lluggg469

Fourth typical Thanksgiving

Lions' big victory brings holiday cheer and playoff hopes to Detroit fans

This was a picture perfect Thanksgiving Day in Detroit.

The Christmas tree was lit up in Campus Martius; and the streets were covered with a light dusting of snow for all the runners in the Turkey Trot and the folks in America's Thanksgiving Parade; and thousands of Lions fans were heading toward Ford Field.

"This one felt different," said Lions center Dominic Raiola, who has played in all of those Thanksgiving losses. "Now we get to enjoy the day. It meant so much for this organization to get this today. Not just for what we did today, but to propel us for the rest of the season."

Consider them propelled.

And yes, this did feel different.

With this win, the mood changes instantly for Lions' fans.

It's safe to get excited about this team again. It's time to start believing that this team has a chance for the playoffs, a chance to make some noise the rest of the season.

Is it a sure thing? Of course not.

But with four games left in the regular season, holding a tiebreaker over Chicago, it's safe to get excited again.

Same old start

Now, Russell Wilson Jersey here's the crazy part.

This game started off looking like it was going to be a typical Lions loss on Thanksgiving.

First typical Thanksgiving mistake: In the first quarter, the Lions marched down the field, into cheap nfl jerseys scoring territory, giving the ball to Joique Bell on the inside and throwing slants to Calvin Johnson on the outside. But Reggie Bush coughed up the ball when Clay Matthews swung his big left arm and it smacked Bush's chest, popping the ball into the air.

"I was really down on myself and really just disappointed that I fumbled the ball again," Bush said.

Second typical Thanksgiving Day mistake: Sam Martin kicked the ball out of bounds, giving the Packers great field position early in the second quarter. That led to the Packers' first score, a field goal that tied the game, 3 3.

Third typical Thanksgiving Day mistake: Early in the second quarter, Nick Perry, who grew up in Detroit, smashed Stafford a split second before he threw. Morgan Burnett scooped up the ball Wholesale NFL Jerseys here's an early Christmas present, Packers! and he rambled into the end zone, giving the Packers a 10 3 lead.

Fourth typical Thanksgiving Day mistake: Leaving the turkey in the oven too long.

OK. Wait. No. It was this: Less than 10 minutes left in the second quarter, Stafford forced a pass to Kris Durham. Unfortunately, Tramon Williams was way more open. Williams intercepted the pass, and Lions fans responded with an old fashioned Thanksgiving Day tradition: They started booing.

"We heard the boos," Raiola said. "Understandably. They didn't want to see that again."

Back on track

It felt like the Lions should have a comfortable lead, but they were losing, 10 3.

And in the old days, like last year, or the year before that, or the year before that, the Lions would have lost.

"A couple of years ago, we were easily sidetracked," Schwartz said. "I think we have grown as a team."

has been the focus of a

Menards Carey Price Canada Hockey Jersey bringing www.shopcanadahockeyonline.com/olympic+chris+pronger+canada+jersey its super Chris Pronger Canada Hockey Jersey

