Playoff football is back in Big D. The Dallas Cowboys knew it would happen before the season began by boldly sending out postseason packages to their season-ticket holders last summer. Its unknown if Nostradamus had something to do with Dallas audacious prediction to reach the postseason, but the Cowboys know they will have their hands full with the Detroit Lions Sunday in an NFC Wild Card Game. Dallas captured the NFC East title and the third seed in the conference with a 12-4 record and are in the playoffs for the first time since winning the division in 2009. Cowboys quarterback and MVP candidate Tony Romo has only one playoff victory under his belt and looks to build on that. Im playing at a level Im proud of and hope to get better, said Romo, who passed for 299 yards and two touchdowns with an interception in a 44-17 drubbing of Washington in the season finale. Im just excited about the progression of improvement and want to keep this going in our next game. Romo passed for 3,705 yards, 34 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He is 1-3 as a starter in the playoffs, completing 80-of-1,235 passes for 832 yards, four TDs and two INTs. Now that the running game has hit full stride, Romo wont have to carry the offensive load. In four starts against the Lions, Romo is 1-3 with 1,160 yards, 10 TDs and four picks. In seven home games this season, Romo passed for 1,772 yards, 14 touchdowns and was picked off seven times. He dealt with a lingering back issue all season, but has received treatment prior to the last few games to deaden the pain. Romo has built a strong rapport with leading receiver Dez Bryant, who led the team with 88 catches for 1,320 yards and a franchise-best 16 TDs. Bryant had six touchdown receptions over the last three games for the Cowboys, who ripped off four straight wins after an embarrassing loss at home to the Philadelphia Eagles. Bryant is the only player in the NFL with 12 or more receiving touchdowns in each of the past three seasons, and has five touchdown catches in three meetings with Detroit. Dez is really a remarkable player, Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said. As a teammate, as a leader, as a veteran guy, you take a lot of pride in seeing the growth of Dez and (running back) DeMarco (Murray) mature as players. Dez is a unbelievable player, hes a dynamic player, and its great to see his growth. The Lions are in the playoffs for only the second time in the past 15 years and ended a two-year drought with an 11-5 record in the first year of head coach Jim Caldwell. The Lions just missed out on an NFC North title and the Green Bay Packers claimed it with a 12-4 mark. Detroit was hoping to close the regular season with five straight wins, but dropped a 30-20 decision to the Packers Sunday at Lambeau Field. Matthew Stafford passed for 217 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for the Lions, whose 11 wins are the most since a 12-4 record back in 1991. Stafford threw for 4,257 yards with 22 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and has eclipsed the 4,000-yard passing mark for a fourth straight season. He is 2-0 in his career versus Dallas and lost his only playoff appearance to New Orleans in 2011, throwing for 380 yards, three TDs and two INTs in a 45-28 setback in the Big Easy. Wide receiver Calvin Johnson is Staffords main target and he had 211 yards and two scores on 12 receptions against the Saints. Stafford is focused on winning his first playoff game. I think, obviously, you watch every game and find ways that you can get better, win, lose or draw, Stafford said. Were a battle-tested team and have won 11 football games this year. We found ways to win a lot of them and well continue to do that. We just have to move forward. Golden Tate, not Johnson, led Detroit with 99 receptions for 1,331 yards in his first year with the team, while Megatron grabbed a team-high eight touchdown receptions. Johnson missed three games because of injury. Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh almost missed this playoff game against the Cowboys after he stepped on the legs of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers while he was down on the grass. Suh was originally suspended for the game for violating playing rules prohibiting unnecessary roughness, but the penalty was reduced on appeal to a $70,000 fine. Suh paced the Lions with 8 1/2 sacks and is a vital piece to the stout run defense, which finished first in rushing yards allowed (69.3). The Lions were second in total defense and held opponents to 100 rushing yards or fewer in 14 of 16 games, including five games with 50 rushing yards or fewer. Murray led the NFL in rushing with a team-record 1,845 yards and 12 100-yard games. Murray was tied for the league lead in rushing scores with 13 and opened the season with eight straight 100-yard games for Dallas, which was second overall with 147.1 rushing yards per game. Controlling the line of scrimmage is important, Caldwell said. Our defense has been really strong in that area throughout the year. The Lions defeated the Cowboys, 31-30, on Oct. 27, 2013 and were aided by Staffords 488 passing yards. Johnson caught 14 passes for a franchise-record 329 yards and a score in that one for Detroit, which has won two in a row in this series after losing five of the previous six encounters. Detroit and Dallas have split two playoff matchups, while the Cowboys lead the overall series by a 13-12 margin. