STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI

There are veterans who joined up for one final run at the title, and wide-eyed rookies who were thrust into the Super Bowl spotlight. AdHALL OF FAMERSThree of Brady’s Super Bowl teammates have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame with more likely to come down the road. Julian Edelman and Deion Branch, who both won Super Bowl MVPs with Brady, are tied for the most catches with 24 apiece. MISSING RINGSOnly two players went to the Super Bowl with Brady more than once and never got a ring out of it. COMMON NAMESA few first names have stood out more than others when it comes to Brady’s Super Bowl teammates, led by the nine Brandons: Bolden, Browner, Deadrick, Gorin, King, LaFell, Meriweather, Mitchell and Spikes.

(AP Photo/Matt Ludtke, File)There was a regular-season shootout and a playoff masterpiece the first season that Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady met on a football field. Brady came out ahead in those two meetings, but Mahomes has gotten the edge the past two times they met. Mahomes added a 20-yard TD pass to Hill in the third quarter to make it a 17-point game. Mahomes threw for 462 yards and three TDs, with Hill leading the way with 13 catches for 269 yards. Mahomes injured his hand on the second drive of the game yet finished with 283 yards passing and a TD.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson celebrates after the Ravens beat the Tennessee Titans in an NFL wild-card playoff football game Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Lamar Jackson finally has his first postseason victory — and on the road, no less. Combine that with Baltimore smothering 2,000-yard rusher Derrick Henry, and the Ravens look playoff tough. After the turnover, the Ravens came onto the field and started waving good-bye to the Titans — drawing a taunting penalty they didn't mind at all. “We won the division, hosted a home playoff game,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. The Ravens held Tennessee to minus-7 yards in the second quarter, the third fewest in any quarter of a playoff game since the 2000 season.

Henry came into Sunday’s regular season finale needing 223 yards rushing to become the second man in franchise history to reach 2,000. He came in as the NFL’s rushing leader for a second straight season with a career-best 1,777 yards rushing. The Green Bay Packers have set an NFL season record for second-quarter points. With the run Newton also passed Grogan for the single-season team record for rushing yards by a quarterback. Newton entered the game 26 yards behind Grogan, who had 539 rushing yards in 1978.

(AP Photo/Darren Abate)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___East Tennessee State will allow 10% of capacity for basketball games starting Wednesday night at the Buccaneers’ men’s game with Western Carolina. No single-game tickets will be available, though 100 student tickets will be available for games at Freedom Hall and 50 for women’s games at Brooks Gym. ___The Atlantic Coast Conference announced that the men’s basketball game between No. ___Syracuse's women’s basketball game against North Carolina scheduled for Thursday has been postponed. ___Vanderbilt women’s basketball has postponed the first three Southeastern Conference games of the league schedule as it deals with positive COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and quarantines.

(AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)NEW YORK – As the league's only unbeaten team, the Pittsburgh Steelers have climbed all the way to the top of the NFL. 1 spot in the latest AP Pro32 poll. The Steelers received seven of the 12 first-place votes for 378 points in balloting Tuesday by media members who regularly cover the NFL. The Steelers improved to 6-0 for their best start since 1978, when Pittsburgh won its first seven on the way to the Super Bowl. The Ravens host the Steelers this week in the top matchup of Week 8.

Benny Snell Jr. added a 1-yard TD run, and Ray-Ray McCloud set up a touchdown with a 57-yard punt return. Pittsburgh scored at least 26 points for a sixth straight game to tie a stretch in 2015 for the longest in franchise history. Pittsburgh dominated early with a 161-1 edge in total offense before the Titans' second offensive possession. Roethlisberger and the Steelers scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the first time in 23 games, going 75 yards over 16 plays. UP NEXTSteelers: Visit Baltimore in a game rescheduled because of the Titans' outbreak with the Ravens coming off their bye.

