The Denver Broncos believe Russell Wilson is fixable as they head into an offseason looking to pick up the pieces from a debacle of a 2022 season.

Denver fired head coach Nathaniel Hackett on Monday after under a year at the helm of a team many expected to contend this campaign.

The Broncos' 51-14 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day sealed Hackett's fate, the loss dropping Denver to 4-11 on the season.

Wilson was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks in the offseason, the Broncos parting with two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant to land his services.

But the nine-time Pro Bowler has endured the worst season of his career, completing 60.1 per cent of his passes for 3,019 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Wilson's well-thrown rate of 78.8 per cent is below the NFL average of 81.1 per cent and, heading into last weekend's games, he ranked 25th (for QBs with a minimum of 100 plays in expected passing situations) in yards over expected on downs where the defense would be anticipating a pass, according to Stats Perform data.

His level of performance after being handed a five-year, $245million extension by Denver arguably makes the Broncos job an unappealing one for potential Hackett successors, with the dead cap hits that would come with parting with Wilson meaning they are likely committed to keeping him until at least end of the 2024 season.

But general manager George Paton remains confident Wilson can be salvaged and return to the form that made him such a prized asset.

"We saw flashes of Russ this year. Russ even said he didn't play up to his standard," Paton said at a press conference. 

"He will be the first one to tell you he didn't play up to his standard, didn't play up to our standard. He needs to be better.

"I don't think we made a coaching move based on Russ. That wasn't what it's all about.

"That's not why we're getting a new coach, to turn around Russ; it's about the entire organisation. It's about the entire football team.

"It's just not one player. It's not whether Russ is fixable or not. We do believe he is. We do."

Broncos owner and CEO George Penner, who revealed the new head coach would report into him rather than Paton, echoed the general manager's apparent lack of panic surrounding Wilson.

"The decision to have Russell here was a long-term one," Penner said. "This season has not been up to his standards or expectations. We saw some glimpses of it in the last few weeks.

"He knows he can play better, we know he can play better, and we know he will do the right work in the offseason to be ready for next year.

"George and I have had a chance to get to know each other – we talk every day since we purchased the team a number of months ago – and he acknowledged right up front there were a couple of decisions that hadn't worked out as he had expected.

"But I understand his thought process. He understands the work that needs to be done in this offseason, and I'm going to rely on him heavily as we go through and make these changes."

Brooklyn Nets coach Jacque Vaughn feels his side's focus on court matters alone is key to their form, after Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving set up a ninth win in a row.

The pair posted 32 points each in a remarkable double act to ensuring a 125-117 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, which gave the Nets their longest winning streak since 2006.

It marks a sharp contrast from the early season blues the Nets suffered from, with Irving banned for a post that supported anti-semitism and prior head coach Steve Nash dismissed amid poor form.

Vaughn credits the turnaround to keeping his players tightly trained on their performances rather than matters away from the court, indicating that discipline has been the secret of the success.

"I am a simple person," he said. "[I] really try to keep things simple. We stripped our playbook down a little bit, we are simple in what we do.

"[We] have our guys play extremely free of mind. I think there's something important in that if you're going to ask your guys to play hard."

Durant concurred with his coach's assessment, noting the Nets feel like they are in a better headspace under Vaughn's command, while suggesting outside forces were played up in the media.

"To be honest, I think we've always been about ball," he added. "Everybody has a platform, so there are many voices speaking [about] what we do inside our locker room

"I think that's the noise that you hear. But from us, we've always been about the game. We struggled early on, we were always focused on playing basketball."

Arizona Cardinals star defensive end JJ Watt has announced his football career is ending.

Watt posted to Twitter on Monday that Sunday's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the first NFL game his son attended but also his final NFL home game.

"Koa's first ever NFL game," Watt wrote. "My last ever NFL home game."

Already eliminated from the playoffs, the Cardinals play their final two games on the road – at the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday and at the San Francisco 49ers in Week 18.

"My heart is filled with nothing but love and gratitude," Watt wrote. "It's been an absolute honour and a pleasure."

One of the NFL's most feared pass-rushers early in his career, the 33-year-old Watt battled through injuries in the past few seasons and revealed in October he was playing through a case of atrial fibrillation.

A first-round pick by the Houston Texans in 2011, Watt is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, a five-time first-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl selection.

