Everything the Denver Broncos have worked for is now in front of them. They have conquered the regular season and have the best possible position heading into the NFL postseason.
West
Newsom's homelessness council blames local governments for failing to track billions spent on crisis
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s hub for tackling the homelessness crisis shifted the blame to local municipalities after a state audit report found the council failed to track how billions of dollars have been spent trying to tackle the crisis in the last five years.
A senior spokesperson for the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (CICH), which coordinates homeless programs across the state, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday the audit’s findings “highlight the significant progress made in recent years to address homelessness at the state level, including the completion of a statewide assessment of homelessness programs.”
The spokesperson added local governments “are primarily responsible for implementing these programs and collecting data on outcomes that the state can use to evaluate program effectiveness.”
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Homeless encampments line the streets in Oakland, California, on March 15. (DWS for Fox News Digital)
“The Council continues to improve its ability to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent judiciously and effectively, including by providing technical support to local jurisdictions to help align data standards and reporting,” the spokesperson said.
But the state auditor found that nine state agencies have collectively spent $24 billion in state funding over the past five years administering at least 30 programs dedicated to tackling the homelessness crisis, and said Newsom’s homeless council “is responsible for coordinating, developing, and evaluating the efforts of these nine agencies.”
The state’s independent audit, released Tuesday, noted CICH is required by law to report its finances related to all state‑funded homelessness programs, but stopped doing so in 2021.
Over the past five years, the CICH didn’t consistently track whether the money actually improved the situation, the audit concluded. It also failed to collect and evaluate outcome data for these programs due to the lack of a consistent method.
In a letter to the governor, the state auditor wrote that “the state must do more to assess the cost-effectiveness of its homelessness programs.”
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Oakland, California, remains plagued by homelessness as nearby businesses close their doors due to safety concerns. (DWS for Fox News Digital)
Despite billions spent on homelessness and housing programs during the 2018-2023 fiscal years, the problem didn’t improve in many cities, according to the state auditor’s report. Since 2013, homelessness has jumped more than 53%. In 2023, the state estimated about 180,000 people in the state are homeless, which is more than anywhere else in the U.S.
“Further, it has not aligned its action plan for addressing homelessness with its statutory goals, nor has it ensured that it collects accurate, complete, and comparable financial and outcome information from homelessness programs,” according to the state audit.
ATTACKS AGAINST CHURCHES DOUBLED IN 2023, REPORT WARNS: ‘GROWING DISDAIN FOR CHRISTIANITY’
Homelessness in California under Gov. Gavin Newsom has increased from 151,000 in 2019 to 181,000 in 2024. (Fox)
Some data regarding the number of program participants and bed inventory in the state system might not be accurate or reliable, the audit found.
The CICH was created in 2017 to help track the state’s homelessness data, but it has produced only one report on homeless spending since its inception.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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San Francisco, CA
Here’s what Kittle’s possible yearlong recovery from torn Achilles could look like: UCSF doctor
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The San Francisco 49ers are advancing to the NFC divisional, but without tight end George Kittle who suffered a torn Achilles during Sunday’s game against the Eagles.
The injury ended Kittle’s season. The recovery will be painful and extensive, something that, according to medical experts, could take anywhere between nine to 12 months before Kittle gets back on the field.
On the field, fans knew something was wrong, and medical experts watched and feared it was his Achilles.
“When you see that they slow-mo on his leg and you see his calf muscle go up and he grabs his leg and see him hit the ground – a lot of the time players know what that is,” said Dr. Nirav Pandya, UCSF Orthopedic surgeon.
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Dr. Pandya specializes in sports medicine. He broke down what Kittle’s medical team is gearing him up for.
“It’s a very painful surgery early on – you are basically going on your ankle, you are sewing these tendons together, immobilizing them, and then you are working through this period of getting that mobility back,” said Dr. Pandya.
According to Nature Review’s research, 30% of sports injuries are Achilles tendon injuries. Dr. Pandya said recovery could be impacted by techniques.
“There are some newer techniques that players like Aaron Rogers who got back in six months, and what is happening in these surgeries is that you are using stronger devices, you are allowing rehab a lot earlier. So, a lot of it will be based on what the surgeon does that he goes, and sees and sometimes you can push that timeline a little bit earlier but for players like him who plays tight end, and sometimes wide receiver, it may take longer because he is stressing that repair a lot more than let’s say a quarterback,” said Dr. Pandya.
Immediately after surgery, Dr. Pandya said patients like Kittle will be placed into physical therapy.
“They will be doing a lot of manual work early on to facilitate the recovering of the tissues and then loading him in the gym,” said Julian Cisneros, physical therapist and owner of Peak Physio.
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Cisneros treats these types of injuries and said it will be almost a year of PT and will happen in phases, with the first one being light resistance.
“It would be light resistance, just trying to go through a full range of motion nice and controlled, slow and steady, making sure his Achilles tolerate that,” said Cisneros.
“Standing under his own body weight on a flat-level surface and raising up those heels nice and high. This would be more load, and once he completes that, we would start elevating him so he can really lengthen that Achilles again and we will give him weights to hold,” said Cisneros. “And then we can start incorporating more plyometric movements with balancing here, and then we will get him on the track or on the field and going through sprints, jumping progressions.”
One of the last phases is to “start incorporating more plyometric movements with balancing,” said Cisneros.
Dr. Pandya is projecting Kittle could be back during the early part of next season, anywhere between September and October.
The good news is that Dr. Pandya says it is very unlikely after full recovery Kittle will re-injure his Achilles.
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Denver, CO
3 No Bull Offensive Keys
Now that we’ve got some separation from the regular season and a week without Broncos football being played, I’m ruminating on what the Broncos are going to do on the field in the playoffs.
One of the big things I love about cheering for this team today is just how dynamic and cunning the coaching staff is on both sides of the ball. Sean Payton is the real deal, both as a head coach first and foremost and as an offensive coordinator. He’s constantly shifting the team’s game plan to match opponents, keep them off balance, and take advantage of weaknesses that show up on film.
As a guy who loves to play armchair coach during the season a bit, I’m going to share some ideas I have that seem like somewhat obvious tweaks to this offense we are likely to see in the postseason.
Go with the hot hand at running back
One issue I see on offense is the disparity at times in who is getting carries at running back when you look at the production on the field. Most of the last few games have seen Jaleel McLaughlin produce more consistently than RJ Harvey in raw run play production. I think one obvious thing we may see Sean Payton do is to let McLaughlin have more carries if he stays hot.
That’s not to say that I’m down on Harvey. I just think when a guy is producing, you should adjust to give that guy more carries at the running back position. RJ Harvey is a talented back who produces both on the ground and through the air (especially in the red zone).
The only aside I can see about this idea is that it is possible that McLaughlin and Harvey aren’t interchangeable from a play-call perspective. It is possible
Punish man / off coverage looks with quarterback scrambles

