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    The Lion in Twilight: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Perception and Reality

    By this stage, Zlatan Ibrahimovic presumably has the image stored somewhere on his phone. You will have seen it, almost certainly: the one with Ibrahimovic, in profile, dressed in an angel’s robes and arm wrestling — a look of beatific concentration on his face — with a sinew-straining devil. He used it first, if memory […] More

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    N.F.L. Playoff Predictions: Our Picks for the Divisional Round

    After an N.F.L. wild-card round in which both No. 6 seeds advanced and three teams won on the road, the bar is set awfully high for this weekend’s action. Enter Baltimore, San Francisco, Kansas City and Green Bay, which just spent a bye week resting and plotting a course to the conference championship games. Here […] More

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    Pete Carroll Wants to Change Your Life

    Pete Carroll has heard the haters telling him what he can do with all his New Age banter, all that talk about self-discovery and the Seattle Seahawks’ culture of love. He knows there’s a coach on the other side of the country with six Super Bowl rings — the guy who replaced him in New […] More

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    The Titans Slew a Giant. Can They Take Down Another?

    The Tennessee Titans were running the ball toward the sideline — again — which left New England’s defense flowing quickly to its left. It looked like a panel cribbed from a Stan Lee comic: the Titans running back beating all 11 Patriots to the edge, pushing forward with a full head of steam. With his […] More

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    Bloomberg and Trump Buy Super Bowl Ads at $10 Million Each

    Michael R. Bloomberg’s presidential campaign has secured a 60-second advertising spot to air nationally during next month’s Super Bowl telecast, an ad buy that will most likely cost at least $10 million. Hours after The New York Times reported Mr. Bloomberg’s plans, President Trump’s re-election campaign said that it, too, had reserved 60 seconds’ worth […] More

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    Giants Agree to Hire Joe Judge as Head Coach

    The Giants, who joined the N.F.L. in 1925, have become known for a staid, prudent management style. True to form, on Tuesday morning, the team was expected to do something predictable: Hire Matt Rhule, the former Giants assistant coach who has become a rising star after rebuilding downtrodden college football programs at Temple and Baylor. […] More

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    Tom Brady and the Patriots Have to Part Ways Someday. Is It Too Soon?

    After Mo Lewis of the Jets delivered a crushing hit on Drew Bledsoe of the Patriots on Sept. 23, 2001, New England turned to a sixth-round draft pick named Tom Brady to take over as quarterback. Little has been uncertain for the Patriots since that day. Year after year, Brady played quarterback nearly every game, […] More

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    Dallas Cowboys, After a Long Divorce, Commit to Mike McCarthy as Coach

    The longtime Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy will return to football as the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, according to multiple news media accounts. McCarthy, 56, coached the Packers for almost 13 seasons, catching the end of the Brett Favre era and ushering in Aaron Rodgers as the franchise quarterback. His teams made nine […] More