The future Hall of Famer led the league in sacks in 2012 and 2015, and his 111.5 career sacks rank fourth among active players. His 9.5 sacks this season are his most since recording 16 in 2018.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has not thought about how the team will handle their quarterback situation in 2023 following rookie Brock Purdy's stunning emergence.

The Niners claimed their eighth straight win on Christmas Eve as they eased to a 37-20 victory over the Washington Commanders to improve to 11-4 on the season.

Purdy, the last pick in this year's draft, has been the starting quarterback for the last three games, having come in and replaced Jimmy Garoppolo following his injury in the first quarter of the Week 13 win over the Miami Dolphins.

Since quarterback starts were first tracked in 1950, Purdy is only the second player to begin his career 3-0 as a starter while throwing multiple touchdown passes in each game. The other is Kurt Warner, who did so in 1999 after stepping in for the injured Trent Green and went on to lead the St. Louis Rams to victory in Super Bowl XXXIV.

The 49ers and Purdy have ambitions on lifting the Lombardi Trophy at the end of this campaign, and it is that goal Shanahan is entirely focused on, not a quarterback decision that figures to be one of the dominant storylines of the offseason.

Garoppolo will become a free agent at the start of the 2023 league year in March, leaving Purdy and Trey Lance — who was the 49ers’ starter before suffering a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2 — as the two quarterbacks on the roster.

San Francisco traded three first-round picks for the right to acquire Lance with the third overall selection in 2021, but he has started only four games in two seasons and it may be difficult to demote Purdy from the starting role if he continues to thrive and the 49ers enjoy a deep playoff run.

But asked if he had thought about how he will approach the quarterback issue in the offseason, Shanahan told reporters on Monday: "No, I didn't even know what year it is after this season is over, so I'm trying to think about how to get him ready for Wednesday [practice].

"That's a great question, but honestly, I don't look ahead like that. We have a number of big games in front of us."

Purdy averaged 10.64 yards per pass attempt in throwing for 234 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against Washington despite still dealing with an oblique injury.

Assessing Purdy's display, Shanahan said: "I thought Brock played well, really well. He was smart with the ball.

"There were a couple situations that were tight, where there was an unblocked player and the play was almost there and I thought he just did a great job not doing anything stupid in some tough situations also.

"He's shown that he's willing to let a rip at all times and there were a couple times in the game that they got an unblocked guy right to him and he made a couple great decisions just to take the sack, so I was really impressed with how Brock played just talking to him here the last two days.

"He got out healthy again and I think that should continue healing up and I think he should be even a little better this week with more health."

Tom Brady will take his time when considering retirement, after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback's very brief exit prior to the 2022 season.

The 45-year-old announced his retirement from the NFL in February before a dramatic U-turn just forty days later.

With just two games remaining of the regular season – though the Buccaneers lead the NFC South and can clinch the division title with victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars – retirement questions are once again orientating around the seven-time Super Bowl champion.

Set to become a free agent at the end of this season, Brady's future remains up in the air but he has learned not to rush into a decision after this year's experience.

"Well, I think next time I decide to retire, that's it for me. So, whenever that day comes, we'll figure it out," he told the Let's Go! Podcast.

"You know, I think what I really realised last year was you gotta be really sure to do that [announce retirement].

"And for me, you know, a lot of people have kind of gone through this situation. I'm going to take my time whenever that time does come."

Should he continue, Brady could decide to remain with the Buccaneers or may choose a new team for the twilight years of his career, with an array of teams having been touted as potential destinations.

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley has hailed his side for clinching a playoff berth but made it clear it is "just the beginning" for the team.

A first playoff spot for the Chargers since 2018 was clinched with a 20-3 victory against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday, marking only the second venture into the postseason since the franchise returned to Los Angeles from San Diego.

However, Staley has his sights set on more significant goals as he looks to steer the Chargers all the way to Super Bowl glory – something that has evaded the franchise in their history, having made only one appearance in 1994 when they suffered defeat against the San Francisco 49ers.

"It's just the beginning; this is not our final goal," he told reporters.

"I'm really proud of how this season has gone for our football team and what we've been able to demonstrate to make it into the postseason. That's what I'm most proud of, not that we did it but how we made it, what it took for us to get in, but this is just the beginning for us.