CHAMINADE TOURNAMENT: Tatum overcomes poor start in helping Chaminade top BaylessST. DOMINIC BOYS TOURNEY: Zumwalt West falls after big shot propels Sikeston to OT victoryCOLLINSVILLE BOYS TOURNEY: Lincoln survives Althoff's late rally to claim Collinsville tourney titleST. DOMINIC GIRLS TOURNEY: St. StatePhotos: Blues beat Chicago in shootoutA gruesome end to the UFC main eventThe top Weatherbirds of 2013Top 5 country music concerts of the yearThe folksy jingle "save big money at Menards" often heard in other parts of the Midwest will soon be making its debut in St. Louis.Home improvement retailer Menards, which has a big presence in its home state of Wisconsin and surrounding states, is set to open its first stores and supersized ones at that in the area next month.These initial two stores in St. Peters and O'Fallon, Ill. were to be the first of at least six, but Menards recently slowed its aggressive expansion push here and elsewhere amid the uncertain economy.Saying that "the great people of the St. Louis area desperately need a better choice for home improvement products," Menards promises to bring the "lowest prices in the region" on name brand products.But analysts note that prices in this industry tend to be pretty competitive, especially since many of the larger chains carry similar merchandise. They add that Menards' larger rivals Home Depot and Lowe's have an advantage with their size in being able to leverage more buying power with suppliers.Menards' new stores are notable in part for their sheer size more than 200,000 square feet with a full service lumberyard and warehouse that shoppers can drive into.The company has been going against the grain by opening these ever bigger stores in recent years at a time when most www.shopcanadahockeyonline.com/olympic+carey+price+canada+jersey big box retailers are shrinking their footprints.Menards says these new stores will be almost double the size of a Home Depot and Lowe's and will offer 40 percent more products than those competitors.The privately held company's expansion comes at a time when the industry is poised for an upswing with the housing market appearing to be on the rebound.In January, home prices saw their sharpest increase in nearly seven years, according to real estate data firm CoreLogic. Meanwhile, the inventory of homes for sale in January fell to its lowest level in 13 years, the National Association of Realtors reported last week.The new store openings Menards has yet to give the exact opening dates in April also coincide with the sector's busiest time of year. Many home improvement retailers boost their staffing in the spring when home remodeling and construction projects get under way."All in all, it's probably a good time to be in this industry and a good time to be expanding a bit," said Robin Diedrich, an analyst with Edward Jones in Des Peres.But still, even Menards has become more cautious recently, putting on hold other stores beyond these initial two slated for this region."We have postponed plans to build additional stores due to concerns that economic conditions will worsen, but if the economy improves, we hope to be able to reconsider," Jeff Abbott, a Menards spokesman, wrote in an email.He added that the company could not comment about ongoing real estate deals.Until recently, Menards had been working on at least four other proposed stores for this region. Those stores were slated for Richmond Heights, St. Ann, Manchester and O'Fallon, Mo.But despite Menards' slowdown, Richmond Heights' city manager Amy Hamilton said that city is still "moving forward" with plans for a megastore east of Hanley Road and south of Highway 40 (Interstate 64).The proposed two story, 246,000 square foot Menards store would be in Hadley Township, a historically African American neighborhood that has been the focus of a decade of failed redevelopment efforts.The proposed Menards store for that area made major headway when it reached an agreement at the end of last year to buy about 100 properties that would be torn down to make way for the development. Those contracts are set to close by the end of this year, Hamilton said.The city manager added that the city is still working out the details of a proposed tax www.shopcanadahockeyonline.com/olympic+chris+kunitz+canada+jersey assistance package to support the plan."We're not anywhere close to breaking ground," Hamilton added. "That wouldn't Chris Kunitz Canada Hockey Jersey be until 2014."A Menards store also was to be one part of the redevelopment project for the defunct Northwest Plaza in St. Ann.Matt Conley, St. Ann's city administrator, said the city is aware that Menards has reprioritized its store openings. But it's not "that big of an issue" right now because there is still a lot of work to be done to get the site ready, he said.

Terrelle Pryor in the 20

Oregon braces for versatile Collin Klein

"The score got away from us a little bit and unlike the season before when we were used to being Patrik Berglund Womens Jersey behind and coming back, we weren't behind very much," K State co offensive coordinator Dana Dimel said Sunday. "When that turned into a bigger lead, we kind of lost our identity probably just threw the ball way too much.

"Baylor was the one game where we didn't control the tempo and stay within ourselves and control the ballgame the way we need to control it. We just need to play Kansas State football and do what we do."

What K State does and does well is run its offense through quarterback Collin Klein, an attack that doesn't require the senior to throw the ball 50 times like he did in the loss at Baylor, but rather use an even balance between the ground and air. Al Macinnis Womens Jersey On the season, K State has passed for 2,545 yards and rushed for 2,390. Klein has accounted for 3,380 total yards.

