The winter wonderland around Christmas is a chilling reminder the new year is coming and only 14 teams can play in the tournament for Super Bowl 57. Some of the best championship contenders flexed by either grinding out tough victories or finding a complete groove. Even the teams near the bottom found some extra competitive spirit for the holidays. It’s time to deck the halls with another edition of Sporting News NFL power rankings, from still a most cheerful No....

Week 1 of the NFL preseason offers just that with a huge list of games, highlighted by matchups between the powerhouse Patriots and Packers Thursday, followed by the Broncos and Seahawks Friday. More: NFL Sunday Ticket Expanding | Week 1 story lines to watch | Ranking all 31 NFL stadiums Here’s a look at the NFL Week 1 Preseason Schedule: (All times Eastern) Thursday — Saints at Ravens, 7:30 p....

The season is scheduled to kick off on Thursday, Sept. 10, with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans. The Sunday night game has the Los Angeles Rams opening their new stadium against the Dallas Cowboys, and the Monday night doubleheader has the Pittsburgh Steelers traveling to the New York Giants, followed by the Tennessee Titans at the Denver Broncos. Full schedule of teams....

It seems like a possibility. The Associated Press is reporting that the league is going to discuss the league’s roughing the passer foul at the NFL’s midseason owners meeting ahead of Week 6. However, the report says that the NFL “isn’t planning to make any rule changes” in-season despite outrage over two calls from Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season. MORE: Roughing the passer call against Chris Jones sparks NFL rules debate...

Minnesota traded Stefon Diggs, entered a contract dispute with Dalvin Cook and remains financially committed to the ever-underwhelming Kirk Cousins at quarterback. Now, the Vikings could watch a 2019 Pro Bowl players leave for the rival Packers. Green Bay has reportedly emerged as a lead candidate to sign free-agent edge rusher Everson Griffen, who recorded eight sacks last year and could bolster an already formidable front-seven at Lambeau Field....

“What kind of hurts him is all the other crimes related to NFL players, the domestic violence and the assaults,” says Michael DelSignore, a defense attorney in Fall River, Mass., where jury selection for Hernandez’s trial in the 2013 death of Odin Lloyd begins Friday. “The idea of (potential jurors) idolizing the players has gone down a few notches,” continued DelSignore, who has analyzed Hernandez’s cases in Sporting News and has blogged about them....

The 25-year-old was shown hunting down the Los Angeles Chargers in the 49ers’ 22-16 win on November 13, with the football player giving a little commentary on what he was looking to achieve. While Bosa made an awesome play in the clip, what caught most people’s eyes, or their ears in this case, was that the 49ers star sounded like serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in Netflix’s recent drama. In the footage posted on NFL Films TikTok page, 49ers linebacker Fred Warner is seen giving a talk to the defense, ahead of a play....

If you were hoping that this committee would make some changes, you’re probably going to be disappointed. The NFL’s vice president of officiating, Dean Blandino, said in an interview Sunday before the Pro Bowl that he likes the rule the way it is. MORE: 5 landing spots for Johnny Manziel | Super Bowl week begins: Teams enter final preparations “We think that the rule is in a good place right now,” he said....

This year, the NFL is back with a bigger schedule than ever, with the league expanding the regular-season schedule to 17 games, pushing back the Super Bowl to the second week in February. The schedule change, which was unilaterally imposed by the league’s owners, is the first time the regular-season schedule has been expanded since 1978. The league is keeping with its traditional 12-team playoff format, though, a year after expanding the playoffs to 14, letting two more teams in in an effort to recoup some losses from the Gridiron fans looking to the next big event after the 2021 NFL Draft can look no further than the league’s schedule release....

The Rams will have a difficult path to walk to repeat as Super Bowl champions. While the division around them is still tough, they’ll be playing the reloaded AFC West, arguably the toughest division in football come the 2022 season. For the NFC East, a pair of long-time division rivals will share the ease of the league’s fluffiest schedule, as the Cowboys and Commanders will play an easy slate of games this upcoming season, based on 2021 win percentage....

