Defending Super Bowl champion Rams open season as underdogs
Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and the Los Angeles Rams will raise their Super Bowl banner Thursday night before kicking off the NFL season at home where they became the second straight team to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy in their own stadium.
Texans look to move on and rebuild in wake of Watson trade
The Houston Texans look to move on in the wake of Friday’s trade of quarterback Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns, hoping the three first-round picks they received in the deal will help them improve a team that has been among the league’s worst the past two seasons.
NFL draft early entry list has 3 national title-winning QBs
National champion Alabama has five players leaving early after beating Ohio State in the CFP title game on Jan. 11, with All-America quarterback Jones and linebacker Dylan Moses both early graduates. The 30 players with college eligibility remaining after completing their degree requirements had to notify the NFL of their intentions for the draft. Players less than four years removed from high school who have not completed a degree need to be granted special entry to the draft by the NFL. Southern California has the most players leaving early for NFL draft eligibility with six. Stanford and Ohio State matched Alabama with five each.
Ian Book throws 4 TD passes, No. 15 Notre Dame tops Stanford
15 Notre Dame reached double-digit wins for the third straight season by beating Stanford 45-24 on Saturday. Book has been especially sharp late in the season with 12 TD passes and no interceptions in the final three contests. His 33 TD passes on the season are second in school history to Brady Quinn's 37 in 2006. Stanford then had seven punts and a fumble the next eight possessions before getting a late TD run from Cameron Scarlett. CELEBRATIONFor the second straight week, an opponent celebrated a rivalry game win at Stanford Stadium.