Stay up-to-date on everything NFL with these great apps for Android.
The NFL season is well underway, and the action is heating up. There are a ton of ways to follow the action on your phone or tablet, and we've rounded up some of the best Android apps for making sure you don't miss a thing.
If you're more of a casual football fan, we've included some top-notch football games here that just about anybody can enjoy.
Alright, ready for kick-off?
Madden NFL Mobile
Fans of EA's Madden series on PlayStation or Xbox might be wary of diving into the mobile version of the celebrated NFL video game, but there's lots to love here. It uses the same card upgrading system that's become so popular in both mobile games and EA's Ultimate Team systems alike — not ideal in my mind — but it offers many ways to play and earn coins and XP. There are daily and weekly live challenges (think the mini games from Madden 2004), a single-player season mode, and time-delayed head-to-head matchups in which you and your opponent take turns on offence. If that sounds a little too casual, you're right, but it allows you to keep multiple games going at one time without dedicating a huge chunk of time to play a game to completion. And, of course, there's the constant temptation of microtransactions to upgrade your team in a hurry.
Other than those downsides, the gameplay and graphics are on point and the control scheme is pretty smart as well. Football fans would be remiss if they didn't at least give Madden Mobile a shot.
Download: Madden NFL Mobile (Free)
NFL Mobile
NFL Mobile is the official NFL app which includes news, video clips, and live streaming for NFL Network subscribers on Verizon or Bell. Set your favorite team for quick access to the latest news and analysis from the Stories and NFL Now sections. Tablet users can access NFL Network 24/7/365 and NFL RedZone if they're eligible subscribers of AT&T U-verse, Charter, Cox, DirecTV, Optimum, Verizon FiOS, DISH, and many more providers. If you're not a subscriber of any of those service providers, you can check into the NFL Now tab for breaking news and analysis.
NFL Mobile offers fast, polished football news right from the source.
Download: NFL Mobile (Free)
Football Heroes Pro 2017
Football Heroes Pro 2017 is a full-fledged arcade football game, licensed by the NFLPA. Unlike the realistic sim-style of Madden, it provides a casual football experience (think Tecmo Bowl) in your down time when you're all caught up with the real games. Players build and train their own team with their favorite real-life players and unlock new plays by opening card packs. Premium currency can be used to buy card packs, though you're also able to buy packs with coins earned from winning and by levelling up your players.
For those looking for a casual football game to kill time during commercial breaks, Football Heroes Pro 2017 has plenty to offer.
Download: Football Heros Pro 2017 (Free, with IAPs)
theScore
If you're looking to catch up on news after the game, theScore is widely regarded as the best app out there. You can follow specific teams, get home screen widgets for the latest information at a glance, and notifications when things get crazy with your favorite teams. The best part is, you can keep tabs on any other sports you might happen to be into, including college sports and all the other "football" leagues that the rest of the world follows.
If keeping up to date on football news is your top priority, get theScore.
Download: theScore (Free)
Yahoo! Fantasy Sports
Fantasy sports is a massively popular phenomenon among really hardcore sports fans, and Yahoo! has an outstanding app for managing all your fantasy teams in one spot. You can keep tabs on player news, plan your next matchup or draft, and talk smack on the message boards. Scores are updated in real-time, which is perfect if you need to make some last-minute calls. And when we say all your fantasy teams, we mean it. This is Yahoo!'s catch-all fantasy app, so if you've bought in to Yahoo!'s fantasy system and enjoy fantasy baseball, basketball, hockey when the season is right, along with daily and weekly paid fantasy games, if you're into that sort of thing.
Fantasy football fans needn't look any further than Yahoo! to get their fix.
Download: Yahoo! Fantasy Sports (Free)
Are you ready for some football?
Those are our picks, but there are plenty of ways to get in on the action. How do you keeping tabs on your teams during the season and through the playoffs? Which team are you rooting for?