Haushalts-Forum » "They cleared a lot of rebounds and blocked a lot

NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons have 17 losses between them and neither will finish the regular season with a winning record.And they couldnt care less.The Saints (6-8) and Falcons (5-9) have been divisional rivals for nearly half a century and cant stand each other. Theres also an NFC South title on the line.So one could argue there is no more compelling, high-stakes game on the NFL schedule than the one kicking off in the Superdome this Sunday.Its going to be loud and crazy in there. I cant wait, Falcons receiver Roddy White said. Its an important game for both teams with the season weve been having. Were both right there. The winner of this game is probably going to win the division, so the excitement will be there. Everybody will be pumped.The Saints will be the last team to apologize if they win a division with a losing record. In 2010, when they were defending Super Bowl champions, they won 11 games but had to open the playoffs at 7-9 Seattle, which won the NFC West that season. The Saints lost.This at the beginning of the season is what you hoped for, the opportunity to be playing for something significant this time of the year, Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. Thats what we have the chance to do. ... I know the fans enjoy this rivalry. It doesnt get any better than this.While New Orleans already has been eliminated from wild-card contention, the Saints can win the division as soon as this weekend if they beat the Falcons and if Carolina (5-8-1) loses to Cleveland. However, the Saints could also be eliminated if they lose to the Falcons and the Panthers beat the Browns, because the Panthers and Falcons play each other in Week 17.Atlanta could remain in control of its playoff destiny with a victory, but would be eliminated with a loss.Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis has predicted that New Orleans would give the Falcons their funeral, to which White responded facetiously, May we rest in peace.White added, Theres no kind of motivation thats going to make us step up and be like Oh, they said this. No, we know what it is, its Saints-Falcons.Indeed, when Atlanta was featured on the HBO series Hard Knocks back in August, the series showed some members of the Falcons mentioning their rivalry with, and disdain for, New Orleans.Lewis, a New Orleans native, was among those watching.They didnt pinpoint no other team, Lewis said. They pinpointed us. So its war.Some things to know about the 91st meeting between the Falcons and Saints:AERIAL ASSAULT: The game features the top two passing offences in the NFC. Brees and the Saints lead the conference with 301.8 yards passing per game, while the Falcons, with Matt Ryan under centre, have passed for 286.1 yards per game.DISMAL Defence: The Falcons rank last in total defence in the entire NFL, giving up 409.9 yards per game, while the Saints rank second-to-last, giving up 390.1 yards. When the teams met in Atlanta in their regular season opener on Sept. 7, Ryan set an Atlanta record for yards passing in a game with 448, and the Falcons won in overtime, 37-34.Ryan threw for a career high. It hurt, Lewis said. Its definitely something weve got to remember.HANGING TIGHT: Brees has had a lot of success throwing to tight ends this season. Jimmy Graham, Josh Hill and Ben Watson have combined to catch 104 passes for 1,074 yards and 16 touchdowns. Graham has accounted for most of that, with 73 catches for 782 yards and nine TDs.JULIO SHOW: Falcons coach Mike Smith claims that he intends to wait until his game-day inactive list is due before deciding whether top receiver Julio Jones will play in New Orleans. Jones hurt his hip at the end of a loss two weeks ago at Green Bay, where he had a franchise single-game record 259 yards receiving, giving him 1,428 yards for the season. He skipped last weekends loss to Pittsburgh.SECONDARY CHANGES: New Orleans and Atlanta have both made personnel changes in their defensive backfields recently. The Saints shook things up by inserting three new defensive backs in the starting lineup in a victory at Chicago last Monday: recently acquired safeties Jamarca Sanford and Pierre Warren, as well as young cornerback Terrence Frederick, who was promoted last month from the practice squad. For the Falcons, Robert McClain has started the past four games at cornerback for injured Robert Alford. McClain has one interception this season, and it came in Week 1 against New Orleans.___Online:AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Cheap Air Max Outlet .com) - Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri is expected to miss the next two weeks because of a thigh injury. Air max Outlet . Hawkins severely sprained his left ankle while making a diving catch during training camp and went on injured reserve with a designation he could return midway through the season. He was back at practice Wednesday. http://www.airmaxoutletsale.us/ . Bostons bats exploded in Mondays opener, as David Ortiz belted a pair of two-run homers, Stephen Drew homered and drove in four runs and the Red Sox pummeled the Blue Jays, 14-1. Air Max Outlet Online . The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the league hasnt announced the award. Crawford was the Clippers third-leading scorer and the NBAs top-scoring reserve with 18. Wholesale Air Max Shoes . It was the most lopsided loss in Lakers history. Darren Collison had a team-high 24 points while starting at shooting guard for the injured Jamal Crawford. Chris Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who apparently are trying to make up for decades of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers all in one season; theyve won the last two meetings by a combined 84 points.EDMONTON -- There is little left to do for the Edmonton Oilers besides throw wrenches into other teams plans. Taylor Hall had a goal and two assists as the Oilers upset the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Sunday. David Perron, Jordan Eberle and Justin Schultz also scored for the Oilers (28-42-9), who have won two in a row. "Playing the role of spoilers can be a lot of fun," said Hall, who has moved into seventh place in league scoring with 77 points. "To get on a team that really needed those points tonight was good. To play a good solid third period against a team like this and not give up a lot was nice. It was a learning game for us. It wasnt perfect by any means, but for the most part we shut them down." Its the third time the teams have met in the past two weeks. The Oilers beat the Ducks 4-3 in overtime on March 28, while Anaheim edged Edmonton 3-2 on Wednesday. Perron said the Oilers showed a lot to keep the Ducks from battling back on Sunday. "I liked the way that we kept going when it was 3-2," he said. "It was a good game all around. At this point there isnt a whole lot to play for and to get that kind of energy was pretty cool. We want to keep our momentum going into next year and play this kind of hockey right from the start. We had a lot of great emotion tonight." Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins said three second-period fights had an effect on the outcome. "It certainly rattled their team," he said. "They are a composed group in Anaheim and then when the first one erupted, that seemed to set them off the tracks a little bit. I thought they got distracted. I think it worked in our favour. They were so upset they were even yelling at me, which is always great when I didnt even throw a punch." Jakob Silfverberg and Corey Perry responded for the Ducks (50-20-8) who have lost two straight and remained just one point up on the idle San Jose Sharks for first in the Pacific. "Were struggling finding ways to win hockey games right now," said Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf. "I thought we started a lot better than we have in the past and were in a hockey game. We let our emotions get the best of us a little bit there for a while and I thought that was a little bit counter-productive and thats our responsibility, me and (Corey Perry)." Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau said it was far from a perfect outing from starting goalie Jonas Hiller. "Its tough, I thought (Hiller) played well in the first period. Then there were a couple in the second that he could have had," he said. "Then in the third, he regained his form again. Its one of those things where hes really lacking in confidence and once the first one went in, he was a little worried until he regained his composure." The Ducks openeed the scoring on the games first shot, 1:20 into the first period.dddddddddddd Edmonton goalie Viktor Fasth made the initial stop on Silfverberg, but the rebound caromed off of teammate Sam Gagner and trickled into the net. Edmonton came close to tying the game with five minutes left to play in the opening frame when Perron made a nice pass to a hard-charging Ryan Smyth, but Hiller was quick to come across and make the save. The Oilers knotted the game 1-1 six minutes into the second period with a power play goal as Hall banked in a goal off of Hiller with a shot from the side of the net for his 27th of the season. Perron kept pace with Hall for the teams goal-scoring lead three minutes later while Edmonton was short-handed, beating Hiller with an off-balance shot from the right faceoff circle for his 27th. It was just Edmontons fourth short-handed goal of the season against a league-leading 13 allowed. The Oilers took a 3-1 lead with just over three minutes left in the second period as Eberle swung a puck out front and the rebound remained loose in the crease before a pinching Schultz tapped it in. The Ducks got back to within a goal with on a power play just 25 seconds into the third period as Perry tipped a long Getzlaf wrist shot from the point past Fasth for his 42nd goal of the season. Edmonton withstood a ton of pressure before getting an insurance goal. Eberle also scored his 27th moved into a three-way tie for the team lead with an empty-net goal. Anaheim threw everything they had at the Oilers net in the third period, but Fasth proved up to the task, making 34 saves in total to earn his first victory against his old team. "The guys played great in front of me today," Fasth said. "They cleared a lot of rebounds and blocked a lot of shots. It was a great team effort. Of course it is special to play against them and get the win. I have a lot of friends on that team and played for them for a year." The Ducks get right back at it on Monday in Vancouver against the Canucks. Edmonton continues its season-ending four game homestand on Tuesday against the Colorado Avalanche. Notes: It was the fifth and final meeting between the Oilers and Ducks this season. Anaheim had a 3-0-1 record in the series entering the game and had taken 12 of the past 15 encounters in Edmontona The Ducks allowed six first period goals in their three games heading into Edmonton. a With the playoffs looming, the Ducks chose to rest their two oldest players, giving Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu the night off. a Anaheim was without G Frederik Andersen (upper body) and D Cam Fowler (knee). a LW Jesse Joensuu (ankle), LW Ryan Jones (torn PCL), RW Tyler Pitlick (knee), LW Luke Gazdic (shoulder), RW Nail Yakupov (ankle) and D Andrew Ference (chest) missed the game for Edmonton. ' ' '