Dein erstes Forum » move up the leaderboard on his first nine with bir

IRVING, Texas - The Cowboys had their roughest day on defence when they lost to Philadelphia on Thanksgiving to raise doubts about their playoff hopes.They responded with four straight games that were anywhere from good to great on a December winning streak that ended a four-year post-season drought.We took a butt-kicking like men, said defensive end Jeremy Mincey, and came back and retaliated like men.Theres a similar bounce-back theme for Dallas (12-4) in Sundays wild-card game against Detroit (11-5) because the Cowboys gave up a franchise-record 480 yards passing to Matt Stafford in a 31-30 loss to the Lions last year.Not only did Calvin Johnson have 329 yards receiving — the second-most in NFL history — but the Cowboys let the Lions go 80 yards in just 50 seconds in the final minute for the winning touchdown.Stafford sees something different this year, though.Theyre in all the right spots all the time, it seems to me, he said. Theyre playing extremely physical up front and doing a great job of playing with a bunch of passion and getting after the passer and stopping the run on the way.Big plays were a problem a year ago for the Dallas defence, which finished last in the league and gave up the first two 600-yard games in franchise history (yes, Detroit was one of them). And big plays were a problem against the Eagles on Thanksgiving, when LeSean McCoy had a 38-yard run to set up one score and Jeremy Maclin had a 58-yard catch to set up another.Whether that loss was an aberration or a trigger, its hard to say. But the Cowboys gave up 170 fewer yards in the rematch, held Indianapolis to 1 yard rushing a week later and had a season-high four takeaways in the regular-season finale against Washington.The big plays were definitely an aberration. The Cowboys gave up 135 big plays passing and rushing last season. That number was 85 this season.The ball is critical — turnover ratio, but certainly big plays are a close second to that, coach Jason Garrett said. If you prevent big plays, its hard for teams to score against you.It wasnt hard for teams to score against the Cowboys a year ago.You have to play good, sound, fundamental defence, you have to tackle well, Garrett said. So we really tried to make an emphasis on being better in those areas, and I think we have made improvement.Mincey wasnt around a year ago — he went to the Super Bowl with Denver before coming to the Cowboys as a free agent. He was a steady presence for an improving unit early in the season, and now has emerged as the team leader with six sacks.While the Cowboys were close to the bottom of the league in sacks, they had nine the last three games of the regular season. Theyve also forced 10 turnovers in that span, surging to second in the league with 31.Were dominating our opponents, Mincey said. Everybody understands whats going on, understanding what they need to do specifically as an individual and those individuals doing what they need to do in bringing a collective effort because everybody has the same frame of mind, same frequency.Linebacker Bruce Carter, who struggled with the switch to the 4-3 defence last year, had two interceptions last week against the Redskins and leads the team with five. Along with Brandon Carr struggling to stay with Johnson, Carters difficulties were exposed a year against Detroit.Bruce has always had a knack for making plays on the ball, whether its blocking punts or intercepting passes or picking up fumbles, Garrett said. But I think, like with anybody else, he gets better with experience.And the Dallas defence sure did get better after Thanksgiving.___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL___Follow Schuyler Dixon on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apschuyler Ecco Shoes Australia Sale . Still, Milan remained five points behind city rival Inter Milan in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League berth, after Inter beat 10-man Parma 2-0. Meanwhile, Paul Pogba led the way as Juventus stayed on course for a third consecutive title with a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Bologna. Wholesale Ecco Shoes . -- Kyle Busch edged teammate Joey Logano at the Bristol Motor Speedway finish line Friday night to become the all-time winningest driver in Nationwide Series. http://www.wholesaleeccoaustralia.com/ . Its great to be back for another season in Banditland, and Im looking forward to another competitive season with my teammates, said Tavares. Ecco Shoes Clearance Australia . Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring. Ecco Shoes Sale Clearance Australia . The top-ranked Williams carried her winning momentum from 2013 into the new season, beating No. 2-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday to defend her title at the Brisbane International and set the tone for the Australian Open.Shanghai, China (SportsNetwork.com) - Graeme McDowell opened up with a first- round, 5-under 67 on Thursday and he holds a 2-shot lead at the WGC - HSBC Champions. McDowells last victory on the European Tour came at the Alstom Open de France earlier this year, while his latest PGA Tour win was at the 2013 RBC Heritage. Obviously the course played fairly difficult today, said McDowell. The wind direction had switched completely from practice, some of the game plan had switched a little bit and some of the holes were playing pretty long. A big key to this golf course is driving the ball well and I drove it very well today. I think I missed only one fairway, which is very important. The greens are in fantastic shape and I actually putted very well U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, Rickie Fowler, Brandt Snedeker, Chris Kirk, Tim Clark and Tommy Fleetwood are tied for second at 3-under 69 at Sheshan International Golf Club. Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Adam Scott, Hyung-sung Kim, Bill Haas, Jordan Spieth, JB Holmes, Henrik Stenson, Jaco Van Zyl and Dawie Van Der Walt are all deadlocked at 2-under 70. McDowell, beginning his first round on the back nine, stormed out of the gate to grab the early lead and he never let go despite a couple miscues down the stretch. The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland quickly got into red numbers with a birdie on the par-4 first. Following a pair of pars on 11 and 12, McDowell drained four birdies in a five-hole stretch from No. 13, with a par coming on 15. After making the turn at 5-under with a par on 18, McDowell kept going strong with another par on one followed by a pair of gains on two and three. At 7- under through 12 holes, McDowell finally began to slow down as he dropped his first shot on the par-4 fourth. After a trio of pars from No. 5, McDowell bogeyed his second hole at eight, dropping him back to minus-5. He finished with a par at No. 9 to end there. Seven-under par through 12 holes was a beautiful start, and alghouth I dropped a couple coming in, all in all Im very, very pleased with 5-under par on what I thought was a reasonably tricky day, McDowell said.dddddddddddd This is as tough off the tee as I think Ive ever seen this golf course. Kaymer, also playing the back nine first, made the turn at minus-1 after making birdies on 13 and 16 to go along with a bogey on 17. Kaymers second bogey on one dropped him back to even par, but birdies on two and five had him back in red numbers. Kaymer made his third bogey on six, but a pair of birdies on seven and eight got Kaymer to minus-3. He rounded out his day with a par on No. 9. Fowler started off with two straight pars on 10 and 11 followed by another gain on 14. Fowler traded a bogey on 17 for a birdie on 18 to make the turn at minus-3. Birdies on two and eight were canceled out by bogeys on four and seven as Fowler finished his day tied for second at 3-under. Snedeker had a solid front nine with birdies on two and seven. He dropped two shots on the back nine at 12 and 15, but gains on 14, 16 and 18 were good enough to put Snedeker at minus-3 through one round. Kirk made his move up the leaderboard on his first nine with birdies on 10, 14, 16 and 18 to go along with a bogey on 17. Kirk played his final nine at even par with a gain on six and a bogey on five. Fleetwood made the turn at minus-1 following birdies on two and five along with a bogey on six. Fleetwood fell back to even par after a bogey on 10, but he finished strong with three birdies in a four-hole stretch from 13. Clark started off hot with three straight birdies from two, but bogeys on five and seven gave two of those shots back. Another birdie on nine was canceled out by a bogey on 10. Clark then made three birdies in four holes from 13. He also bogeyed 15. NOTES: Of the 80 players to tee off on Thursday, only 27 of them finished the first round under par ... McDowell has 10 top-10 finishes on the European Tour this year, including his win at the Open de France ... McDowells only other victory in Asia came at The Championship at Laguna National in 2008 ... Kevin Stadler and Graham DeLaet both withdrew during their first rounds. ' ' '