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While the 49ers had little trouble running over the Vikings on their way to the NFC championship game a day before the Packers joined them with their win over Seattle, the AFC championship game matchup is a surprise. MORE NFL PLAYOFFS:Complete TV schedule, results | Picks & predictions The Titans, a week after upsetting the Patriots on the road and guaranteeing a new team will win the Super Bowl this year, pulled off an even more shocking upset against the Ravens....

BetQL can help you identify edges on every slate! Our subscribers can view BetQL’s NFL best bets and make the most informed, data-driven wagers possible. All data presented is as of Tuesday morning. You can track all NFL line movement on BetQL’s Line Movement Dashboard. Figures below are calculated by wagering one unit on each touted bet with -110 spread odds. DIVISIONAL ROUND NFL DFS: FanDuel | DraftKings | Yahoo...

Forget some of the vibes from the early offseason and training camp. When the games count in the standings toward determining the NFL’s hierarchy, how a team looks on paper means nothing vs. the developing product on the field over now 18 meaningful weeks. Based on Sporting News’ upcoming record predictions for 2021, here’s how we see all the teams stacking up against each other to start it all for real:...

Some rookies struggled in their first NFL action, like WR Kadarius Toney and QB Kyle Trask. A few NFL rookies caught fire and have the attention of the NFL and fantasy football. Five rookies stood out over the rest during the NFL preseason and could all become starters in the 2021 season at some point. Let’s have a look at who they are. #1 - Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers TE Former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Charlie Batch loves that his team was able to grab Penn State TE Pat Freiermuth in the draft....

Yes, it was technically a preseason game, but the 89,140 rowdy Rams fans that packed the Coliseum weren’t treating it like one as every L.A. fan got a taste of what it’s like to have Jared Goff under center on Saturday against the Cowboys. Unfortunately for the No. 1 overall pick, it wasn’t pretty. Goff completed 4 of 9 passes for 38 yards and an interception. While he played just 13 offensive snaps, Goff doesn’t look NFL-ready under center....

The Broncos and Falcons whetted the appetites of NFL fans in Canton, Ohio, for the 2019 Hall of Fame Game, but this weekend, a full slate of action for all 32 teams is set to begin the four-week preseason. Among the 16 games in Week 1, four were scheduled to be broadcast nationally on the NFL Network, with the rest falling to regional coverage. Among the most interesting games to watch from these national games was the now annual “New York Bowl,” a preseason game pitting the Jets and Giants against one another in MetLife Stadium and an opportunity for Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to take the field for the first time....

With an 0-4 record this season, the team’s losing streak stands at nine after it dropped its final five games in San Diego last year. While the crosstown Rams look like factors in the NFC, the Chargers are already doomed to end a distant fourth in the AFC West. Their record indicates they’re as bad as the Browns, but looking at the Chargers’ talent, that clearly is not the case....

They also need to deliver fast. If their team gives up a ton of yards and points in Year 1, there’s a good chance they won’t be around for Year 2. In this year’s new defensive coordinator class, five familiar names stand out: MORE: Head coach rankings | Coughlin > Belichick? Romeo Crennel, Texans They had a good turnaround and spike with Wade Phillips. Crennel was the best next step, allowing them to keep a base 3-4 with the potential for getting more out of their talent....

The league kept its expanded playoff field, with 14 of its 32 teams (43.8 percent) set to qualify for the latest postseason. That includes 7 each from the AFC and NFC, with only the No. 1 seeds getting byes on top of home-field advantage. Who would be in, who’s still in contention, and who should be thinking about next season? Here’s a comprehensive look: NFL POWER RANKINGS: Chiefs, Cowboys, Colts slip up; Titans, Bengals, Raiders rise for Week 18...

Despite the legalization of sports betting in some states, the topic of gambling has been almost completely absent on NFL game telecasts from Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN and NFL Network this season. Sources told Sporting News that the moratorium on sports betting through Week 3 also extends to NFL pregame shows such as Fox’s top-rated “Fox NFL Sunday,” CBS’ “The NFL Today,” NBC’s “Football Night in America” and ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown,” as well as weekday programming, such as ESPN’s “NFL Live....

At .537, Bill Belichick’s team has the highest strength of schedule of any of the 32 NFL franchises—as calculated by their opponents’ combined winning percentage last year—just marginally ahead of AFC East rivals New York Jets. The Patriots will face seven teams that have qualified for the playoffs last season—the joint-highest in the NFL—as they will play the Buffalo Bills twice, the Baltimore Ravens, the Houston Texans and the Seattle Seahawks as well as the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, the two teams that reached Super Bowl LIV in February....

The league sent a memo to the 32 teams on Thursday citing “encouraging trends regarding the prevalence and severity of COVID-19, the evolving guidance from the CDC, changes to state law and the counsel of our respective experts” as reasons for the return to normal operations. The NFL memo lists some protocols that will be lifted, including: Regardless of vaccination status, there will no longer be mandatory surveillance testing of players or staff, however, teams are expected to have a space inside their facility to accommodate anyone who may have or report symptoms....

The fifth-year option is one of the NFL’s more underrated bits of business during the offseason, with 2018 first-round picks this year looking to get locked into a fifth year with either their original team or a perhaps a team they were traded to. 2021 NFL DRAFT:Full results | Team-by-team grades | Winners & losers While fifth-year options are typically picked up by teams, that’s not always the case: Whether it’s a player underachieving, a team in a cap crunch or someone who has dealt with injuries, there are plenty of reasons why a team might not keep a player on their roster for a fifth season....

Moore has been docked $22,050 for hitting Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate in the head and neck area, a blow that drew a penalty in the Falcons' loss last Sunday. It was the fourth time this season that Moore had been fined. Wheeler was fined $21,000 on Friday for his hit in the head and neck area of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Mike Glennon. Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews and Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett also were fined for rough hits on quarterbacks, each docked $15,750....

Once the franchise tag is applied, the player immediately will be tendered a one-year, fully guaranteed contract that’s usually worth less than the amount of money he would receive with a long-term contract. The application of the franchise tag also effectively blocks the player from free agency by attaching a cost of two first-round draft picks for any contract the player signs with another team. So who will get tagged this year?...

One particular player, more notorious than notable, got a surprise workout last week. He leads the latest round of free-agent rumors as the offseason officially comes to an end. NFL Preview: AFC predictions | NFC predictions | SN’s Super Bowl pick DE Greg Hardy Not re-signed by the Cowboys after a contentious season there, Hardy reportedly worked out for the Jaguars last week. ESPN reported that team officials brought him in to sit down face to face and see where he was mentally and physically....

At team practices on the north shore of Oahu for Sunday’s Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Bailey said he had not spoken to the Patriots’ Stephen Gostkowski or the Vikings’ Blair Walsh yet, but he planned to. “I wouldn’t be telling them anything they don’t know. We’ve all been there,” Bailey said. “I’ve been in situations where I’ve missed kicks that should’ve won the game. You just gotta be there, support them because you know they’d do the same for you....

Nathan Shields of Saipancakes turns regular old pancakes into works of art. And his latest masterpiece? Edible versions of all 32 NFL logos. MORE: Greatest Thanksgiving performances | Richard Sherman blasts NFL | Adrian Peterson weighs in on Ferguson If you don’t start every Sunday with an NFL logo pancake, are you even a real fan? Source: FanSided

It’s also a big weekend in college football for massive matchups, including Alabama vs. Tennessee in the SEC and Penn State vs. Michigan in the Big Ten. That should put many of the top pro prospects on full display at midseason. Combining the updated order for picks No. 1 through No. 18 according to Tankathon, plus the current NFC and AFC playoff seeding, here are Sporting News’ updated projections for the top 31 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft (with the Dolphins forfeiting their original selection):...