It's that Wildcat offense the fourth ranked Oregon Ducks (11 1) are preparing to see on Thursday night at 7:30 (CST) when they meet No. 5 K State (11 1) at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

"The offense goes around and through Collin Klein," Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said. "He's the catalyst. And whichever way www.officialhockeyauthentic.com/womens-youth-patrik-berglund-authentic-jersey-c-1_429_438.html that is, we need to slow him down some and make somebody else have to beat us."

But more often than not it was what Klein did in K State's offense that allowed others to breakout. When the running game is working either through Klein or running back John Hubert it opens up the passing game and allows for easier throws downfield to receivers like Chris Harper, Tyler Lockett and Tramaine Thompson or even dump out passes to tight end Travis Tannahill.

"There's not an element of their offense that is bad," Aliotti said. "I wish there were, but there's not. You don't get to be 11 1 and almost go to the national championship game with a bad team, and they don't have a bad team."

Though Ducks players acknowledge K State is more than just a one man band offensively, at the end of the day, everything is derived from what the Wildcats' quarterback does.

So, stopping Klein is the priority No. 1 for the Oregon defense that ranked sixth in the Pac 12 and 47th nationally.

"You have to either tackle him high real hard or tackle him low and take out his legs," Ducks linebacker Michael Clay said. "He's going to fall forward a lot, so we have to gang tackle him and make sure he feels our presence there. We want him to know he's getting hit. I think we did that a lot when we played in the national championship against Cam Newton."

It's Newton who most Ducks players and coaches seem to compare Klein to the most, largely because both, are well, large and can run it and throw it. Oregon has seen its share of versatile QBs the four straight BCS bowls its played in Wisconsin's Russell Wilson in the Rose Bowl year, Newton in the title game in 2011 and Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor in the 2010 Rose Bowl.

"It's very unique, being that big," Clay said. "He's deceptively fast. You can't just be out there waltzing around because he'll outrun you. We've seen running quarterbacks the last three years We just have to be able to tackle in open space."

And while Klein can clearly run, he doesn't do it exactly like Newton, who was perhaps more agile and on the quicker side. Klein is at his best when he can pick his hole and go, relying more on his patience and ability to see the field to let the play unfold.

"He's patient and doesn't seem like a guy that has a lot of wiggle www.officialhockeyauthentic.com/womens-youth-al-macinnis-authentic-jersey-c-1_429_443.html wiggle on him," Aliotti said. "He's a guy who bides his time and finds the hole and has an uncanny way to get downhill and get positive yards. When you're a big guy and fall forward, there's a 3 yard gain right there."

Hyde was trailing as Jennings r

Packers moved to noon

Green Bay As the Green Bay Packers fall further from relevancy because of their inability to win without quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the television networks are losing interest in them.

For the second time this season, the Packers are getting kicked out of the Sunday prime time slot in favor of a matchup between two playoff contenders.

This time, the Green Bay Atlanta game Dec. time slot and moved to noon. Instead of Packers Falcons, NBC will go with Carolina www.shopcanadahockeyonline.com/olympic+alex+pietrangelo+canada+jersey New Orleans.

NBC has the right to change its lineup based on a flex scheduling plan that goes into effect after Week 10. Teams must be given 12 days notice of the change.

Fox has the option of putting the flexed out game in its 3:25 slot, but with the Packers 5 5 1 and the Falcons 2 9, there aren't a lot of people rushing out to buy flat screen TVs to watch that game.

The Packers were moved out of the Sunday night slot last week when they faced the New York Giants. against the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 15 and Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 22.

Limited return: The Packers were happy to get safety Sean Richardson back after a 12 month absence, but when they really needed him, they chose to have him on the bench.

The 6 foot 2, 218 pound Richardson is a big man with good speed and the willingness to hit anybody. After watching Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson chew the defense up, defensive coordinator Dom Capers finally decided to bring in Richardson to help defend the run. Jennings.

