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The showdown between two of the NFLs hottest teams could be decided by a single digit. Deion Sanders Jersey . In this case, that digit happens to be the middle finger on Matthew Staffords throwing hand.Stafford reportedly suffered torn ligaments and a dislocation in the first quarter of the Detroit Lions 20-17 win over Chicago last Sunday. He threw two interceptions, including a pick six, after having the finger taped and putting a glove on his hand. Stafford still led his club to its eighth fourth-quarter comeback victory, the most by any team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.Detroit, which leads the NFC North, will try to extend its winning streak to six games when it faces the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. The Giants have won seven of their last eight games, including a gritty 10-7 victory over NFC East leader Dallas last Sunday night.I expect it to be extremely competitive, Stafford said. Theyre playing for a lot and were playing for a lot. Its an NFC game and its going to be a big one. So were excited for the opportunity. Its great to be in this position; weve just got to go out there and play well.His finger complicates that process. The Lions pedestrian running game puts added pressure on Stafford to carry the offense. Hes ninth in the league in both completion percentage (66.7) and passing yards (3,447). Hes also tossed 22 touchdown passes and was intercepted just five times prior to the injury.Stafford, who scored the game-winning touchdown against the Bears with a 7-yard scramble, hopes the injury will be less of an issue with a week to experiment on equipment and treatment options. Hes unsure whether hell wear a glove against the Giants. An early forecast of inclement weather could force another in-game adjustment.Its never fun when its on your throwing hand but Ill figure it out and well go from there, he said. (The glove) is not really for my state of mind, its for whats going to be functional. So whatevers most functional, with what I can perform the best with, thats what Ill go with.Staffords job wont be any easier if Detroit is missing its leading rusher once again. Theo Riddick, who is most effective as a receiver out of the backfield, sat out against the Bears with wrist and ankle injuries and is doubtful. One of his backups, Zach Zenner, is in the leagues concussion protocol and is questionable.With three games remaining, the Lions (9-4) could wrap up their first NFC North title with a victory on Sunday and a Green Bay loss. The Packers and Minnesota Vikings are tied for second place with 7-6 records and Detroit already holds the tiebreaker over Minnesota after sweeping the season series.The Lions dont have any soft touches remaining on the schedule. They have to play the Cowboys in Dallas the night after Christmas, then face the Packers at home on New Years Day.In head coach Jim Caldwells mind, the upcoming games arent any different from the ones his team just played.It didnt matter what the Bears record was last week, he said. That game still had a lot of magnitude. It was very, very important. This one is exactly the same. It just so happens, and thats how its going to be down the stretch, that youve got a team thats playing very, very well and thats riding high.The Giants (9-4) kept their division title hopes alive by defeating the Cowboys for the second time this season. They diffused the Dallas attack despite the absence of defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who underwent sports hernia surgery last week and is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season. New York forced three turnovers, sacked rookie quarterback Dak Prescott three times and held Dallas to 260 total yards.Other than the crossing route that wide receiver Odell Beckham turned into a 61-yard touchdown reception, the Giants offense was a virtual no-show on Sunday. Quarterback Eli Manning threw an interception and lost two fumbles and the rushing game averaged 2.8 yards per carry.Ive got to play better, Manning said. Got to find completions, got to protect the football better. Thats whats got to happen in these types of games. You get into December, youve got to protect the football. Thats the most important thing right now.Manning was also picked off twice the previous week in a 24-14 loss to Pittsburgh and has thrown for fewer than 200 yards in the last three games. Fortunately for him, the defense has masked the offenses struggles. Opponents have been held to 20 or fewer points in five of the teams last six victories.Weve got to keep finding ways to win, he said. The defense is playing outstanding, so weve got to help them out. Weve got to score more points, give them a lead and dont make it hard on them. Cheap Giants Jerseys China . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Matt Williams Jersey . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. http:///...ff-samardzija-jersey .Y. -- Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers had no intention of changing his hard-hitting style before taking part in a disciplinary hearing for his illegal check to New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus head. New Zealand were pleasantly surprised to find some help for their quicks in the pitch at Eden Gardens, fast bowler Matt Henry has said. Henry took three wickets on a day New Zealand kept India to 239 for 7. This could still be a big total given Indias spinners and the absence of Kane Williamson, but it was overall quite a satisfactory day for New Zealand considering they had lost the toss.It was a fair wicket, Henry said. Obviously, coming over here you probably dont expect conditions like that at the start of the day so we knew we had to make the most of that, especially being put in with the ball. It was always going to be tough work through that middle period when it would become a good surface. We had to find ways to put pressure on when we werent taking wickets and as a bowling group that is a box we ticked today.Before they put that pressure through dry bowling, though, New Zealand had to make sure they used the pitch that would have sweated in the preceding days because of the overcast skies and the covers on it. We knew it was important with the new ball to take advantage of it because the wicket had been under covers for a long time so that was going to be a crucial part of the game, Henry said. The way we went about our work today was outstanding. We knew we had to make sure we controlled the run rate because it is very tough in these conditions to take wickets.Moving forward from there it was just important to maintain those [bowling] partnerships through the middle and make sure we could create pressure by building dots. Our spinners were outstanding today. Jeets [Jeetan Patel] and Sat [Mitchell Santner] were fantastic in allowing us to build a lot of pressure, and that manifested to what happened at the end of the day.Patel was in England last week, not even dreaming of playing for New Zealand when an injury to Mark Craig resulted in a call-up. Henry, who hardly ever bowls badly, is not a regular in the New Zealand XI because of the surplus pace resources. He, too, was not part of the original squad, but came in only thanks to an injury to Tim Southee. For such players, keeping themselves fit and prepared is aa big challenge, but New Zealand players have shown they are always prepared. Pablo Sandoval Jersey. I knew I had to make sure I did all my preparation, Henry said. Ive still being doing a lot of training and work behind the scenes. Even not being able to play in South Africa, I was still doing a lot of work with the coaches in the nets and making sure I was ready to go if needed. We had a few warm-up games out at Lincoln, some winter training squad one-dayers to keep the loads up.It is easier said than done, though, to retain the sunny attitude when you know your chances are not as frequent as you want them to be. Its never easy but it is one of those things that we have such a strong bowling group, Henry said. It is a good position for us to be in, you just always have to prepare to play and focus on what the team needs and what your role is going to be so if you do get called in you can do what we need to get done.Henry was full of praise for Patel too, who took the wickets of a set Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma. It is a tough ask coming in from England and only having a couple of days to prepare, Henry said. Hes obviously got a lot of experience. He brought a lot of energy in the field and experience and confidence. I thought the way he played today was exceptional, the way both spinners played in tandem. They showed a lot of control and created pressure through those tough periods where it was really hot and important we could control that run rate because we had to keep that squeeze on.While Rahane felt this was a two-paced pitch and that 300 was a good score on it especially considering a Williamson-less New Zealand might have to bat last. Henry said his batsmen were capable of taking the game deep, just as the bowlers did. We have a great batting line-up and obviously it is a shame not to have Kane there but I know our batsmen will [apply themselves], he said. It is going to be a tough day with the heat and things like that. We just have to keep playing the long game and apply it as best we can. ' ' '
