The Cowboys dont lose on the road, where the Bengals and Colts arent slouches, either. Mark Lowe Jersey .The Patriots, Broncos, Packers and Cardinals dont lose at home.For most of the other playoff contenders, well, its who knows?Some teams really could use staying at home beyond the holidays — and deep into January.Certainly Green Bay showed on Sunday in its defeat at Buffalo just how much different it performs on the road as opposed to the comfortable confines of Lambeau Field.Dallas, on the other hand, is 7-0 away from Jerrys Place. Come the post-season, the Cowboys might prefer to be anywhere but at home.Maybe even come this week: Dallas is just 3-4 as a host, and the Colts are 4-2 on the road.Dallas coach Jason Garrett believes finding ways to prosper away from home is a learned trait.Weve played these guys before, he said after Sundays 38-27 victory at Philadelphia put the Cowboys in position to win the NFC East. We played a really good game against them up here last year. We played a really close game at the end of the season last year and you try to learn from all those experiences, and you just move forward. I thought our guys did a good job responding.The Cowboys have responded well on the road in two tough locales: at Philly and, most notably, at Seattle. They arent likely to fear heading anywhere in January.I think sometimes you find out a lot about your team and your guys just in situations like that. You know, Seattle — they came back, theyre on the road. They get in a position that its hooting and hollering, the place is going crazy, Tony Romo said of his Dallas teammates. You just put your head down and you go execute. Youve got to make some plays. Obviously a couple guys have to set up and do some things that allow you to do that.You just dont let the whole environment and the whole thing and the way its going affect you. You treat it as if its a tie game and you go out and play.Some teams while at home do more than play. They intimidate. That sure comes in handy in the playoffs, especially against opponents that have not been through such a wringer.New England might be the prime example. The Patriots (7-0 at Foxborough this season) are 18-7 in the post-season since 2001, with three NFL championships and two losing trips to the Super Bowl. At home, they are 12-3, with two of the defeats to Baltimore — a team led by Ray Lewis and accustomed to doing the intimidating.With the exception of 2010, when the Jets somehow won at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots have handled less-experienced opposition with relative ease.That bodes well for them this winter, particularly because the other three AFC division leaders all have fallen to New England, the Bengals and Broncos getting routed at Foxborough.But also bear in mind that after winning their first eight post-season home games with Tom Brady at quarterback, the Patriots are 4-3.One of the teams the Patriots fell to on the road, the Packers, have looked fragile away from Lambeau, particularly lately in ugly losses at New Orleans and Buffalo, and a tight victory at Minnesota.The flop against the Bills could be especially costly because now Green Bay isnt even in first place in the NFC North; Detroit has the tiebreaker by virtue of — what else — a home win over the Packers.Perhaps that makes Green Bays need to win at Tampa next week, then against the visiting Lions even more critical for its post-season chances of success.Aaron Rodgers recognizes that.This is an important time for us to see what kind of chemistry we have on our team, he said. If adversity like this tears us apart or if we can stick together.If we can stick together, we have a great list of guys, and the opportunity to do something special. But if we let this tear us apart its going to be something that sticks with us for too long.One fact that might comfort teams that cant grab home-field advantage for the post-season: only three times since 1993 have both top seeds made it to the Super Bowl.But one foreboding fact to add: it happened last year.___AP Sports Writer John Wawrow in Buffalo, New York, contributed.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Sandy Koufax Jersey . Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist as the New York Islanders earned a 2-1 win over Ottawa Wednesday, leaving the Senators five points out of a playoff spot with just five games to play and four teams ahead of them. Andre Ethier Jersey . -- Chris Jones and Louisville have done a tremendous job protecting the basketball this season and thats led to easy victories. http://www.dodgersteamproshop.com/Dodgers-Rich-Hill-Kids-Jersey/ .A. Happ? Happs seven wins are second on the staff to Mark Buehrles 10. Win-loss record is an antiquated stat, sure, but win total is generally an indication of a pitchers ability to work deep into games, enough to be personally affected by the result.TORONTO -- Whether or not the Brooklyn Nets purposefully set themselves up to face the Raptors, Toronto coach Dwane Casey warns: Be careful what you wish for. The Raptors make their first playoff appearance in six years when they host the Nets in Game 1 on Saturday -- and the opening-round series is already contentious before it has even tipped off. The Nets seemed to have been angling for this particular matchup, apparently believing their veteran experience will win out over a young, inexperienced Raptors squad. "It would tick me off if that was the case. . . If they did, sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for," Casey said. "For us, we were going to take whoever came to us, whether it was Brooklyn or Washington or Charlotte. We were prepared for all three teams." Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri echoed his coachs sentiments. "Good for them," Ujiri said. "You know what? We havent lost one -- I know I havent and I can sense from the players -- second of sleep worrying about the Brooklyn Nets. At the end of the day if we want to be a good team, we have to play good teams. Were not hoping for anybody. Were in the playoffs. You have to play. "They can do whatever they want. Well be right here." The Nets lost four of five games down the stretch, and Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd sat his starters for Wednesdays season-finale -- a whopping 29-point loss to Cleveland -- fuelling chatter the Nets were tanking in order to drop to the sixth seed, pitting them against Toronto rather than Chicago. If they were insulted by suggestions the Nets preferred to play them, the Raptors werent saying Thursday. "Man, weve had a chip on our shoulder all year. We dont care. It aint going to stop now," said Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan. "The same chip we had before the season even started, weve got it now. Nothings going to change, it dont matter who were playing against. At the end of the day its a playoff team. Only the good teams make the playoffs, right? Youre going to have to play somebody good so it dont matter to us." The Raptors (48-34) and Nets (44-38) split their four games during a season that saw Toronto win the Atlantic Division title and set a franchise record for victories. Raptors sophomore Terrence Ross added fuel to the fire -- unknowingly he said --about a month ago when he said he hoped for a Toronto-Brooklyn matchup. That prompted Nets centre Andray Blatche to tell the Daily News: "You better be careful what tree you bark up. He better be careful." Ross said his comment was both blown out of proportion and misinterpreted. "I said I wanted to have Brooklyn because, looking up to those guys when I was younger. . . Paul Pierce, KG (Kevin Garnett), Joe Johnson. . . so getting a chance to play with them would be like an honour," the 23-year-old Ross said Thursday. "Everyone kind of ran with it, took their own thing, whatever, thats what happens when youre in the playoffs. "But thats who we have now and I guess I did give that comment (and get) what I asked for." There is a massive discrepancy in playoff experience between the two teams, and its why many are picking the Nets to knock out the No. 3-seeded Raptorss. Mike Piazza Jersey. Pierce alone -- with 136 playoff appearances -- has played in almost as many post-season games as the entire Raptors roster combined. "Were all in the same league, man. Honestly, thats how I look at it," DeRozan said, sounding exasperated by the suggestion. "Credit to them, they did what they did but we played against guys who are experienced all season, honestly." The 24-year-old DeRozan has zero playoff experience, but rolled his eyes when asked how long it will take to adjust to the pace of the post-season. "It aint like its rocket science or nothing. Everybody keeps talking to me, bringing it up like its rocket science or Ive got to know trigonometry or something," DeRozan said. "You just figure it out. You just go out there. Ive been playing this game long enough, Ive been in the league long enough, been in a lot of situations. So it shouldnt be hard." Longtime NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy, now an NBA television analyst, weighed in on the Brooklyn tanking storyline in a conference call Thursday, saying the Nets "absolutely tried to get to (the Raptors) by resting their guys." "People for some reason think Toronto is a better matchup," Van Gundy said. "I love watching the Raptors play." Van Gundy had kind words for Casey, who worked under a new GM this season in Ujiri, and saw his team thrive after the blockbuster seven-player deal in December that sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento. "I think Dwane Casey has gone through a lot of upheaval in his team in Toronto as far as roster changes, management changes, and hes handled himself with such dignity and class, and hes got his team playing so hard and so well together," Van Gundy said. "I just think they have to keep doing what theyve been doing, competing hard, playing together, big guys controlling the paint, and theyve got a tough matchup. "I like the Raptors a lot. I think theyve had a remarkable season led by a remarkable coach, and I think theyve got a great shot at advancing to the second round." Before Thursdays practice, the Raptors sat down to watch the 60-second "We the North" commercial thats part of the clubs new ad campaign. The Great White North is embraced and the Ontario capital takes centre stage in the video that kicked off a massive franchise rebrand that will continue over the next two years. Ujiri said Canadian fans -- and especially those in Toronto -- will embrace the Raptors during this long-awaited playoff run. "I think they want to make that building on Saturday and whenever we play here a living hell for those teams," Ujiri said. "Its what Ive said from Day 1 -- it should be a disadvantage to come and play here. "We The North, for me, its who we are. Enough of all of these excuses of weather and enough of all of these excuses for players who didnt want to be there. For me, thats all crap. Were moving forward. We hope Canada can stand tall, the Toronto Raptors can stand tall and we can be who we are. "Were proud to be a team in Canada. Were not apologetic to anybody or any players that left or anything that happened in the past. We are who we are. Were going to move forward. Were going to grow. Were going to win." Wholesale Spain Jerseys Cheap Juventus Jersey Cheap Cristiano Ronaldo Jersey Wholesale AC Milan Jerseys Cheap Arsenal Jerseys Cheap A.S. Roma Jerseys Cheap Atletico Madrid Jerseys Cheap Chelsea Jerseys Cheap Barcelona Jerseys Cheap Bayern Munich Jerseys Cheap Borussia Dortmund Jerseys Cheap Inter Milan Jerseys Cheap Juventus Jerseys Cheap Leicester City Jerseys Cheap Liverpool Jerseys Cheap Manchester City Jerseys Cheap Manchester United Jerseys Cheap Paris Saint-Germain Jerseys Cheap Real Madrid Jerseys Cheap Sevilla Jerseys Cheap Tottenham Hotspur Jerseys ' ' '