Dein erstes Forum » starters.Football can be cruel some

DETROIT -- The Detroit Lions have done a very good job at protecting the football and staging late-game rallies. The Jacksonville Jaguars have been woeful in both of those categories.Thats why the Lions are tied for first place in the NFC North and the Jaguars are wallowing at the bottom of the AFC South.Detroit (5-4) will try to maintain at least a share of its division lead when it hosts Jacksonville (2-7) on Sunday at Ford Field.Quarterback Matthew Stafford has engineered fourth-quarter comebacks in all of the Lions wins. They stunned Minnesota 22-16 in overtime in their last game on Nov. 6 after the Vikings grabbed the lead with 23 seconds remaining. A long pass play set up a tying 58-yard field goal by Matt Prater, and Staffords 28-yard scoring pass to Golden Tate on the first possession of overtime finished off the latest comeback.Detroit tied for the division lead without breaking a sweat last weekend, as Minnesota lost to Washington. But the Lions have not won a division title since 2013, and Stafford is quick to temper rising expectations.You start to see some of the separation in November and December with these teams, he said. If you look at the big picture, it can be overwhelming. You just have to go week to week. Thats what I would tell our young guys -- dont look ahead.Another message hell like to convey: dont lose your grip on the ball. The Lions have committed just six turnovers and Stafford has a solid 18-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio while completing 67.3 percent of his throws.Im just trying to make the best decisions I possibly can, he said. Im not going to be perfect with it. I wish I had thrown that ball away a little better two weeks ago (on an interception at Minnesota).Theres still things I have to clean up but our guys have done a really nice job of fighting for the ball if its contested and a really nice job of running with the proper leverage and holding onto the ball securely. All that kind of stuff is key.It has been even more essential since Detroits defense has only generated seven takeaways. The Lions finished 26th in turnover margin last season.Thats obviously always something you stress, Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said. Sometimes there are tipped balls and things of that nature, but I still think you can keep it to a minimum. I think our guys are doing a good job of taking care of the ball right now, but thats a week-to-week thing, a week-to-week battle.The Jaguars have consistently lost that battle, ranking at the bottom of the league with a minus-14 turnover margin. Quarterback Blake Bortles has been picked off 11 times and theyve also lost eight fumbles.Jacksonville carries a four-game losing streak to Detroit. The Jaguars have come close the past two weeks, falling to Kansas City 19-14 and Houston 24-21.It all boils down to turnovers, Bortles said. Thats what weve talked about. These past two weeks, weve gotten better in the areas we wanted to, and its all come down to the turnovers and winning the turnover battle. Thats kind of where our focus is now.Theres a lot of good things weve done the past two weeks that have been overshadowed by not winning the game. Ultimately, we all know thats our goal and weve got to cut down on the turnovers.Embattled head coach Gus Bradley is trying to keep his team from dwelling on how its season has fallen apart.You try not to look back too much, he said. That can be dangerous and a waste of time. You need every minute of every day to prepare for the next opponent.The matchup Sunday will likely be decided through the air. Neither team has a running back that has rushed for 300 yards this season.Bortles has shouldered much of the blame for Jacksonvilles failures, but Caldwell is well aware that the third-year quarterback has thrown 51 touchdown passes in the past two seasons.Hes a fine young quarterback, Caldwell said. I think our expectations sometimes are a little bit out of whack. Swell Water Bottle Cheap . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Swell Water Bottle Wholesale . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. http://www.swellwaterbottlesale.com/ . -- Anaheim Ducks defenceman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. Swell Water Bottle Wood Collection . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. sWell Marble Water Bottle . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct. Western Sydney striker Kerem Bulut was removed from Saturdays A-League squad because hes one of a few players who need to deliver more during training, says coach Tony Popovic.Bulut and Uruguayan midfielder Bruno Pinatares were erased from the matchday line-up just hours before kick-off against Central Coast at Spotless Stadium.Despite suffering from no known fitness issues the 24-year-old, who started the Wanderers first three games, watched the 1-1 draw dressed in a suit from the Spotless Stadium stands.Popovic said the call was a footballing decision just as it was to take out Bruno and, earlier, Shannon Cole.We feel we want more in training, Popovic said.Theyre in the same bracket, whether its Kerem, Shannon, Bruno, other players who didnt make the squad, theres an expectation that we have.Theyre training every day and we want to see more from certain players.Kerem is just in that group.Popovic staunchly denied the surprising omission had anything to do with attitude.I dont think we should say attitude because we dont say attitude about Bruno or Shannon but immediately we say attitude about Kerem Bulut, he said.I dont know why its different.Super-sub Brendon Santalab vindicated Popovics decision to give him a start in place of Bulut, scoring the Wandererrs quickest A-League goal with 82 seconds gone.dddddddddddd.But a commanding start fell away for the home side, undone by frustratingly wasteful finishing and Robbie Cornthwaites costly defensive error that gifted the Mariners a second-half equaliser.It was the clubs second successive failure to convert a lead into victory and leaves last seasons grand finalists in fifth with five points from their first four games before travelling to Perth next weekend.Yet Popovic was encouraged results would come for his notoriously slow starters.Football can be cruel sometimes - you can play well and not get the result you want.We havent got the number of points we want but weve gone three games now without a defeat.The players will keep believing and it will turn ... and we will put someone away soon if we keep playing that way.Popovic also took a positive from the excellent starting debut of marquee playmaker Nicolas Martinez, who was hardworking and a picture of creativity during his hour-long appearance.He was tired in the second half but you expect that, Popovic said.But hell just get better and better ... its just the beginning for him. 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