导出博客文章TAMPA, Fla. -- Thanks to the steady progress of Jameis Winston, the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers are back in the thick of the race for a playoff berth.The teams 19-17
road upset of the Kansas City Chiefs lifted the Bucs (5-5) back to .500, one
game behind the NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons with six weeks remaining in
the regular season.Tampa Bay hasnt made the playoffs since 2007. Sundays victory
was a confidence booster heading into a stretch run thatll feature home games
against Seattle, New Orleans and Carolina and road tests against San Diego,
Dallas and the Saints.Were just jelling, coming together one game at a time,
safety Bradley McDougald said.Winston played one of the best games of his young
career, topping 300 yards passing in consecutive games for the first time and
not throwing an interception.The Bucs converted 68.7 percent of their third-down
opportunities, with the second-year quarterback going 12 of 14 for 133 yards and
one touchdown on third downs.The defense has played better in victories over
Chicago and Kansas City the past two weeks after allowing 1,087 yards, including
857 passing, during losses to Oakland and Atlanta within a five-day span.Every
week is a different week, said safety Chris Conte, who returned an interception
for a touchdown against the Bears.He then earned a game ball against the Chiefs
with an end zone interception that cost Kansas City -- trailing 12-10 at the
time -- a chance to take a fourth-quarter lead.You know weve got another big
challenge next week. Weve just got to keep on working, Conte added, looking
ahead to the Seahawks (7-2-1) on Sunday.Whenever you win, its huge. I think we
played a relatively clean game on defense, with the exception of a couple of big
plays. Were getting better each week.Winston completed third-down throws to six
receivers, including Alan Cross, an undrafted rookie tight end who had one
career reception before scoring Tampa Bays only TD on a 3-yard catch in the
fourth quarter.We talk about role playing all the time, play your role,
understand your role can change at any second, coach Dirk Koetter said. These
last two games, weve been doing a really good job as a football team of playing
our roles. The coaches putting them in positions to play them, some guys roles
have expanded, some guys have diminished roles.Receiver Cecil Shorts III is one
of the players who has seen his role grow as the season progresses. The
sixth-year pro didnt sign with Tampa Bay until the week of the opener, and he
had his most productive game since arriving with five receptions for 62 yards
against the Chiefs.Good teams find ways to win in November and December. I think
were hitting our stride at the right time, Shorts said. Were finally getting our
timing down. Were executing very well on third down. We got Doug (Martin) back
at a crucial time of the year. Things are looking good for us.---For more NFL
coverage:
http://www.pro32.ap.org and
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. Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year,
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Denard
Span Jersey . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the
postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night.
The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05
scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p.
Edgar
Martinez Jersey . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the
Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the
CFLs championship game. MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Lynx were backed into a
corner after a Game 1 loss on their home floor to the star-studded Los Angeles
Sparks.No time to panic for this battle-tested group. The defending champions
know just how to respond.Maya Moore had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help the
Lynx even the WNBA Finals at one game apiece with a 79-60 victory in Game 2 on
Tuesday night.This team bounces back well. We cant stay down for too long, Moore
said. And Im a part of that. I wanted to bring that energy and thats what I took
on myself personally today.Sylvia Fowles had 13 points and 15 boards and
Minnesota held Los Angeles to 32.9 percent shooting to bounce back from a
last-second loss in Game 1. Seimone Augustus scored 14 points and Minnesota
dominated on the glass, 46-32, to pull away.We played like this game was more
important to them than it was to us and thats unfortunate, Sparks coach Brian
Agler said. You dont get these opportunities often, so you have to play like you
might not get this game back.Nneka Ogwumike had 14 points and 12 rebounds for
the Sparks, who head back home for the next two games in the best-of-five
series. Candace Parker was quiet with six points on 3-for-12 shooting and the
Sparks missed 17 of 20 3-pointers.The Lynx are trying to become the first
back-to-back champions in the league since the Sparks repeated in 2002. A win in
this series would also give Minnesota its fourth championship, which would tie
the Lynx with the Houston Comets for most in league history.Last year the Lynx
lost Game 1 at Target Center to the Indiana Fever, but rebounded to win that
series in five games. But they know they face an even more capable challenger
this year.We know what we needed to do, Augustus said. We watched the entire
footage from Game 1 and saw where we made mistakes.Neither team led by more than
five points during an air-tight Game 1 that Los Angeles won at the buzzer on a
jumper from Alana Beard. The first 16 minutes of Game 2 were just as
competitive, but Moore and the Lynx seized control in the final four minutes of
the second quarter.After going scoreless in the firstt half of Game 1, Moore got
rolling during a 17-3 blitz to close the period.dddddddddddd She hit two 3s and
a layup, then picked Parkers pocket and heaved a three-quarter length outlet to
a streaking Lindsay Whalen for a three-point play and a 37-25 lead.Moore had 12
points in the first half and the Lynx took much better care of the ball after
coughing it up 11 times in the first half of Game 1.The Sparks made things
interesting with a 14-0 run in the third quarter that made the score 44-41, but
Augustus and Moore took over in the fourth to turn back the charge.I think it
had a lot to do with our effort, Ogwumike said. Not to say that we dont want it.
But you get tired and muddled and youre not focusing on what youre doing, a lot
of times confusion can seep in. And I think thats what happened.MVP DISAPPEARS:
Ogwumike, the league MVP, scored just two points in the final period, and took
just six shots in the entire game. Its a hard job. (Our post players) made it
look easy, but its not, Moore said. Shes such an explosive player.REBOUNDING
ADVANTAGE: The Lynx parlayed their edge on the glass into a 17-7 advantage in
second-chance points. They shot a pedestrian 45 percent from the field, but had
13 offensive rebounds to create more opportunities. When the ball went up on the
glass and a shot was taken on either end, they outworked us, Agler
said.QUOTABLE: Now I know how Shaq felt in the NBA, -- Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve
on the physical play on Fowles in the paint.RECORD RATING: The WNBA instituted a
new playoff format this year that seeded teams based on record, not geography.
It resulted in the two best teams during the regular season meeting in the
finals despite both playing in the Western Conference. Game 1 drew an average
audience of 597,000, the most-watched Game 1 ever on ABC, the network announced
on Tuesday. It peaked with 693,000 viewers and was the most-watched Game 1 since
1998 broadcast across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.UP NEXT: Game 3 is Friday in Los
Angeles. ' ' '
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