5:35 PM ET William Ricks Fans wanting to see Tom Brady and Tampa Bay Buccaneers face Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL’s first matchup of the 2021 season will have to pay a pretty penny for tickets. According to Vivid Seats, the average cost of a ticket to the game is $582.

7:00 AM ET ESPN Stats & Information In order to identify dominant NFL seasons, the context of era is necessary. A quarterback compiling a 6,000-yard season in 2021 would break the single-season passing record, but it still might not end up the most dominant passing season of all time relative to that player’s peers. 2

7:15 AM ET Heading into the 2021 NFL season, ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) simulated the entire 285-game slate 20,000 times to create our projections. Having a sample size that large allows us to have the most accurate projections possible, which is, of course, what we want most of the time. But today, we’re only

12:04 PM ET HOUSTON — Tyrod Taylor was officially named the starting quarterback for the Houston Texans and will make his debut for the franchise on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. “Tyrod Taylor will start for us at quarterback, for sure,” coach David Culley said Monday. The announcement was not a surprise, but Culley had

10:13 AM ET Marcel Louis-JacquesESPN MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins placed offensive lineman Austin Jackson and tight end Adam Shaheen on the reserve/COVID-19 list Monday, sources told ESPN’s Field Yates, potentially leaving them short-handed as the team prepares for its Week 1 game against the New England Patriots. The Dolphins confirmed the moves Monday and

2:11 PM ET FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets wide receiver Jamison Crowder tested positive for COVID-19, a source confirmed Friday, jeopardizing his status for the season opener against the Carolina Panthers. Crowder’s vaccination status isn’t known, and that will likely help determine his availability. Players who are unvaccinated must sit a minimum of

Sep 3, 2021 PITTSBURGH — After an initial 53-man roster that was short on cornerbacks, the Steelers have fortified the position by acquiring Ahkello Witherspoon in a trade with the Seahawks for a 2023 fifth-round pick, the teams announced. Witherspoon, 26, signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Seahawks in March and was expected

6:00 AM ET FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quick-hit thoughts/notes around the New England Patriots and NFL: 1. First-year players: The Patriots haven’t played a regular-season game, but the early outlook on the team’s 2021 draft class is promising. “They’ve been up and down with draft picks over the years, and this might be the best class

Sep 3, 2021 ESPN News Services Former NFL wide receiver David Patten, who won three Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots, was killed in a motorcycle crash Thursday outside Columbia, South Carolina, according to Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford. He was 47. According to South Carolina Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Nick Pye, a

2:23 PM ET PITTSBURGH — Former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle and longtime broadcaster Tunch Ilkin died Saturday, the team confirmed. He was 63. Ilkin, who revealed that he had been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) in October 2020, was hospitalized recently with pneumonia. He announced in June that