In San Diego, Kevin Acee noted there was an announced crowd of 25,430 for Raiders-Chargers at StubHub Center on Sunday, as L.A.'s "newest NFL team beat the NFL team the greatest number of Angelenos really wanted." There were "more empty seats than perhaps at any" of the Chargers’ eight home games this season (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/1). In L.A., Bill Plaschke noted a "roaring StubHub Center" was "painted in shades of passionate silver and rowdy black." Two seasons and two franchises into the NFL’s return to L.A. the city "still belongs to the team that didn’t come back" (L.A. TIMES, 1/1). Also in L.A., Dylan Hernandez wrote the Chargers have a "solid football team and a magnificent home venue ... but remain strangers in their adopted city." The Chargers are "respectable, but anonymous," and in L.A., that is "arguably worse" (L.A. TIMES, 1/1).
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross said he was "terribly disappointed" in the team's 6-10 record this year. Referencing QB Ryan Tannehill's season-ending injury in training camp, Ross said, "The season didn’t start out right with injuries, and you can’t replace [a] good quarterback." He said there "will be adjustments" heading into '18. Ross: "You put as much as I put into a team and you try to do all the right things to win, how can you not be disappointed?” Ross said he has "a lot of confidence" in coach Adam Gase and the way Gase, GM Chris Grier and Exec VP/Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum can "work together" (PALM BEACH POST, 1/1). In Miami, Armando Salguero wrote, "This disappointing, long, unsatisfying and unacceptable season was bad for months, but the past two weeks made things embarrassing" (MIAMI HERALD, 1/1).
THAT'S JUST PLAIN COLD: In Boston, Dugan Arnett noted Jets-Patriots on Sunday at Gillette Stadium was the "third-coldest Patriots game" since '93. It was 13 degrees with winds "around 15 miles an hour" and a wind-chill of -2. The Patriots distributed 65,000 "hand-warmers to fans as they entered Gillette Stadium." Attendance was "listed at 65,878, though the stands began to empty out after halftime" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/1).
