LOS ANGELES — We've seen these movies before, or at least most of them.

With the NFL's conference championship games set — the Rams at Seattle following New England at Denver — three of the four possible Super Bowl permutations are rematches.

Rams-Patriots? There have been two of those, at the end of the 2001 and 2018 seasons.

And ...Read more

MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins and owner Stephen Ross have once again demonstrated that prior NFL experience at being a head coach is not a job prerequisite in Miami. Or even preferred, evidently.

So welcome to town Jeff Hafley, former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator now tasked with making relevant again a Dolphins franchise that has not ...Read more

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — It’s not a matter of “who” when we talk about the Miami Dolphins new head coach, it’s a matter of “what,” and the “what” is a winning mindset, a determined mentality and an aggressive disposition.

The Dolphins’ organization needs an attitude adjustment. The Dolphins need to accept nothing but winning. ...Read more

MIAMI — The search is officially over.

After about 10 days, the Miami Dolphins decided to hire Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley as the 15th head coach in franchise history, according to multiple outlets. Widely regarded as one of the brightest, young defensive minds in the league, Hafley will be tasked with the turnaround ...Read more

CHICAGO — Caleb Williams felt a little bit empty as he drove home from Soldier Field on Sunday night.

Yes, the 20-17 divisional playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams weighed on him. And, sure, the overtime interception he threw was probably in the back of his mind.

But at the forefront was the fact his Monday schedule was practically empty.

...Read more

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Drake Maye barked for the ball.

It flew into his hands at the start of his drop near midfield, where he stared a snarling Houston Texans defense straight down the middle.

The stare was a trap.

As his back foot hit the back of the pocket, Maye shuffled forward, jerked his gaze to the right and cocked his arm. He lofted a ...Read more

CHICAGO — Now, do you believe?

Finally, do you understand?

The Los Angeles Rams are going to win the Super Bowl.

Period. No conditions. No debate. It's been written here before and, after Sunday, it literally bears writing again.

The Rams are going to win the Super Bowl.

Sunday gave it life. Sunday made it real. Sunday was the test that ...Read more

CHICAGO — It wasn't just the Chicago Bears who had a pattern this season.

The Los Angeles Rams had one too.

Whereas Chicago stacked storybook endings, the Rams failed to finish what they started with disturbing regularity.

Five losses. Five fizzles.

Remember the unsatisfying finale to "The Sopranos"? Swelling crescendo ... then abrupt cut ...Read more

DETROIT — The Detroit Lions have found their replacement for John Morton.

Drew Petzing and the Lions are finalizing a deal to make him the team's next offensive coordinator, a source confirmed to The Detroit News Monday. Petzing, 38, has been the OC with the Arizona Cardinals for the last three seasons. Before that, he coached quarterbacks (...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Nick Sirianni is the son of a high school football coach and a mentee of a Division III football coach. Everyone knows this about him.

When he speaks publicly, he frequently sprinkles in references to his father, Fran, and his nine years in charge of the program at Southwest Central High School in western New York. He talks of ...Read more

SEATTLE — It’s one thing to dub your defense “The Dark Side,” an inspired nickname for a mob of maulers. To wear T-shirts with self-appointed slogans — “M.O.B.,” “12 as One,” “Death Zone,” “Chasing Edges,” the list goes on and on. To publicly proclaim (and repeat) your dislike for the San Francisco 49ers. To hold a ...Read more

SEATTLE — If your favorite football team just got vaporized 41-6 by their most hated rivals in a playoff game that looked less like a sporting event and more like a National Geographic documentary on apex predators toying with their prey, how would you want them to react?

Would you want them smashing Gatorade coolers? Tossing helmets? ...Read more

DENVER — Sunday is not a game. It is a meme.

The Denver Broncos are done. Sean Payton went to Jarrett. And now everyone is returning the cubic zirconia ring to the store and demanding a refund.

The painful truth was obvious Saturday night when Bo Nix fractured a bone in his right ankle, an in-stadium X-ray turning elation into devastation.

...Read more

CHICAGO — Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay let his beard grow beyond his typical five-o’clock shadow, ostensibly to keep his face warm.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford donned his neoprene undergarment. Some Rams players, reportedly, put cayenne pepper in their socks to keep the heat in their feet.

It worked.

On a snowy, windy Sunday night,...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears had the football just past midfield in overtime. It was sudden death, season on the line, next score wins.

The Bears were painfully close to field-goal range, painfully close to their first NFC championship game appearance in 15 years.

And then Caleb Williams lofted a pass deep down the field that Los Angeles Rams...Read more

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Snow falling, the crowd belting out songs from the 1980s, the New England Patriots advancing to the AFC Championship Game.

The glory days are back in Foxborough.

Everything that was said all week about the Texans’ ferocious defense was true in Sunday’s divisional-round playoff game. But with the Patriots facing ...Read more

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It took three quarters, but a MVP candidate who led the New England Patriots back to the playoffs arrived in time Sunday to send them to the AFC Championship Game.

Quarterback Drake Maye hit a 32-yard touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte in the fourth quarter for the final score in a 28-16 divisional-round win over the Houston...Read more

SEATTLE — If not for the sold-out stadium and national broadcast, you would have thought that was a scout-team offense lining up against the starters.

If not for their results being logged for the whole world to see, you'd have thought the only way San Francisco made the playoffs was because of its defensive prowess.

But the 49ers (13-6) ...Read more