New England (1-2) at San Francisco (1-2)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m. EDT, FOX
BetMGM NFL odds: 49ers by 10.
Against the spread: 49ers 1-2; Patriots 1-1-1.
Series record: 49ers lead 9-5.
Last meeting: 49ers beat Patriots 33-6 in Foxborough, Mass., on Oct. 25, 2020.
Last week: Patriots lost to New York Jets 24-3; 49ers lost 27-24 to the Los Angeles Rams.
Patriots offense: overall (32), rush (8), pass (30), scoring (31).
Patriots defense: overall (19), rush (5), pass (27), scoring (10).
49ers offense: overall (3), rush (10), pass (2), scoring (9).
49ers defense: overall (16), rush (9), pass (20), scoring (21).
Turnover differential: Patriots plus-1; 49ers plus-1.
RB Rhamondre Stevenson was held to 23 yards rushing after having 201 yards rushing the first two weeks. Stevenson's 15 forced missed tackles are the third most in the league, according to Pro Football Focus.
WR Jauan Jennings made the most of his increased opportunity last week with Deebo Samuel hurt by catching 11 passes for 175 yards and three TDs, joining Hall of Famer Jerry Rice as the only Niners players to reach those marks in a game. QB Brock Purdy has a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when targeting Jennings this season.
Patriots DE Keion White vs. 49ers RT Colton McKivitz. White has been one of the most productive edge rushers early this season. He has four sacks and 12 pressures playing both sides of the line early this season. He might line up more this week on New England's left side to avoid All-Pro Trent Williams and take advantage of McKivitz, whose 13 pressures allowed are tied for the most of any tackle this season, according to PFF.
LG Sidy Sow returned to practice for New England after missing the first three games. ... T Vederian Lowe has not played since leaving the Week 2 loss to Seattle in the second half with a knee injury, also returned to practice but coach Jerod Mayo was noncommittal on how much he would be able to do. ... Niners TE George Kittle is expected to return after missing last week's game with a hamstring injury. ... San Francisco lost DT Javon Hargrave to a season-ending triceps injury last week.
The Patriots have won the past two road games in the series, beating the 49ers at Levi's Stadium in 2016 and at Candlestick Park in 2008. ... San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan won his only meeting against New England since taking over in 2017, winning 33-6 on the road in 2020.
The Patriots haven’t thrown an interception in three games yet this season. The NFL record for most consecutive games starting a season without an interception is nine by the 1960 Cleveland Browns. … White’s seven quarterback hits are tied for third in the NFL. … Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson has fumbled in each of the first three games (two of them were recovered by New England). … LS Joe Cardona has had at least one special teams tackle in each of the first three games for New England. His career high for a season is four, in 2017. The NFL record for special teams tackles is 12 by Zak DeOssie of the New York Giants in 2008. … San Francisco has lost back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game skid last October. ... The Niners have made the playoffs just three times in 30 seasons when starting 1-2 or worse and never after a 1-3 start. ... San Francisco ranks last in the NFL with an average of 3.14 yards after catch per reception. The Niners ranked No. 1 every season from 2018-23, averaging 6.57 yards after catch per reception over that span. ... The 49ers are allowing 6.11 yards per play, the fourth-worst mark in franchise history through three games and third worst in the NFL this season. ... Purdy had his 16th game with a passer rating of at least 100 in his first 24 regular-season starts. Patrick Mahomes' 18 games with a rating of at least 100 are the most ever for a player in his first 25 starts. ... RB Jordan Mason's 324 yards rushing are the third most for a 49ers player through three games in franchise history. ... San Francisco LB Fred Warner had his 49th pass defensed last week for the most among linebackers since he entered the league in 2018 and four shy of Patrick Willis' franchise record for linebackers.
San Francisco WR Brandon Aiyuk has had a slow start after not practicing during training camp because of a contract dispute. He has 11 catches for 119 yards and has been held to fewer than 50 yards in three straight games for the first time since 2021. It might be best to wait for Aiyuk to shake off that rust before relying on him.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, left, is brought down by New England Patriots defensive end Keion White, right, in the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings, right, scores a touchdown past Los Angeles Rams safety Kamren Kinchens (26) and cornerback Cobie Durant (14) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson (38) carries the ball against the New York Jets during the first quarter of an NFL football game, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans voted to dismiss a war powers resolution Wednesday that would have limited President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela after two GOP senators reversed course on supporting the legislation.
Trump put intense pressure on five Republican senators who joined with Democrats to advance the resolution last week and ultimately prevailed in heading off passage of the legislation. Two of the Republicans — Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana — flipped under the pressure.
Vice President JD Vance had to break the 50-50 deadlock in the Senate on a Republican motion to dismiss the bill.