Richardson didn't have any tackles, but he did provide a physical presence in the box that the Packers lacked most of the game. He said he felt good about all the calls that were made, but he was late reacting to the shift of a tight end on one play.

It was about a year ago against the New York Giants that Richardson suffered a herniated disc in his neck, requiring fusion surgery. After a long rehab, he was cleared three weeks ago to practice and on Saturday was moved from the physically unable to perform list to the 53 man roster.

Defensive end Jerel Worthy, who tore an ACL last year, also was moved from PUP to the 53.

Richardson had excelled on special teams and with the way the Packers' safeties have been under performing, he was given a short look.

"It felt good," Richardson Brenden Morrow Canada Hockey Jersey said. "I have confidence (in his neck) and I'm a lot stronger. I haven't had any problems since I've been back. No issues at all."

Richardson might have been a good option in overtime when the Packers kept getting gashed in the run game on Minnesota's opening drive. Peterson rushed for gains of 15 and 4 yards while backup Toby Gerhart busted off runs of 9, 12 and 11 yards.

It's possible the coaches were worried about having Richardson deep in the secondary, given that a Vikings touchdown would have ended the game. So, Richardson left Lambeau Field with a half dozen or so snaps on defense and a bunch more on special teams.

Worthy played about a dozen snaps as well www.shopcanadahockeyonline.com/olympic+brenden+morrow+canada+jersey and did not finish with a tackle.

Injury report: The Packers rarely escape a game without a significant injury. Wilson hurt his left knee and did not return. Wilson appeared to be in immense pain after twisting his leg while covering a play to the outside.

Worthy played most of the snaps Wilson would have had in the base defense.

The Packers started the game without cornerback Sam Shields (hamstring), tackle Don Barclay (knee) and end Johnny Jolly (groin). Their status for the Detroit game on Thanksgiving is not known.

Fool me once: Rookie cornerback Micah Hyde saw the craftiness of former Packers receiver Greg Jennings firsthand when Jennings ran a switch route on third and 4, cutting just underneath another Vikings receiver to create a pick.

Hyde was trailing as Jennings ran up and then left to the sideline, and quarterback Christian Ponder's throw was right on the money. Jennings turned up the field for an 8 yard gain, and the Vikings went on to score on a field goal.

"We've seen it," Hyde said. "They ran it a couple times in the first game. I just got beat straight up."

The Vikings went to that play again in overtime on third and 5 at the Minnesota 44 with just over 2 minutes left. This time, Hyde was closer to Jennings, who juggled the ball before Hyde knocked it away.

"Obviously, they came back to it," he said. "I was Alex Pietrangelo Canada Hockey Jersey just trying to be tighter with him. I don't know if he would have had the first down if he caught it."

fan it brings back so many

Saints legends www.officialhockeyauthentic.com/womens-youth-luke-adam-authentic-jersey-c-1_38_59.html inducted into Ring Phil Kessel Womens Jersey of Honor

Two Hall of Famers, Rickey Jackson and Willie Roaf, were greeted with open arms by fans alongside Archie Manning, whose career spanned more than a decade in New Orleans.a fan it brings back so many memories of them on the field and recognition of the great service to the organization," Mark Romig, also Luke Adam Womens Jersey known as the of the Saints."Chris Harris is a long time Saints fan.think it is very cool," Harris said. "I'm a fan of all those guys. Archie was on some of worst teams and he had a hard time, but he is always a Saint to us. tailgate party was in normal fashion, but the humbling moment on the field for the trio was a win for the scores of fans.Though Manning has yet to get the NFL Hall Of Fame, some fans said this induction is the next best thing and long overdue.Archie in the first one is one of the best things that could happen," said fan Billy Jones. "He been around for a while and we have had some www.officialhockeyauthentic.com/womens-youth-phil-kessel-authentic-jersey-c-1_455_466.html good quarterbacks and he deserves it. fan, Jimmy Heraty said, think it is long overdue. These guys deserve it and I am glad to be here to see it. Jackson and Roaf were selected by an independent committee within the Saints.