Young quarterbacks have always had a tough time winning in Gillette Stadium during the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady era.

Kirk Cousins drove the Washington Redskins 70 yards and Rob Kelley's one-yard touchdown run with less than a minute remaining on the clock earned them a 17-14 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

If nothing else, the 146th Open Championship will go down as the major of the meaningful caddie intervention.

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.

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

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.

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.

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.

Aaron Rodgers threw for two touchdowns to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 27-17 victory in an NFL grudge match against the Seattle Seahawks.

Here was a player who arrived all guns blazing, celebrating the few touchdowns he scored or created by rubbing his fingers together to signify all the money his talents generated, says John Riordan.

The two Irishmen who claimed to have sneaked into the Super Bowl have admitted that their powers only go so far, and have paid for their flights home.

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.

Quarterback Tom Brady made Super Bowl history as the New England Patriots toppled the defending champion Seattle Seahawks in Arizona to claim their fourth title.

The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots could produce one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time tomorrow night but the real winner may be debated for decades given the "deflategate" scandal hanging over the game.

How much more hype from over here can you stand? says John Riordan.

NFL: Coach Pete Carroll said it was "belief in one another" that saw Seattle Seahawks complete a miracle comeback to reach the Super Bowl.

The Seattle Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl for the second time in two years after clinching a dramatic 28-22 win over the Green Bay Packers in overtime at CenturyLink Field.

The Green Bay Packers will face the Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC title game after a thrilling weekend in the NFL play-offs.

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 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.

Chicago Bears’ defensive end Lamarr Houston will miss the rest of the season after a freak injury while celebrating a sack.

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 most highly anticipated Super Bowl in recent memory somehow also managed to be the biggest disappointment.

Seattle Seahawks 43 Denver Broncos 8

The Seattle Seahawks produced one of the most dominant performances in Super Bowl history as Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos were neutralised in a 43-8 humbling.

New York takes all the credit, talking a big game and laying on the hottest Super Bowl bashes.

Screened in over 200 countries, Super Bowl will be lapped up by well over 100 million Americans for whom it has become as symbolic of their country as Apple Pie.

It’s rare that the two best teams in the NFL make it through to the Super Bowl.

All eyes will be on Denver tomorrow as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady face each other for the 15th time.

The Denver Broncos will be sweating this week on the fitness of quarterback Peyton Manning, who led them to their eighth win of the season on Sunday but saw his injury-prone ankle targeted in the process.

Unstoppable Peyton Manning continued his electric start to the NFL season by throwing four touchdown passes as the Denver Broncos moved to 4-0 with a 52-20 crushing of the Philadelphia Eagles.

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.

The Atlanta Falcons survived one of the most outstanding comebacks in recent NFL memory, ending the Seattle Seahawks’ incredible season with a 30-28 victory that sets up an NFC Championship showdown with the San Francisco 49ers.

With the NFL play-offs kicking off this weekend, attention will be divided between three star rookies and one retiring veteran in the most wide-open football post-season in recent years.

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.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in all my years in football.”