NFL

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) The AFC South is up for grabs and the Indianapolis Colts are hanging in despite an up-and-down season. The playoff run begins now for Andrew Luck and Co., with a game Monday night against the lowly New York Jets, who are simply playing out the string...

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Dez Bryant and the Dallas Cowboys are on the verge of the team's longest winning streak in any form - better than the carry-over run in 1968-69 after already topping the playoff-included surge from the proud franchise's first Super Bowl-winning season in 1971. There's something else a...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Saints coach Sean Payton has experienced clutch envy while studying the Lions this season. It's got nothing to do with fashionable, hand-held bags, but everything to do with Detroit's repeated triumphs in close contests. ''Listen, I'm jealous,'' said Payton, whose team has lost five games by six or...

CLEVELAND (AP) There's nothing Joe Thomas hasn't experienced during a stormy decade with the Cleveland Browns.Amid the firings, the hirings, the draft busts, the regime changes, the mistakes, the quarterback conundrum, the losses and, oh yes, Johnny Football, Thomas, a once-in-a-generation left tackle, has personified class and cornerstone consistency...

ATLANTA (AP) The Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons have found different ways to win despite ranking near the bottom of the league in yards allowed.Those winning formulas will be tested when the two teams currently on pace for the playoffs meet Sunday. The Chiefs (8-3) rank 28th in total...

PITTSBURGH (AP) Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning are inextricably linked. Taken 11 picks apart in the 2004 NFL draft, the two quarterbacks have spent the last dozen years watching each other from afar, using the other's success as a measuring stick of their own accomplishments.The resumes are nearly identical....

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Spending just a year around players like Derek Carr and Khalil Mack was enough for Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander to see that the Raiders were on the verge of turning things around in coach Jack Del Rio's second season in Oakland.''That was one of the main...

TAMPA BAY (6-5) at SAN DIEGO (5-6)Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, FoxOPENING LINE - Chargers by 5 +. RECORD VS. SPREAD - Tampa Bay 6-5, San Diego 7-4 SERIES RECORD - Chargers lead 8-2 LAST MEETING - Buccaneers beat Chargers 34-24, Nov. 11, 2012 LAST WEEK - Buccaneers beat Seahawks 14-5; Chargers beat Texans...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Every football fan has been through the experience: They watch their favorite team flounder around on offense for most of four quarters, then they slice up a defense with the two-minute drill.Naturally, everyone wonders why teams don't just run their hurry-up offense all the time. ''It's...

DETROIT (7-4) vs. NEW ORLEANS (5-6)Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, Fox OPENING LINE - Saints by 4 RECORD VS. SPREAD - Detroit 6-4-1, New Orleans 8-3 SERIES RECORD - Saints lead 12-11-1 LAST MEETING - Lions beat Saints 35-27, Dec. 21, 2015 LAST WEEK - Lions beat Vikings 16-13; Saints beat Rams 49-21 AP PRO32 RANKING...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer will miss Thursday night's home game against Dallas following emergency surgery to repair a detached retina. Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer will serve as the interim head coach against the Cowboys, a decision that Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said would be the...

CAROLINA (4-7) at SEATTLE (7-3-1)Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET, NBCOPENING LINE - Seahawks by 6 1/2 RECORD VS. SPREAD - Panthers 3-7-1, Seahawks 6-5 SERIES RECORD - Seahawks lead 7-4 LAST MEETING - Panthers beat Seahawks 31-24, Jan. 17, 2016 in divisional playoff LAST WEEK - Panthers lost to Raiders 35-32; Seahawks lost to...