"The reason why we're here is because of the men on our football team. We've got the make-up to withstand the type of season that we've had. We wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the toughness of our football team.

"For far too long, people have talked about the talent and organisation but that's ultimately not what gets you where you want to go. You have to prove your toughness, and that's what we've proven so far this year.

"Our season is not over. We have two more games against really good teams and we need to play our best football so we not only get into the playoffs but so that we can make a run to a Super Bowl championship, which is what we want."

The Chargers' playoff berth is the first of Justin Herbert's career and, while he was proud of the achievement, he backed the defense for their performance and believes there is more to come from his side of the team.

"We've dealt with our fair share of adversity. The story of the day was the defense, stepping up and getting those stops in. There's plenty of room for improvement with our offense but it's a good sign of things to come," he said after the game.

"Some games that didn't go our way last year, but we were able to learn from that and fix it. I think the guys in the locker room deserve that. They've worked so hard and earned it. I think the Chargers operation have done a great job in the past few years."

Dwayne Casey felt his Detroit Pistons side "threw in the towel" as they squandered a 14-point deficit in the final three minutes to lose 142-131 to the Los Angeles Clippers.

The NBA-worst Pistons were on course for just a ninth win in 36 games this season until the Clippers rallied in Monday's contest at Little Caesars Arena.

Paul George scored 32 in the Clippers' overtime triumph, with Terance Mann hitting a tying jumper with five seconds left in regulation to deny the Pistons.

"We were down 15 points in the third quarter, fought our way back, got the lead and had a comfortable lead with three minutes left," Pistons coach Casey said. 

"They threw in the towel. We must learn how to win that game. I'm proud of the way we put ourselves in a position to beat one of the best teams in the West, but we didn't get it."

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue took action with his side 126-112 down by pulling his starters.

A line-up of Luke Kennard, Amir Coffey, Nicolas Batum, Moses Brown and Mann finished the fourth quarter with a 16-2 run in an unlikely turnaround.

"You have to give those guys credit for staying ready," Lue said. "They came out and played with some urgency. 

"Amir and Moses hadn't played in the game, so for them to come in and produce like the way they did was huge."

The Clippers had lost their previous 417 games in which they had trailed by 14 points or more with three minutes remaining prior to Monday's comeback against the Pistons.

Isaiah Stewart, who scored 21 points, says the blame is on the Pistons' players rather than the coaching staff.

"They took their starters out, and we thought the game was over," he said. "We had the lead and we didn't finish the game. That's completely on us, not the coaches."

The Clippers (20-15) are fourth in the Western Conference, while the Pistons (8-28) are bottom of the East.

The Brooklyn Nets now own the NBA's longest active winning streak after extending it to nine games with Monday's 125-117 road victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Making it even more impressive is the fact that the Cavaliers came into the contest with the third-best home record in the league at 16-3, but had no answer for the Nets' offensive firepower early.

Brooklyn built a 65-49 lead at half-time, and despite a big performance from Cavs point guard Darius Garland down the stretch, the Nets were never truly threatened.

Kevin Durant (10-of-18 shooting) and Kyrie Irving (11-of-19) had 32 points and five assists each for the Nets, while Ben Simmons finished with nine rebounds, eight assists, three steals and one block to go with his four points.

T.J. Warren continues to shine off the bench since returning from a long-term injury, contributing 23 points (nine-of-14), eight rebounds and two steals.

Garland was clearly the Cavaliers' best, scoring 46 points (14-of-20) with eight assists, while it was the first time this season Donovan Mitchell has had consecutive games of 15 points or fewer.

The win improves the Nets' record to 22-12 after beginning the campaign 1-5, leapfrogging the Cavaliers (22-13) into the Eastern Conference's third seed.  

Clippers complete miraculous comeback

The Los Angeles Clippers came from 14 points down with under three minutes remaining to defeat the Detroit Pistons 141-132 in overtime.

Detroit led 126-112 with 2:52 on the clock before the Clippers launched a 16-2 run from that point to force the game to overtime, and their momentum carried into the extra session, winning it 14-3.

With Kawhi Leonard sitting out the first leg a back-to-back, Paul George was the unquestioned leader, and he delivered with team-highs in points (32), assists (11) and steals (three).

The Clippers have now won six of their past eight to improve their record to 20-15.

