Tom Brady piloted Super Bowl champions New England to the winning touchdown with 56 seconds left on Sunday as the Patriots clinched the AFC East with a gut-wrenching 27-24 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Georgia Dome, the stadium in Atlanta that hosted 1996 Olympic events and which was the venue for two Super Bowls, has been reduced to rubble in an implosion.

Weekend review

The NFL is not changing its policy to require players to stand during the national anthem.

Aaron Rodgers threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Devante Adams with 11 seconds left to lift the Green Bay Packers to a 35-31 NFL victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

Nine people, including a suspect who was shot dead by an officer, have died after a man opened fire during a gathering to watch American football at a house in suburban Dallas, police said.

Martin O’Neill is an avid consumer, a voracious reader. Forever aware and always interested in the topics of the day. At Ireland training on Tuesday afternoon, he was heard enquiring on the rolling updates of Tiger Woods’ latest sorry episode.

Myles Garrett was the first overall pick by the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Draft, while three quarterbacks were chosen in the opening 12 selections of a first round.

The image is seared onto the brains of the 17 million viewers who watched it live.

There will be a familiar feel to the NFL playoffs next weekend: Every divisional-round game will be a rematch from the regular season, the first time that’s happened in six years.

The Pittsburgh Steelers trounced the Miami Dolphins 30-12 in the NFL wildcard play-offs.

Conor McGregor could hardly have done more to make New York sit up and take notice, writes Brendan O’Brien

The Minnesota Vikings continued their perfect start to the NFL season last night with a 24-10 victory over the New York Giants.

Aaron Rodgers has two NFL MVP awards and one Super Bowl ring, and he’s in his ninth season as the starter for Green Bay. Sam Bradford was never on a winning team over his first six years in the league. He had 15 days to learn Minnesota’s offence, then lost his Hall of Fame calibre running back to injury in the third quarter.

A curse or simply not good enough? Whatever your point of view, there’s no denying Mayo’s place in the pantheon of greatest bridesmaids. John Fogarty selects a disappointing dozen of the worst performing final teams in the history of sport...

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.

In the yellow taxi - literally - from JFK when the text comes through.

Quarterback Cam Newton threw three touchdown passes and his Carolina Panthers pummelled the Atlanta Falcons 38-0 on Sunday to earn an NFL playoff first-round bye.

Quarterback Cam Newton threw five touchdown passes to lead the Carolina Panthers to a 10th straight NFL victory on Sunday, a 44-16 pounding of the Washington Redskins.

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.

Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin has been sacked in the aftermath of their Wembley loss to AFC East rivals the New York Jets on Sunday afternoon.

If ever a game illustrated what winning takes to Dublin captain Lyndsey Davey, it was last year’s gut-wrenching All-Ireland final defeat to Cork, when maybe some of the Dublin players allowed their eyes drift towards the prize. Now fighting fires off the field, Davey won’t be fazed when Cork turn up the heat tomorrow...

US: A New York City millionaire has bequeathed a $100,000 (€89,700) trust fund to care for her 32 pet cockatiels.

American Football: There were more questions than there were answers after one of the most enthralling Super Bowls of the modern era delivered a fourth title in just over a decade to Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots on Sunday night.

A word to the wise: The final say on sport in 2014

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.

What if there was no right answer and all you had to work with were the least imperfect options, followed by a couple of wrong answers?

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.

Andrew Luck enjoyed a landmark day as the Indianapolis Colts beat the Washington Redskins 49-27 on Sunday.

A young player from New Orleans, Odell Beckham Jr, stole the show on Sunday night with a three-fingered catch that will intrigue for years to come

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.

Katy Perry has been confirmed to be performing at the Super Bowl.

The Seattle Seahawks’ mascot caused consternation yesterday when she decided to go soaring over the crowds during their match.

The National Football League is "exactly on track" with its plans to field a team in London and could have a franchise there by 2022, the league’s international chief said yesterday.