let go after just one season. To replace Mayo, the Patriots reached back into the past to hire Mike Vrabel, the former head coach of the Tennessee Titans whose best years as a player also came in New England. And Vrabel himself reached into the past for an offensive coordinator, bringing in longtime former Pats OC Josh McDaniels to run the offense.

And Maye is excited to work with them both.

“Yeah, he reached out to me and we got on the phone. He’s been awesome,” Maye said of Vrabel, via Sirius XM. “Obviously, a guy who’s done it and played in the league and won a Super Bowl, you have a respect of what he’s done and seeing what he’s done. I think the biggest thing is he’s been a head coach and he knows what it’s like. So excited to get up to New England and get things going.”

As for McDaniels, he seemed enthused by the idea of playing for a guy who helped direct the successes of the player who is considered by many to be the greatest quarterback of all time.

“Coach McDaniels, obviously, what he’s done there and the success he’s had. Fortunate to be able to have a guy come in who’s done it at a high level and learn from him coaching one of the best ever and the best ever, in my opinion, Tom [Brady],” Maye said. “Got a great chance to go back and all those years of film you have in a little database, it’s all their play calls…

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Aaron Glenn has found the leader of his defense.

The Jets have officially hired Steve Wilks to be their defensive coordinator.

SNY’s NFL Insider Connor Hughes reported this week that Wilks, who most recently served as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator in 2023, was Glenn’s top option for the DC opening.

The 55-year-old Wilks has worked for six different NFL teams, including a one-year stint as the Arizona Cardinals head coach in 2018. He also has experience as an interim head coach, a role he served with the Carolina Panthers in 2022.

Wilks has served as defensive coordinator for the Niners, Panthers, and Cleveland Browns, and has a background working with defensive backs and both the pro and college levels.

A Charlotte, N.C. native, Wilks takes over the role previously held by Jeff Ulbrich, who was recently hired as the Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator.

With Glenn saying during his introductory news conference that he will not be calling defensive plays, it will be Wilks calling the shots on defense for Gang Green.

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Winning a Super Bowl is one of the most difficult jobs for a quarterback in the NFL, as that’s a barometer for how a position is judged in the league. Just look at the great quarterbacks who have never captured a Super Bowl title (Dan Marino being one) and what their legacy is as an NFL signal-caller.

Thanks to Patrick Mahomes, there are plenty of great quarterbacks who have not captured a Super Bowl title yet. Joe Burrow was close to getting one, same with Jalen Hurts, but fell just shy of besting Mahomes (Burrow actually came back to beat Mahomes once). Hurts actually gets another chance to beat Mahomes in Super Bowl LIX. 

Josh Allen has lost to Mahomes in the playoffs, and so has Lamar Jackson. Mahomes has done a lot of ring blocking over the last seven years, as a lot of good quarterbacks have not hoisted a championship. 

Who are the best active quarterbacks who haven’t hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy? There used to be a three-year prerequisite for this list, but rookies are now eligible thanks to the outstanding first seasons of Jalen Hurts and C.J. Stroud. 

These quarterbacks are the top ones who haven’t won the Super Bowl title — and have the best chance to get off this list based on their regular-season and postseason accomplishments. 

Herbert still doesn’t have a playoff victory through five season, despite having two attempts at getting one. He has the most completions (1,945) and passing yards (21,093) after a player’s first five seasons, He also has the lowest interception rate (1.5%) through a player’s first five seasons (minimum 2,000 attempts). 

Defense and coaching has failed Herbert in the past, but he also has completed 52% of his passes, thrown for four interceptions, and has a 60.5 passer rating in his two playoff starts. Simply put, Herbert has a ways to go to get off this list. 

9. C.J. Stroud

Stroud has only been in the league two seasons,…

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It’s unclear what the NFL or the Ravens will do in the aftermath of allegations from six women that Ravens kicker Justin Tucker engaged in inappropriate behavior during massage-therapy sessions. (Tucker strongly denies the accusations.) However, after the NFL imposed an 11-game suspension on Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2022, Ravens coach John Harbaugh addressed the Watson situation following a training-camp practice.

“I do have a lot of opinions on it,” Harbaugh said at the time. “I’m just not at liberty to share them at this time. That’s for the league to decide.

Harbaugh referred to the Ravens’ position on players mistreating women, as shaped by its abrupt termination of running back Ray Rice after video surfaced of the assault he committed against his then-fiancé.

“I respect what [owner] Steve Bisciotti and [former team president] Dick Cass created here almost 10 years ago,” Harbaugh said. “Basically, we’re kind of zero tolerance. You have to know the truth, you have to try to understand the circumstances, but we’ve stayed away from that particular situation — when we draft players, when we sign them as free agents. That’s Steve’s decision, and I’m glad that we have that policy.”

Those words have potential application to Tucker’s case. Although Harbaugh specifically mentioned ascertaining “the truth,” the reality is that specialists are easily replaceable. With Tucker struggling through stretches of 2024 — and with Tucker having a $4.2 million non-guaranteed salary in 2025 — the Ravens might eventually decide it’s time to move on.

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One of the major non-football storylines that centers around the Super Bowl is the halftime show. These days, the halftime show is one of the most exciting performances of the year and is headlined by some of the biggest artists of all time. 

In 2023, Rihanna took the stage at State Farm Stadium during Super Bowl LVII. Before that, five performers took the stage for Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles, California: Eminem, Dr. Dre. Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige performed halfway through the Rams win over the Bengals. Just a few years after that performance, Kendrick Lamar is once again hitting the Super Bowl stage, this time as a headliner. 

The NFL, Roc Nation and Apple Music announced ahead of Sunday’s Week 1 games that the 17-time Grammy winner will be this year’s performer. SZA was announced as the special guest a few weeks before the big game. 

Usher headlined the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show in Las Vegas in 2024.

For the artists who play the halftime show at the Super Bowl, they’re entertaining an audience that is exponentially bigger than any they’ve ever encountered. It was not always like that however. 

So, what were the shows like before they were must-see television? Do you remember that killer halftime show featuring the Rockettes, Chubby Checker and the 88 grand pianos in 1988? Do you remember the captivating “Be Bop Bamboozled” at the Orange Bowl in 1989? No, no you do not. Ditto Carol Channing (twice) or any one of those four annoyingly contrived Up With People performances in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

The Super Bowl halftime show, before Michael Jackson, was an endless wasteland of college marching bands and maddening flag-spinning tributes, from salutes to Hollywood (twice), to Motown, to the Big Band Era, to the Caribbean, to Duke Ellington. We also got the New Kids on the Block (1991) not singing any of their biggest hits and Gloria…

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