Heat spread it around against the Timberwolves

The Miami Heat beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-110 despite not having a single player cross the 20-point barrier.

Eight of the Heat's nine players scored between seven and 19 points in the absence of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, led by Max Strus' 19 on seven-of-12 shooting.

Tyler Herro was effective as a playmaker with eight assists, but struggled with his shooting, missing all eight of his three-pointers. 

Kyle Lowry picked up the slack as the Heat's best player, finishing with 18 points (eight-of-16), nine assists and no turnovers, as well as a steal on the final play to deny the Timberwolves a chance to tie the game.

The Los Angeles Chargers' defense dominated Indianapolis Colts quarterback Nick Foles in his first start of the season to collect a 20-3 victory and book the first playoff berth of the Justin Herbert era.

Herbert, the sixth overall pick from the 2020 NFL Draft, has already been anointed as part of the next great wave of quarterbacks, but is yet to taste postseason action after going 7-9 as a rookie and 9-8 last year.

With a playoff spot on the line with a win on Monday, the Chargers' defense played inspired football, sacking former Super Bowl champion Foles seven times while also intercepting three passes.

The Colts' only points came from a field goal in the second quarter, but they remained in the game at half-time as Austin Ekeler scored the Chargers' only first-half touchdown to lead 10-3.

After Cameron Dicker's second field goal made things a two-score game in the third period, Ekeler rumbled in for his second one-yard touchdown of the contest early in the fourth quarter to blow out the lead.

With his two touchdowns, Ekeler now owns the outright league-lead with 16 combined trips to the endzone – 11 rushing and five receiving. He handled 16 carries for 67 yards with his two scores, while adding four catches for 12 yards.

It was not Herbert's best game, completing 24 of his 31 passes for 235 yards and an interception, but he had a strong connection with receiver Keenan Allen, who had 11 catches for 104 yards.

Defensively, superstar pass-rusher Khalil Mack was one of six Chargers to register at least one sack, while Michael Davis, Asante Samuel Jr and Derwin James Jr collected the interceptions.

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones made it clear his intention was not to hurt anybody, but defended his low hit on Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Eli Apple that resulted in an $11,139 fine.

The play occurred as the Bengals' defense scooped up an incomplete pass and began to run it back for a touchdown, but unaware that the whistle had been blown and the play was dead, both teams acted as if the ball was live.

During the return, Jones positioned himself in Apple's path and dropped at the knees to take him out of the play, with numerous pundits and Apple himself calling it a "dirty play".

"I thought it was a dirty play," Apple said. "He's done that before – I've seen it."

When asked about it by radio station WEEI on Monday, Jones explained the situation as simply being part of the game, saying he did not know the play had been stopped.

"I went down in front of him to kind of get in the way to stop him from slowing down Tyquan [Thornton], who obviously could make the tackle there," he said. 

"So just kind of went down in front of him, trying to stop a fast guy from getting to another fast guy. It's a split-second decision and there's a lot that goes into it. 

"You're out there trying to compete, it's a physical game, so I was just trying to help the team win.

"I have all the respect for Eli and the Bengals. They played a great game. So, there's no hard feelings and definitely no intention to hurt anybody on that play.

"I get hit a lot, too. We're all out there playing hard – it's just part of the game."

The Sacramento Kings have potentially avoided a costly absence after a report on Monday that two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis will attempt to play through his thumb injury.

According the The Athletic's Shams Charania, Sabonis suffered a fractured ligament in his right thumb – his non-shooting hand – and will make himself available for Tuesday's home game against the Denver Nuggets.

Sabonis, 26, is leading the league in rebounding with a career-high 12.4 per game, while setting a new personal best with a 61.2 per cent field goal percentage, and his 6.7 assists per game also ties his career-high.

It has been an impressive first full season with the Kings after being acquired during the middle of last campaign, playing in each of Sacramento's first 31 games to propel them to a 17-14 record – placing them sixth in the Western Conference.

They are on pace to make their first playoff appearance since 2006, which is currently the league's longest postseason drought.

For years, the New England Patriots have been the model NFL franchise. They have represented consistency, discipline and, above all else, good coaching.

As they head into the final two weeks of the 2022 season, it is hard to think of three qualities that are less representative of this version of Bill Belichick's team.

