Everett Leaves Hospital, Thanks Buffalo Fans

Patriots top Bills, Saints crush Panthers, 49ers thump Rams

(NEWSER) - The New England Patriots overcame a 21-point deficit today with 49 unanswered points to rock the Buffalo Bills 49-21, the AP reports. The win earned the Pats home-field advantage and the AFC's top seed. Tom Brady threw for 338 yards and finished with the second-most passing yards in NFL history, 5,235—behind only Drew Brees, who threw for 5,486 this year with the New Orleans Saints. More»

(NEWSER) - When Willis McGahee was wheeled off the field during the AFC championship game, “it was impossible not to fear the worst,” writes Wendy MacLeod in the Washington Post. And when she tried to find his status online, she turned up a YouTube video entitled, “McGahee Gets ‘Jacked Up’ … Hardest Hit Ever!” It’s hard not to conclude that “we've become like the jaded spectators who watched the gladiators in ancient Rome.” More»

NFL's title game has seen its share of stinkers

(NEWSER) - With the big game set for Sunday, Fox Sports remembers the 10 worst Super Bowl performances. A sampling:

• Tony Eason, Patriots, Super Bowl XX: The ’85 Bears were a defense to be feared, and Eason crumbled before them. He was benched in the second after going 0 for 6 passing with one fumble.
• Craig Morton, Broncos, Super Bowl XII: Morton had the distinction of being the first QB to start a Super Bowl with two different teams, but delivered a poor performance in a loss to the Cowboys.
• David Woodley, Dolphins, Super Bowl XVII: Woodley was the youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl, but was pulled out after going 4 of 14 passing for 97 yards.

Sharing of football team could give boost to both cities

(NEWSER) - The Bills’ loss in the 1967 AFL championship game began the downfall of the football team and the city of Buffalo itself, native Gregg Easterbrook writes in the Atlantic, and he suggests looking north to turn everything around. Adding affluent Toronto (100 miles away) as a second “home” city would inject dollars into the franchise and even “change Buffalo’s image from backward-focused to wave-of-the-future.” More»

Officials closest to the action suffer painful collisions with players

(NEWSER) - Imagine side-stepping Mack trucks once a week while reading their license plates and risking brutal, career-ending collisions. Now you know how an NFL umpire feels, the Los Angeles Times reports. On-field injuries may be uncommon, but they do occur, and the NFL is contemplating protective gear. “I know I wouldn’t get 100% buy-in" on umpire padding, the NFL's VP says, "but at some point we just have to look at it." More»