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Sundays game features two great quarterbacks and two outstanding wide receivers. The Romo-to-Bryant connection has been on point the last few weeks and cannot afford to have a Thanksgiving flop. Romo threw for 199 yards and two interceptions, and was sacked twice in that Big D debacle Bryant had 73 yards on six catches with no TDs. He has made great strides since that loss, however. Were just getting started and were excited about the opportunity in front of us, Romo said about the postseason. Romo led the NFL with a club-record 113.2 passer rating. He has to be aware of Detroit defenders Suh, Ezekiel Ansah, George Johnson and DeAndre Levy. Levy led the Lions with 151 tackles, while Glover Quin snatched an NFL-best seven interceptions. Detroit had 20 INTs this season, second most in NFC. It will try to produce a few more turnovers and contain the likes of Bryant and Witten. The Lions hope right guard Larry Warford will be available after he was carted off the field Sunday with a knee injury. Warford is day-to-day and hopes to be ready for the Cowboys. They havent really told me what to say, Warford said. Cant say anything about the injury right now, but hopefully Ill be back soon. Lions rookie center Travis Swanson made his first start in Green Bay and replaced suspended veteran Dominic Raiola. Dallas had four players with 70 or tackles in Barry Church (97), Rolando McClain (81), Anthony Hitchens (75) and J.J. Wilcox (74). Bruce Carter recorded five interceptions and Wilcox had three. Church and Wilcox will have to help over the top with corners Brandon Carr and Orlando Scandrick lining up against Johnson and Tate. OVERALL ANALYSIS The Lions have it tough facing the Packers two times a season and were able to split the NFC North series with each team winning at home. The Cowboys are just as talented, and the Lions will have to enter Dallas den in hopes of keeping the season alive. The Cowboys were a perfect 8-0 on the road in the regular season and 4-4 at AT&T Stadium. The house that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones built will be electric this weekend, and getting Murray going early is priority No. 1. As difficult as that will be for Detroit to stop, theres Romo and Bryant to worry about. We have a great defense, theyve held us in games a lot of times, Johnson said of Detroits stop unit. Like they say, defense wins championships, so if we just step our game up on offense well be alright. Detroit is facing a fine collection of talent and will need a complete effort to pull off the victory. It wont happen this year, unfortunately, as Romo and the Boys ride off into the NFC divisional round of the playoffs. Paul Posluszny Jersey . Wayne and Cindy Tuck of Ilderton, Ont., closed out round-robin play earlier in the day with a 7-3 win over Finland but needed a win over Austria to reach the final eight. Myles Jack Jersey . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. http://www.authenticjaguarslockroom.com ... te-Jersey/. He was 90. The team announced Monday that Adams had died, saying he "passed away peacefully from natural causes." The son of a prominent oil executive, Adams built his own energy fortune and founded the Houston Oilers. T.J. Yeldon Jersey .The other side of the Bruins special teams unit delivered in the end.Gregory Campbell netted the game-winner with less than 10 minutes remaining and the Bruins fended off a late four-minute San Jose power play to earn a wild 5-3 win over the Sharks. Chris Ivory Jersey .J. Barea during a three-game shooting slump that was getting him booed off his home court with regularity.She was a little wild – did crazy things. I remember her competing in France after a foot injury and she was limping on the runway, but determined to compete. When she first came to Cardiff, I discovered she was even more competitive than my original perception. She was also shy and quiet...that has all changed over the last four years!The words of Scott Simpson, the coach who has been taming, nurturing, calming, patching up, firing up, and ultimately supporting GBs pole vaulting queen Holly Bradshaw.Part of the job is listening to her gripes when travelling together. Bradshaw describes her coachs penchant for gangster rap music as bad taste. Does he mind such stinging criticism from his star pupil?Its a constant source of ridicule for me. But I dont care. I like what I like and if other people cant get on board with that, then they suffer on long car journeys!This is a relationship that will survive its musical feuds. Their bonding has developed since the 25-year-old Sky Academy Sports Scholar got fed up with commuting between the UK and USA after the 2012 London Olympics and settled in Cardiff to work with her new coach. Scott and Holly have hit back after a sixth place at London 2012 Its a brutally honest, analytical, open partnership that has overcome debilitating injuries, fall-outs in the heat of major competitions in China and is now moving swiftly on from mild irritation at not making the Rio podium to planning on ruling the world with a mixture of graft and giggles.Before she came to Cardiff, she was a young, talented vaulter on a super-fast development curve. Raw talent, very competitive, a