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry (22) is mobbed by teammates after Henry scored the winning touchdown against the Houston Texans in overtime of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Watson's final TD pass put Houston (1-5) up 36-29 with 1:50 left, but a 2-point conversion attempt failed. Ryan Tannehill, who had three of his 19 career game-winning drives to start this season, drove the Titans 76 yards before finding A.J. He capped the six-play, 82-yard drive with a wildcat snap for his second TD of the game, finishing with 212 yards rushing and 52 yards receiving. Watson answered two plays later with a 53-yard TD pass to Will Fuller for a 30-29 lead with 8:37 left.

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)The NFL has never had a start to a season like this one when it comes to offensive production. Through three weeks, teams have combined for 51 points per game, 738.2 yards per game and a 96.3 passer rating, the most ever at this juncture of an NFL season. Only the 1961 AFL, when teams combined to average 53.1 points per game, has been more conducive to scoring. Teams have been penalized 283 times on offense so far this season, down from 443 at the same point last year. There have now been 10 teams this season to win games they trailed by at least 10 points, tied for the second-most double-digit comebacks through three weeks.

MINNEAPOLIS – Stephen Gostkowski made his career-high sixth field goal of game, a 55-yarder with 1:48 left that lifted undefeated Tennessee to a 31-30 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday after Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill carried the Titans on another comeback. Henry rushed for 119 yards and two third-quarter touchdowns for the Titans, who improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2008 after trailing for most of the game. Tannehill passed for 321 yards, guiding the Titans on a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter or overtime for the sixth time in 16 games since becoming the starter. The Titans are 12-4 behind Tannehill, including the playoffs, and they're 15-0 when Henry hits the 100-yard mark. The depleted Vikings defense didn't do enough to hold it, though, as Tannehill moved the Titans just close enough for Gostkowski to go to work.

This is the Titans' first 2-0 start since 2008, the most recent season this franchise won the AFC South. His final TD pass, a 14-yarder to Chris Thompson, tied it up at 30 with 7:25 left as the Jaguars (1-1) tried to snap their Music City skid. So the Titans turned to Tannehill, the quarterback who led the NFL in 2019 with a 117.5 passer rating. Tannehill opened the game finding a wide-open Jonnu Smith for 63 yards before hitting Smith for a 13-yard TD two plays later. Tannehill added a 9-yard TD pass to Corey Davis on the next drive and threw a 4-yarder to Smith late in the first half.

Tennessee Titans kicker Stephen Gostkowski (3) celebrates his game winning field goal with teammates during the second half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, in Denver. The Denver Broncos coach was taken to task on television and social media for his late-game clock management Monday night after a 16-14 loss to Tennessee. Struggling kicker Stephen Gostkowski made a 25-yard field goal in the closing seconds after missing three attempts earlier in his Titans debut. One, their field goal kicker had obviously been having his problems. It would have put us in field goal range and given us a first down.

Denver Broncos inside linebacker Josey Jewell (47) celebrates his stop of Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry during the second half of an NFL football game, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)DENVER – New kicker Stephen Gostkowski avoided a disastrous debut with the Tennessee Titans in the nick of time. The Titans escaped Denver with a 16-14 victory Monday night on Gostkowski’s 25-yard field goal with 17 seconds left after he’d missed four kicks, one in each quarter. Gostkowski missed three field goals: wide left, wide right and a block, and he missed an extra point. And Gostkowski became the first kicker to miss three field goals and a PAT in the same game since Mason Crosby missed four field goals and a PAT for the Packers against the Lions in 2018.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. The Tennessee Titans made a switch at kicker Thursday, agreeing to terms with four-time Pro Bowler Stephen Gostkowski and waiving Greg Joseph. His field goal percentage ranks fifth-best in NFL history. Joseph was the Titans' fifth kicker last season in the NFL's worst field goal unit at 44.4% (8 of 18). He made the only field goal he tried in the playoffs and made all his extra points. He missed a career-high four extra points last season after not missing more than three in any of his previous 13 NFL seasons.