So far, only the Raiders, Broncos, Buccaneers, Panthers, 49ers, Rams and Cardinals have made it through the first two games without taking a loss. That list is guaranteed to go down at least by one as Tom Brady and the Buccaneers travel to Los Angeles to take on Matthew Stafford and the Rams in the only battle of unbeatens in Week 3. There is also a matchup of winless teams....

Three teams — the Chiefs, Rams and Patriots — have a record of 7-2 or better entering Week 10, and the Saints, which had its bye a few weeks ago, will reach either 8-1 or 7-2 following this week’s action. In the Super Bowl era, 216 teams have begun the season either 8-1 or 7-2 through nine games, and 194 of those teams advanced to the postseason (89.8 percent). Sixty-one of the 216 teams reached the Super Bowl in their respective seasons....

So, take a look at the ones below. MORE: Johnny Manziel’s back story | Lizzy Seeburg link | Teddy Bridgewater: I’m the best | More news Top wide receivers Does Blake Bortles compare to Ben Roethlisberger? Bruce Ellington shows his speed Wide receiver sprint comparisons Odell Beckham Jr. flies through his 40 Comparing Johnny Manziel to Doug Flutie Fast 40s: Brandin Cooks | Martavis Bryant | John Brown | Mike Evans...

The 2020 regular season is due to get underway on September 10 and while the NFL has retained a “business as usual” approach so far despite the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Allen Sills acknowledged the situation in the U.S. was so fluid that nothing was set in stone as yet. “As long as we’re still in a place where when a single individual tests positive for the virus that you have to quarantine every single person who was in contact with them in any shape, form or fashion, then I don’t think you can begin to think about reopening a team sport,” Sills told NFL....

Although the playoff picture for the AFC and NFC won’t be finalized until Week 18, it’s time to keep looking at the updated standings and which teams would be in the playoffs if the season ended after Week 16. Here’s a breakdown of the NFL’s latest playoff field and seedings, as well as a look at the contenders on the brink of joining the postseason party: POWER RANKINGS: Cowboys, Packers climb in playoff picture; Steelers jump Patriots, Jets for Week 17...

Before we get into the Week 16 forecasts, here’s a reminder that if you have any questions about sports weather or how weather could impact play (and, potentially, your fantasy, DFS, and gambling decisions), don’t hesitate to reach out to RotoGrinders’ meteorologist Kevin Roth on Twitter (@KevinRothWx) or check out the hourly NFL weather forecasts on RotoGrinders. To take your game to the next level, subscribe to RotoGrinders’ exclusive WeatherEdge tool and see how different weather conditions have impacted historical scoring....

MORE FANTASY FOOTBALL: Week 10 waiver adds | Injury roundup | Peterson updates Buying QB: Matt Ryan, Falcons: The London late-game disaster clouds the three-touchdown first half the Falcons offense did manage against Detroit’s No. 1 total defense. Atlanta won’t dream of playoffs this year and the season will probably end with some prominent people losing their jobs. However, one of the better quarterbacks in the league will face some deficits against struggling pass defenses: the Bucs (31st in passing yards allowed per game), Panthers (17th), Browns (18th) and Cardinals (32nd)....

Here’s a pair of potential upsets for the NFL’s Week 6 card: Green Bay Packers at Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m. ET, Fox Winners of two in a row, the Green Bay Packers head south to Miami to face a Dolphins squad featuring the fourth-best ground attack in the league. Vegas odds have Miami as +160 underdogs, implying about a 38 percent chance of winning. AccuScore – while it doesn’t pick a different winner than Vegas – does project the Dolphins to put up more of a fight....

Before we get into the Week 6 forecasts, here’s a reminder that if you have any questions about sports weather or how weather could impact play (and, potentially, your fantasy, DFS, and gambling decisions), don’t hesitate to reach out to RotoGrinders’ meteorologist Kevin Roth on Twitter (@KevinRothWx) or check out the hourly NFL weather forecasts on RotoGrinders. To take your game to the next level, subscribe to RotoGrinders’ exclusive WeatherEdge tool and see how different weather conditions have impacted historical scoring....