The outcome of the high-profile vote demonstrated how Trump still has command over much of the Republican conference, yet the razor-thin vote tally also showed the growing concern on Capitol Hill over the president’s aggressive foreign policy ambitions.
Democrats forced the debate after U.S. troops captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid earlier this month
“Here we have one of the most successful attacks ever and they find a way to be against it. It’s pretty amazing. And it’s a shame,” Trump said at a speech in Michigan Tuesday. He also hurled insults at several of the Republicans who advanced the legislation, calling Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky a “stone cold loser” and Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine “disasters.” Those three Republicans stuck to their support for the legislation.
Trump’s latest comments followed earlier phone calls with the senators, which they described as terse. The president’s fury underscored how the war powers vote had taken on new political significance as Trump also threatens military action to accomplish his goal of possessing Greenland.
The legislation, even if it had cleared the Senate, had virtually no chance of becoming law because it would eventually need to be signed by Trump himself. But it represented both a test of GOP loyalty to the president and a marker for how much leeway the Republican-controlled Senate is willing to give Trump to use the military abroad. Republican angst over his recent foreign policy moves — especially threats of using military force to seize Greenland from a NATO ally — is still running high in Congress.
Hawley, who helped advance the war powers resolution last week, said Trump’s message during a phone call was that the legislation “really ties my hands.” The senator said he had a follow-up phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio Monday and was told “point blank, we’re not going to do ground troops.”
The senator added that he also received assurances that the Trump administration will follow constitutional requirements if it becomes necessary to deploy troops again to the South American country.
“We’re getting along very well with Venezuela,” Trump told reporters at a ceremony for the signing of an unrelated bill Wednesday.
As senators went to the floor for the vote Wednesday evening, Young also told reporters he was no longer in support. He said that he had extensive conversations with Rubio and received assurances that the secretary of state will appear at a public hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Young also shared a letter from Rubio that stated the president will “seek congressional authorization in advance (circumstances permitting)” if he engaged in “major military operations” in Venezuela.
The senators also said his efforts were also instrumental in pushing the administration to release Wednesday a 22-page Justice Department memo laying out the legal justification for the snatch-and-grab operation against Maduro.
That memo, which was heavily redacted, indicates that the administration, for now, has no plans to ramp up military operations in Venezuela.
“We were assured that there is no contingency plan to engage in any substantial and sustained operation that would amount to a constitutional war,” according to the memo signed by Assistant Attorney General Elliot Gaiser.
Trump has used a series of legal arguments for his campaign against Maduro.
As he built up a naval force in the Caribbean and destroyed vessels that were allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, the Trump administration tapped wartime powers under the global war on terror by designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
The administration has claimed the capture of Maduro himself was actually a law enforcement operation, essentially to extradite the Venezuelan president to stand trial for charges in the U.S. that were filed in 2020.
Paul criticized the administration for first describing its military build-up in Caribbean as a counternarcotics operation but now floating Venezuela’s vast oil reserves as a reason for maintaining pressure.
"The bait and switch has already happened,” he said.
Lawmakers, including a significant number of Republicans, have been alarmed by Trump’s recent foreign policy talk. In recent weeks, he has pledged that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela for years to come, threatened military action to take possession of Greenland and told Iranians protesting their government that “ help is on its way.”
Senior Republicans have tried to massage the relationship between Trump and Denmark, a NATO ally that holds Greenland as a semi-autonomous territory. But Danish officials emerged from a meeting with Vance and Rubio Wednesday saying a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains.
"What happened tonight is a roadmap to another endless war," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said at a news conference following the vote.
More than half of U.S. adults believe President Donald Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
House Democrats have also filed a similar war powers resolution and can force a vote on it as soon as next week.
Last week's procedural vote on the war powers resolution was supposed to set up hours of debate and a vote on final passage. But Republican leaders began searching for a way to defuse the conflict between their members and Trump as well as move on quickly to other business.
Once Hawley and Young changed their support for the bill, Republicans were able to successfully challenge whether it was appropriate when the Trump administration has said U.S. troops are not currently deployed in Venezuela.
“We’re not currently conducting military operations there,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune in a floor speech. “But Democrats are taking up this bill because their anti-Trump hysteria knows no bounds.”
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who has brought a series of war powers resolutions this year, accused Republicans of burying a debate about the merits of an ongoing campaign of attacks and threats against Venezuela.
"If this cause and if this legal basis were so righteous, the administration and its supporters would not be afraid to have this debate before the public and the United States Senate," he said in a floor speech.
Associated Press writers Josh Goodman, Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., talks with reporters outside the Senate chamber during a vote at the Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks with reporters at the Senate Subway on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