gifted natural vaulter, says Simpson, also the Head of Coaching and Performance for Welsh Athletics.She has grown in many ways. She is much more professional in her approach to her career - she sees it as her profession now rather than something that was just fun to do and that she was good at. Check out Hollys Rio Olympics video diary This is shown off the track, like her lifestyle parameters, as opposed to during training. She is also far more open with her communications and listens to her body more. Her decision making is constantly improving and she is becoming a well-rounded world class athlete.Bradshaws journey includes a sixth finish at London 2012, gold at the 2013 European Indoor Championships and back surgery knocking her out for 18 months. She hit back with seventh at last years World Championships in Beijing, got injured again in January and arrived at the Rio Games with only two months of preparation.Physically tip-top, but lacking vaulting practice, Holly just failed at 4.80m in the Olympic final and missed out on a medal. It was a stuttering Rio build-up but becoming British champion was a high-point Its been a tough four years, Simpson adds. Weve spent more months rehabbing than weve trained and prepared to compete. Neither of us have enjoyed that. Weve made mistakes - too many - but I hope weve both learned from them. I am generally pretty optimistic, but realistic, and Ive never thought we cant get through this. Ive worried about Holly at times, because shes taken a lot of blows and set-backs and everyone has a breaking point. Its testimony to her determination that shes stuck with it.Three months before Rio, Holly hadnt picked up a pole in six months. At that stage I dont think either of us knew where it was going to end up - but we both remmained optimistic - as always.dddddddddddd There was an array of emotions along the journey, but in general, things went from strength to strength.At the holding camp in Brazil, Holly worked hard and I thought for the first time in 12 months since Beijing, that she could win a medal. I think Holly felt the same. The warm-up in qualification was a bit of shambles, but we werent shaken and she qualified with ease. Check out Hollys Rio Olympics video diary She was great in the final. The emotion for us both when she missed at 4.80 was obvious - disappointment and a feeling of what if? She was definitely capable of a 4.80/4.85 that day. It would have been a dream to have won an Olympic medal, but fifth after the journey we had - it was hard to remain disappointed.Simpson says Holly being crowned European indoor champion was one of his favourite memories having just been handed the full coaching reins from Dan Pfaff, and describes being invited to her wedding in 2014 as a privilege.There was one dark cloud in their relationship that quickly blew away in Beijing last summer. He says: Our disagreement after the World Championships will also stay with me for a long time. It was funny how in a moment where we should have been celebrating that we could clash so strongly on something.Simpson says their success is down to a fine balance - focused yet friendly and supportive on the track, while off it their friendship is growing where he is very comfortable in Hollys company. We dont agree on everything and we have different views in some areas of life, but that is fine, Simpson admits. We are learning more about each other every year and learning where the boundaries start and finish. Ready for action in Brazil despite limited chances in competition Im not a slave driver and Im not a dictator. I believe in creating a conducive learning environment. This is different for everyone. Holly is receptive to learning and development when she is relaxed. To create this environment, I do what I need to do. You dont get to a World Class level without working, but I dont make it harder than it needs to be. There are times to build an athletes resilience but there are ways to do that without setting stupid workouts, or acting like an idiot.Next years World Championships on home soil is fast approaching, followed by a Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2018 and the Japanese Olympics in 2020. Whats on the Bradshaw-Simpson radar with winter kicking in?All our focus currently is on the Worlds, Simpson says. Plans are laid out to get us there in the best way possible. If we can travel that journey without too many detours, then I could see her doing very well in London. Beyond that, lets wait and see, but I know Holly is totally committed to winning a medal in Tokyo. Because of the difficulties shes encountered, shes realised that enjoying the good times is a critical part of the journey. Its not always going to go to plan and that is part of the experience.But the moments when it all comes together - thats what makes it all worth it. My hope is that this happens at a major outdoor Championship next summer.WHATS COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS....NOV 14 - 18: Jack Bateson, GB boxing campNOV 20: Quillan Isidore, BMX Winter Nationals, Manchester DEC 9 -11: Elise Christie, World Cup short track speed skating in ShanghaiDEC 16 - 18: Elise Christie, World Cup short track speed skating in Gangneung, South Korea Also See: About the Scholarship Meet the athletes Blogs Videos Galleries Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '