THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — As the Los Angeles Rams prepare to play the San Francisco 49ers for the fourth time in less than a year, it might be easy to think there is nothing left for defensive tackle Aaron Donald to learn about his team's Bay Area nemesis.
Colton McKivitz is undaunted by the big void he must fill on San Francisco's offensive line.
With All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams sidelined for at least a few weeks with a high ankle sprain, McKivitz will be thrown into the starting lineup on Monday night for the 49ers' showdown with the Los Angeles Rams.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — At 6-foot-3 and a slim 224 pounds or so, Ben Skowronek looks like an NFL player.
He just doesn't look much like a fullback.
That's because he's a receiver playing an unlikely role these days for Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay.
LOS ANGELES RAMS (2-1) at SAN FRANCISCO (1-2)
Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN
OPENING LINE: 49ers by 1 1/2, according to FanDuel SportsBook.
ARIZONA (1-2) at CAROLINA (1-2)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m. EDT, Fox
OPENING LINE: Panthers by 1 1/2, according to FanDuel SportsBook.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams almost certainly wouldn't be such consistent winners if this team hadn't stayed relatively healthy over the past half-decade.
The Rams' overall health is much worse than normal this September after a spate of early season injuries, yet it hasn't stopped Sean McVay's team from recording back-to-back victories.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals are playing the first half of football games as if they just rolled out of bed.
The good news is they do eventually wake up. The problem is it's usually too late.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins’ defense stopped Josh Allen and the Bills at the goal line late, then held again after punter Thomas Morstead bizarrely kicked the ball off a teammate and out of bounds for a safety in a 21-19 win over Buffalo on Sunday.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals had a game plan they hoped would end their extended misery against the Los Angeles Rams.
Another sputtering start and an inefficient offense caused them to rip it up before the first quarter had even ended.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams defense survived quite an onslaught on Sunday afternoon, defending 58 passing plays from Arizona's Kyler Murray, who is notoriously hard to defend because of his ability to throw and run.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — BUFFALO (2-0) at MIAMI (2-0)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, CBS
OPENING LINE: Buffalo by 5½, according to FanDuel SportsBook
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — After finishing his first practice for the Los Angeles Rams, edge rusher Takkarist McKinley understood a chance like this doesn’t come around very often.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Two games into the season, the Super Bowl appears to be an attainable goal for the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills returned mostly the same offense that fell just short against Kansas City in a divisional-round thriller last year and retooled their defensive front with additions including Von Miller.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — There aren't many secrets between the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams, teams that will face each other Sunday for the fourth time in the past calendar year.
There's also no secret the Rams have had a huge advantage of late.
LOS ANGELES RAMS (1-1) at ARIZONA (1-1)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EDT, FOX
BETTING LINE: Rams by 3 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Sean McVay has seen plenty of Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray over the previous three seasons.
But Murray’s improbable escape act as part of the comeback win at Las Vegas, darting back and forth across the field for 20 seconds before scampering into the end zone, reminded the Los Angeles Rams coach just how special he can be.
It’s already Week 3, and our favorite fantasy stars are finding ways to reach the end zone with startling regularity. These are my best bets to score in Week 3.
Nine home teams are underdogs in Week 3.
Behind the Dawg Pound, the Cleveland Browns aren't among them.
The Browns host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night to kick off a week featuring more road favorites than home.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — If the Buffalo Bills are making some sort of loud statement by opening their season with consecutive routs, quarterback Josh Allen isn’t about to raise his voice.
As he did following a 31-10 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, Allen dismissed questions about the message the Bills sent by throttling the Tennessee Titans 41-7 in Buffalo's home opener on Monday night.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — For the first 48 minutes against Atlanta, the Los Angeles Rams looked like proper defending Super Bowl champions while they rolled toward their first victory of the new season.
The final 12 minutes demonstrated they’ve still got plenty of work to do if they intend to contend for a second straight title.
Call it a Comeback Sunday the NFL hasn’t seen in years.
The Dolphins and Cardinals made history by overcoming 20-point halftime deficits to win on the same day while the Jets rallied from a 13-point deficit in the final two minutes.
ATLANTA (AP) — Marcus Mariota and the Atlanta Falcons have not found a way to win in two games filled with near-equal portions of encouragement and frustration.
The Falcons showed resiliency in trying to rally from a 28-3 deficit on Sunday against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa threw for 469 yards and six touchdowns, four of which came during a spectacular fourth quarter, and the Miami Dolphins rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens 42-38 on Sunday.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Jalen Ramsey was calm and collected, even in the maelstrom of the fourth quarter that saw the Atlanta Falcons putting together a late rally against the Los Angeles Rams.
While most of the 71,802 inside of SoFi Stadium were dreading the worst Sunday, the All-Pro cornerback knew he was going to be a deciding factor in the final minutes.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Atlanta has only two players on its roster who played in the 2017 Super Bowl, when it squandered a 28-3 lead to the New England Patriots and lost in overtime.
On Sunday, this young, new group of Falcons nearly made 28-3 mean something entirely different.
PHILADEPLHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts has a trio of winged receivers — bats, of sorts, in this case as much as they are Eagles — in the offense and ready to Sock!
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons placed backup running back Damien Williams on injured reserve with a rib injury on Saturday.
Williams was expected to be the primary backup to starter Cordarrelle Patterson before he suffered the injury on Atlanta's second possession of last week's 27-26 season-opening loss to New Orleans.
TENNESSEE (0-1) at BUFFALO (1-0)
Monday, 7:15 p.m. EDT, ESPN
OPENING LINE: Bills by 9 1/2, according to FanDuel SportsBook.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Bills starting defensive tackle Ed Oliver was ruled out and his backup, Tim Settle, listed as doubtful on Saturday, leaving Buffalo potentially thin in the middle against running back Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans on Monday night.
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (1-0) AT DETROIT (0-1)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, FOX
OPENING LINE: Lions by 1 1/2, according to FanDuel SportsBook.
ATLANTA (0-1) at LOS ANGELES RAMS (0-1)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m. EDT, FOX
OPENING LINE: Rams by 10 1/2, according to FanDuel SportsBook.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Atlanta Falcons running back Damien Williams was held out of practice for the second consecutive day with a rib injury on Thursday, leaving his status uncertain for Sunday's game at the Los Angeles Rams.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Bills quarterback Josh Allen feigned ignorance when asked if he winced while watching video of him getting stuffed on fourth down near the goal line in the final seconds of a loss to Tennessee last year.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Drake London spent the past three seasons tearing up college defenses for USC, so football fans in his native Southern California weren't surprised when the big receiver got off to a strong NFL start with the Atlanta Falcons.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Whether carrying the ball or making a lightning-fast recovery from a torn Achilles tendon, Cam Akers' brief NFL career has been all about getting places in a hurry.
So when Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay said last week that he wanted more urgency from his top running back, the football world was surprised — and so was Akers, it turns out.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The rapport between quarterback Josh Allen and receiver Stefon Diggs has become so intuitive, all it takes is a glance or a shimmy of the shoulder for the Buffalo Bills' dynamic duo to know where the ball is bound to be thrown — and, more often than not, caught.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — More than 121 million fans watched a telecast of an NFL game during the league's opening week, a 5% increase over last season.
The league and Nielsen also said on Wednesday that the average viewership for all games was 18.5 million, the best opening weekend in six years and up 3% from last year.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A.J. Brown hung an “Always Open” sign — such as the kind you’d find at a diner — last week in his locker.
He can’t be knocked for false advertising.
Brown had a Philadelphia Eagles debut to remember, and certainly one for the record book, in a 38-35 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams' honeymoon from their Super Bowl championship didn't even last until the first Sunday of the next regular season.
Their 31-10 thrashing from the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night was a brutal reminder that last season's title — and even the last half-decade of success under Sean McVay — guarantees the Rams nothing in a new year.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady’s 11-day absence from training camp following a 40-day retirement earlier this year has some people doubting the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s focus entering his 23rd season in the NFL.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The level of online betting activity on Thursday night's NFL kickoff game surged 77% over the level from last year's opener, according to a company that most of the legal U.S.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — For one night — and a big one, no less — the Buffalo Bills played up to the weighty expectations many had hung on them this offseason.
Josh Allen was in command of an offense, which scored on three straight second-half possessions.