Three touchdowns from David Johnson helped the Arizona Cardinals thrash the New York Jets 28-3.

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo did not miss a beat as he stepped in for the suspended Tom Brady in his first NFL start and led the New England Patriots to a 23-21 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Although it may be relatively new to Ireland’s sporting vernacular, the notion of ‘paralysis by analysis’ has long since been a staple of the American discourse.

The Carolina Panthers withstood a furious second half comeback from the Seattle Seahawks last night to win 31-24 and set up a National Football Conference championship showdown against the Arizona Cardinals.

The New England Patriots stretched their NFL season-opening win streak to nine games as Stephen Gostkowski’s field goal with one second left lifted them to a 27-26 win over the New York Giants.

High profile coaching casualties followed quick on the heels of the final day of the NFL’s regular season as the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets parted ways with their coaches yesterday.

If you saw the Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch plough through the Arizona Cardinals defence for a late touchdown on Sunday night, then you had the opportunity to enjoy one of the highlights of this NFL season.

The Dallas Cowboys blew a 21-0 lead before rallying to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-27 and move to 10-4, one game ahead of Philadelphia at the top of the NFC East standings.

The Pittsburgh Steelers came on strong in the fourth quarter on Sunday night for a 42-21 NFL triumph over Cincinnati that blew open the AFC North division race.

Tom Brady sparked the New England Patriots to their seventh consecutive victory in a 34-9 rout of Detroit, while Indianapolis receiver T.Y. Hilton scored a touchdown for his newborn daughter.

Tom Brady won the battle of the marquee quarterbacks over Peyton Manning, while the Arizona Cardinals knocked off the Dallas Cowboys to claim the NFC’s best record.

Peyton Manning broke Brett Favre’s all-time record for touchdown passes, leading Denver to a 42-17 rout of San Francisco to cap a scintillating Sunday in the NFL.

The Philadelphia 76ers couldn’t have picked a worse time to record their first win in 27 attempts.

Just short of 100 points were scored in an incredible Texas shoot-out between the Denver Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday which left Peyton Manning’s Broncos in control of one of the three unbeaten records in the NFL thanks to a 51-48 win.

The Patriots, Saints and Dolphins joined the Kansas Chiefs with their third straight victories of the new season while the New York Giants and Washington Redskins were left wondering where their first wins will come from after embarrassing defeats.

The Irish relatives of the newly crowned Rose of Tralee popped champagne corks yesterday to celebrate her victory and invited her to visit her ancestral island home again.

An Arizona sheriff has announced plans to deploy an armed volunteer posse to protect students in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting.

As the NFL heads into December, nearly every division race has an outright favourite.

Late field goals kept the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals undefeated while Houston won a rout to also stay perfect four weeks into the season.

Hours after his younger brother’s death in a motorcycle accident, Torrey Smith caught six passes for 127 yards and scored two touchdowns to spark Baltimore to a last-play 31-30 NFL win over New England.

Peyton Manning made a sparkling return after a year’s injury absence from the NFL, leading Denver to a 31-19 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in his Broncos debut.

We never love referees, we only loathe them and we rarely fully appreciate how much we need them.

Mitt Romney accused rival Rick Santorum of dirty tricks, for encouraging Democrats to defeat him in Michigan’s primary as voters determined his fate in his home state.

Regardless of the outcome of Republican presidential primaries in Michigan and Arizona today, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum appear set for a showdown next week in Ohio.

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum said Sunday that he does not believe in the separation of Church and state, adding that he was sickened by John F Kennedy’s assurances to Baptist ministers 52 years ago that he would not impose his Catholic faith on them.

Arizona has launched a website where people can make donations to pay for fencing along the US state’s border with Mexico.

There was no referee to call a halt so it was left to a game of ball to close the widening chasm and offer momentary respite.

QUARTERBACK Tom Brady last night broke the NFL record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception as the New England Patriots won the AFC East Division thanks to a resounding 34-3 win over the Buffalo Bills.

Executions in the US have been postponed because of a shortage of one of the drugs used in lethal injections.

America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff” is being sued by the US government for his “unprecedented” defiance over an investigation into alleged discrimination against Hispanics.

ARIZONA is preparing to ask an appeals court to lift a judge’s ruling that put most of the state’s immigration law on hold in a key first-round victory for the federal government in a fight that may go to the US Supreme Court.

Thousands of people from all over the US marched on the Arizona state capital to protest at the state’s tough new crackdown on illegal immigration.

Arizona’s new law on illegal immigration could break international standards that are binding in the US, six United Nations human rights experts said.

The White House has announced a fundamental shift in America’s nuclear strategy, calling the spread of atomic weapons to rogue states or terrorists a worse threat than the nuclear Armageddon feared during the Cold War.

Pittsburgh 27 Arizona 23

BODY-SHAKING hits will help decide a winner in Super Bowl 43 as one of American football’s most punishing players and most severe injury victims face a Sunday showdown, (11pm Irish time, live on TV3).

DEFENDING champions New York struggled to score on Sunday but they managed a touchdown when it mattered most to defeat Pittsburgh 21-14 in a showdown of division leaders.

ARIZONA scored a touchdown off a blocked punt to finish off a wild 30-24 overtime victory over Dallas on Sunday as the NFL produced a flurry of frenetic endings.

THE Arizona Cardinals ended the Buffalo Bills’ unbeaten start to the season with a surprisingly easy 41-17 victory in Week 5 of the NFL.

BRETT FAVRE has returned to his record-setting ways with the New York Jets as Washington rocked old rivals Dallas in the NFL.

NEW ENGLAND preserved their perfect NFL season on Sunday, while Dallas, Green Bay and Seattle locked up divisional titles and Indianapolis booked their playoff berth.

PEYTON MANNING threw for four touchdowns and the Indianapolis Colts edged Jacksonville 28-25 to deny the Jaguars a share of the NFL AFC South division lead.

NEW ENGLAND’S Tom Brady threw a team-record six touchdown passes and Tennessee’s Rob Bironas kicked a NFL-record eight field goals to spark impressive triumphs on Sunday.