Pirate Galaxy » running back.McKnight was rat

DETROIT -- Matthew Stafford ran for the winning touchdown in another close victory.The big concern now is whether hell be able to throw effectively as the Detroit Lions chase a division title.Staffords 7-yard scoring run with 3:17 remaining lifted the Lions to a 20-17 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, but the Detroit quarterback was bothered by a finger issue on his throwing hand. The middle finger on his right hand was taped up and covered by a white glove, and Stafford passed for only 223 yards with two interceptions.I just tried to play through it, play as good as I could, he said. I let those guys know that it may not be pretty coming in there, but those guys made some great plays for me.Detroit (9-4) leads the NFC North by two games, but the Lions havent won a division title since 1993. They play their next two games on the road against the New York Giants and Dallas.They barely held on in this one. Chicago (3-10) made it across midfield in the final minute before two consecutive holding penalties negated completions that would have put the Bears in field goal range.I think our margin for error right now is very minimal, Chicago coach John Fox said. Efforts not an area were deficient in.The Bears host Green Bay next weekend.Detroit trailed 17-13 before Stafford led the Lions on a seven-play, 76-yard drive for the winning touchdown, which came on a second-down scramble up the middle. He completed 21 of 35 passes on the day, including a 16-yard touchdown strike to Anquan Boldin with 19 seconds left in the first half.The Lions came away with the win, but their quarterbacks health is in question.Any time youre doing something thats out of the norm like that, its going to affect you, to be honest, Detroit coach Jim Caldwell said. The great thing about it is hes mentally tough and was able to battle through it.Here are a few things we learned from Detroits eighth victory in nine games:RECORDDetroits season hasnt just been exciting -- its been historic. The Lions are the first team in NFL history with eight comeback wins from fourth-quarter deficits in a season, according to information provided by the team from the Elias Sports Bureau.Only one of Detroits games this season has been decided by more than seven points.PERSEVERINGAlthough the Lions held on for another close victory, they arent getting every break in these games. Staffords pass into the end zone early in the fourth quarter was tipped by a defender, then bounced off receiver Golden Tate and caromed over to defensive back Demontre Hurst, who intercepted the ball.Stafford later had an interception returned for a touchdown, but he rebounded to lead the Lions on the winning drive.RETURNDeAndre Levy is finally back. The Detroit linebacker was active for the first time since Week 1, returning from a knee injury. He had three tackles and an assist.Levy had an amusing take on Detroits penchant for playing close games.Early on in the year, watching it was giving me a heart attack every week, but now its kind of like you settle into it, he said. You kind of know its going to happen and you kind of expect to win.POTENTIALChicago quarterback Matt Barkley did some good things in his third career start. With the Bears down 13-3, he found Cameron Meredith for a 31-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, and he had his team driving at the end until the two holding calls.STILL BATTLINGAlthough Chicagos record is ugly, the Bears are still playing hard. Before playing the Lions tough Sunday, they beat San Francisco and had close losses to the Titans and Giants.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL .---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister Custom Soccer Jerseys China . The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. Discount Custom Soccer Jerseys . Sgt. Eric ONeal says most of the arrests at Monday nights game were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium. http://www.customjerseyssoccer.com/ . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Custom Soccer Jerseys Store . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. Clearance Custom Soccer Jerseys .C. - The Carolina Hurricanes have placed backup goalie Anton Khudobin on injured reserve with an unspecified lower-body injury. HARVEY, La. -- The man who police say?fatally shot ex-NFL player Joe McKnight?during a road rage dispute was jailed on a manslaughter charge as a sheriff angrily defended the investigation Tuesday, saying authorities strategically waited for days to make the arrest because they needed to find independent witnesses.Ronald Gasser, 54, was initially taken into custody after the shooting on Thursday, but he was released?without being charged, drawing heated criticism from protesters who said race played a role in the investigation. Gasser, who is white, was arrested late Monday. McKnight was black.Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand pounded on a podium during a news conference explaining the investigation.This isnt about race. Not a single witness has said ... one racial slur was uttered, the sheriff said.The case comes at a time of intense scrutiny in the African-American community about the shootings of black men, in particular by police. While this case doesnt involve a police shooting, it has drawn protests at the sheriffs department.Its not clear whether Gasser has an attorney. Attempts to reach Gassers family were unsuccessful Tuesday.The sheriff said the dispute between the men started on a bridge and proceeded into a New Orleans suburb, with both men driving erratically and yelling at each other. Eventually, the cars came to a stop and McKnight confronted Gasser, who was still seated in his car, the sheriff said. Gasser pulled out a gun and shot McKnight three times, killing him. When deputies arrived, the sheriff said Gasser handed them his gun and said he shot McKnight, 28.The sheriff said McKnight did have a gun in his vehicle but no evidence suggested he insinuated anything about it. It was his stepfathers gun and his stepfathers vehicle.During the news conference, the sheriff read aloud some of the derogatory remarks about the investigation, including racially charged comments.We have sometimes unrealistic expectations of how these things work ... you dont just run out and start slapping cuffs on people, Normand said.He noted that on Thursday, Gasser gave authorities a statement that included him being fearful and defending himself, saying that McKnight had made threatening comments. At that point, authorities hadnt interviewed any independent witnesses. One person they had talked to lied to authorities about what happened, the sheriff said.Normand said that had an arrest been made Thursday, he was certain people would be afraid to come forward. Instead, authorities identified more than 250 people they wanted to talk to by identifying license plates in the area at the time, and conducted more than 160 interviews. The sheriff said several witnesses werre the key to making the arrest and made comments contradicting Gassers statements.dddddddddddde also pointed out that Gasser didnt ask for an attorney but instead sat with authorities for over 10 hours of interviews in the days after the shooting and gave permission for them to search his home.Normand also pushed back against questions about whether he understood the fear that a shooting like this had brought about among some in the black community.Lets not try to make this out to be something that it is not. What we had were two adult males engaged in unacceptable behavior that did not understand how to deal with conflict resolution, he said.The sheriff did not want to go into details about why he felt Gasser should be arrested even though the state has a version of the stand your ground law.Louisianas law holds that people dont have a duty to retreat and can meet force with force if they reasonably believe that using deadly force is necessary.Law experts say its not a blanket excuse.When you use lethal force, its got to be proportional, Ken Levy, an associate professor who teaches criminal law at LSU Law Center, told The Associated Press. And the only way its proportional is if McKnight was threatening serious bodily injury or death.McKnight played three seasons for the New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs.The Jets held a moment of silence Monday night before their game against the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium to honor the former running back.McKnight was rated the nations No. 1 running back recruit when he signed with the University of Southern California. He was a fourth-round draft pick of the Jets in 2010 and played three seasons for New York. McKnight had a 107-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in 2011, and it remains the longest play in Jets history.He also spent a season with Kansas City, and most recently played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.A decade ago, Gasser was involved in a similar altercation -- at the same intersection -- with a driver. The sheriff said that in February 2006, a man observed a truck driving erratically and called a number on the truck, speaking to a man later identified as Gasser.Gasser and the man got into a fight on the phone and then Gasser followed the man to a service station, confronted him and hit him several times. Gasser drove away, and the victim called 911.Investigators found Gasser and issued a misdemeanor summons for simple battery, which was later dismissed. Authorities have said they are trying to determine why it was dismissed. ' ' '