Bo Nix is a scrambling weapon with the ball. In the playoffs, if the defense wants to sink coverage or play man Nix will need to be quicker to take the ground yards. For much of the regular season, we’ve seen Nix stay very disciplined with wanting to throw the ball down the field on scrambles. There’s a fine line to walk with this, as sometimes you need to just punish defenses for ignoring your athletic capability.
Nix ran 83 times in 2025 and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. He easily could have had 100 carries with a more aggressive approach. Keeping Nix healthy means it is a much better idea for him not to take the risk in the regular season. He’s pretty good at taking angles out of bounds or sliding and knowing when to do that to avoid big hits, though.
The Broncos’ offense doesn’t really scare anyone, but adding this wrinkle in the postseason should help open things up quite a bit.
Get Mims and Franklin some deep shots

Easily the most frustrating thing about the Broncos’ offense this season has been their inability to connect on their deep shots. Nix hasn’t dialed in his accuracy deep down the field yet, which is a shame. The Broncos end up in a lot of man coverage situations and rarely are able to capitalize.
In the postseason, it is time to change that. We have both Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin, who are superb deep pass targets with killer speed. If the Broncos can get their run game production geared up, they absolutely will have opportunities to hit these deep plays.
Bonus No Bull thoughts on Sean Payton

Don’t get lulled to sleep by the last few games of the season. Everyone who knows football sees the same thing I have in my game reviews: Payton kept things vanilla on purpose.
It is a hard thing to watch a team go run, run, pass ad nauseum (am I right, Broncos fans who “enjoyed” the Dan Reeves era with John Elway?). That was strategic, not senile.
Sean Payton is one of the brightest offensive minds in the game (with all due respect to Kyle Shanahan, Andy Reid, and Sean McVay). He knows exactly where this team is at and what is at stake in the postseason. The Bills are going to have to go back to some old tape to try to sort out what our offense is about.
No matter what they prepare for, I expect a good dose of plays that they won’t know are coming. The world at large may think that the Bills are Goliath. That’s just fine. Payton knows exactly how dangerous a team can be when everyone thinks your team is a bunch of young Davids.
Seattle, WA
How to watch Seattle Seahawks vs San Francisco 49ers playoff game
SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks are hosting the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday in a prime time rivalry game in the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs.
This will be the Seahawks’ second consecutive game against the 49ers, having beaten them in Week 18 to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC, earning a first-round bye. They now meet again, this time with the winner advancing to the NFC Championship.
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) is congratulated by head coach Mike Macdonald during the first half of an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn
Keep reading for details on the Seahawks vs 49ers playoff game, and how to watch it live.
When is the Seahawks vs 49ers playoff game?
The Seahawks and 49ers will face off in the NFC Divisional Round at 5 p.m. PT on Saturday, Jan. 17.
Where is the Seahawks vs 49ers playoff game?
The Seahawks have homefield advantage after securing the #1 seed in the NFC, with the 49ers traveling to Lumen Field in Seattle.
What TV channel is the Seahawks vs 49ers playoff game on?
The Seahawks vs 49ers playoff game will air on FOX 13 in the Seattle area. You can watch Gameday on FOX 13 for pregame coverage and postgame analysis.
The game is also available to watch with a subscription to FOX One or NFL+.
What radio station is the Seahawks game on?
To listen to the game, fans can tune into Seattle Sports 710 AM, KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM, the Seahawks mobile app, SiriusXM 226, 225 or 88, and on the SiriusXM app.
Steve Raible and Dave Wyman will call the action with Jen Mueller as the sideline reporter.
More on the Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC after beating the 49ers in Week 18, winning 13-3 in a hard-fought defensive battle.
The teams now meet each other in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs, after San Francisco took down the defending Super Bowl champions in the Wild Card Round, the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Seahawks and 49ers also met at the beginning of the season, where the Niners came out on top 17-13. The Hawks are currently on a seven-game winning streak, but got a bye week as the No. 1 seed.
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