The Patriots are still in the mix to reach the playoffs this season and may yet sneak is in as a Wild Card for the second successive season.

But their 2021 campaign ended with the Patriots being blown out by the Buffalo Bills, and all the signs point to this season coming to a conclusion in similar circumstances.

Indeed, any veneer of the Patriots as a postseason contender who could cause problems for the AFC's elite has been emphatically removed by a pair of dramatic finishes that both produced agonising defeats for New England.

The Patriots followed up their last-gasp defeat to the Las Vegas Raiders on Jakobi Meyers' inexplicable failed lateral with another heartbreaking finale that saw Rhamondre Stevenson fumble the ball into the arms of the Cincinnati Bengals safety Vonn Bell.

Those successive losses leave the Patriots at 7-8 and, while they are still only a game behind the 8-7 Miami Dolphins, their consecutive failures over the course of the past two weeks in situations where New England would normally thrive are significant enough to raise significant questions about the direction of a team whose success saw them established as the NFL's modern dynasty.

Most of those questions surround the offensive side of the ball. Last year, the Patriots let the draft board come to them and selected quarterback Mac Jones 15th overall, and looked to have themselves a steal as the former Alabama signal-caller impressed in helping New England to the playoffs.

But a failure to adequately replace offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has been succeeded by the bizarre combination of Joe Judge and Matt Patricia, has seen Jones fail to take the next step and the New England attack fail to deliver the explosive production needed to truly compete in a very competitive AFC.

According to Stats Perform's advanced data, Jones has actually been more accurate than his rookie season. He delivered an accurate, well-thrown ball on 80.1 per cent of his pass attempts in 2021, and that rate has increased to 82.1 per cent in 2022.

Yet Jones has thrown just nine touchdowns after tossing 22 last season, his struggles in that regard reflective of the Patriots' overall problems in punching the ball into the endzone, which they have done on only 15.4 per cent of their offensive drives, scoring six points on 26 of their 169 offensive series.

Their inability to turn possessions into touchdowns is in part a product of their lack of investment in the offensive skill positions. The Patriots rank 21st in win rate in pass coverage matchups, the starting wide receiver triumvirate of Meyers, Nelson Agholor and DeVante Parker unsurprisingly failing to consistently create the separation required for Jones to build a productive rapport with his receivers.

The Patriots' offensive issues are as much a failure of scheme as they are of personnel. Theirs is an offensive system that does not play to the strengths of Jones, who came from an offense built around the run-pass option at Alabama.

In 2022, the Patriots have used RPOs on just 1.3 per cent of their pass game snaps, below the average of 2.8. On top of that, they have eschewed the opportunity to capitalise on the influence of a run game defenses have committed at least eight men into the box to guard against 50.1 per cent of the time by leaning on the play-action pass.

The Patriots have used play-action on 9.87 per cent of pass plays, well shy of the league average of 13.3 per cent, limiting the easy buttons for Jones in an attack that is too reliant on the pure dropback game.

New England's offense has run a dropback concept 42 per cent of the time in 2022, nearly 11 percentage points above the average of 31.4 per cent, with the Patriots' primary reply to defensive aggression being a screen game that is overused and predictable. Screen passes have made up 16.3 per cent of New England's passing plays, with the league average being 9.9 per cent.

This static and ineffective offense is not only wasting the second year of Jones' development, but also an excellent season from the Patriots' defense, which ranks sixth with a Success Rate of 36.8 per cent.

The Patriots have two extremely productive pass rushers in Matthew Judon (15.5 sacks) and Josh Uche (11.5) and have pieced things together effectively in the back seven with a mix of rookies, veterans and emerging playmakers such as third-year safety Kyle Dugger, who serves as a tribute to Belichick's ability to develop talent on that side of the ball.

Belichick's defensive genius remains and it is undoubted, but in 2022 it is being cancelled out by the lack of offensive talent and a scheme that does little to elevate its young quarterback.

Jones is obviously a long way from being Tom Brady, and the talent on this Patriots roster is nowhere close to that of the New England teams he helped steer to six Super Bowl titles, yet Belichick has a quarterback and a group that can at be a threat to do damage in the postseason. Belichick excels at making teams into more than the sum of their parts, but it's hard to argue against the fact that, through negligence on the offensive side of the ball, he has missed an opportunity to do that this season.