Buffalo Bills corner back Vontae Davis retired at half-time in Sunday’s defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers before admitting: “Reality hit me hard.”

Rookie kicker Younghoe Koo missed a last-gasp field goal for the second successive game as the Los Angeles Chargers lost their home opener 19-17 to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

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.

Tom Brady earned his landmark 200th NFL win in the New England Patriots' 22-17 win over the New York Jets.

The Carolina Panthers bounced back to winning ways with a 30-20 NFL victory over the Arizona Cardinals at the Bank of America Stadium.

The Carolina Panthers’ poor start to the season continued as they crashed to a third defeat in four matches after going down 48-33 to the Atlanta Falcons.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys booked their places in the play-offs after victories on Sunday while the New England Patriots earned a first round bye for the post-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.

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

US federal agents conducted surprise inspections of National Football League team doctors and trainers on Sunday as part of an ongoing probe into painkiller drug abuse, the US media reported on Sunday.

Over the weekend, multiple hearts were broken across the NFL, as fringe players were told they wouldn’t be making their respective teams’ final 53-man squads.

The Glazer family will make around $150m (€112m) by selling part of its stake in Manchester United although the deal will leave the Americans firmly in control of the English soccer club.

Manchester United striker Robin van Persie is among those to have extended their condolences to the family of Malcolm Glazer following the American businessman’s death.

Welcome to your Thursday morning briefing. Let us ensure you’re up to speed on what’s happening and are prepared for the day ahead.

Manchester United owner Malcolm Glazer has died, his NFL franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced last night.

Manchester United owner Malcolm Glazer has died, his NFL franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have announced.

The NFL couldn’t have scripted it much better heading into the last week of the regular season.

The Green Bay Packers needed their biggest comeback in history on Sunday to somehow keep their play-off hopes alive ahead of the long-awaited return of Aaron Rodgers from injury.

In the small hours of Monday morning, just south of a bitterly cold Boston, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots finally overcame the Denver Broncos in an instant NFL classic that provided almost everything.

Monday Night Football has been a cornerstone of American television since its inception on ABC in the 1970s.

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 New England Patriots claimed their 10th consecutive NFL season-opening win when Stephen Gostkowski hit a 35-yard field goal with five seconds left to beat the Buffalo Bills 23-21.

As the kick-off was dropping into Jacoby Jones’ hands deep in his end zone, every Baltimore Ravens fan in the stadium and Dallas Cowboy on the pitch expected him to take a knee.

On Saturday I found myself having to explain to an American the fascination back home with Anton Ferdinand’s decision not to shake hands with John Terry and Ashley Cole before the QPR-Chelsea game.

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning threw a career-best 510 yards to lead the reigning Super Bowl champions to their first win of the NFL season on Sunday.

Billionaire money manager George Soros reported a nearly 2% stake in Manchester United Plc in one of the first revelations of investors in the British soccer club’s controversial initial public offering earlier this month.

Chief executive David Gill believes Manchester United will continue to grow despite a disappointing share price when the club was listed on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.

A group of Manchester United fans accused the American Glazer family of milking the English Premier League soccer team for cash after IPO terms revealed that they planned to take half of the proceeds of its flotation.

Manchester United's owners suffered a fresh wave of criticism last night after indicating only half the proceeds of their planned IPO will be used to reduce the club's massive debt.

Manchester United, the world’s best supported soccer club, has ditched its plans for an Asian stock market flotation and is preparing to list in the US, according to sources with knowledge of the deal.

Manchester United have announced that rumours circulating on the internet relating to the health of owner Malcolm Glazer are false.

Liverpool are set to hold board-level talks with Manchester United in an attempt to restore good relations and defuse growing tensions ahead of next month’s meeting at Old Trafford.

THE New England Patriots secured the number one seed in the AFC and home advantage for the NFL play-offs as they came from three touchdowns down to hammer the Buffalo Bills.

THE Green Bay Packers survived a scare from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before sealing a hard-fought 35-26 win to match their best start to an NFL season in nearly half a century.