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The Portland Timbers could bolster their playoff chances with their first road win of the season when they visit the Houston Dynamo on Saturday at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.Portland (11-11-8) is fifth in the Western Conference with 41 points, three points behind fourth-place Real Salt Lake and six points behind the third-place Colorado Rapids. The Timbers are one point ahead of Sporting Kansas City, six points ahead of the Seattle Sounders and seven points ahead of the Vancouver Whitecaps.Houston (6-11-11) is last in the Western Conference and well out of playoff contention with 29 points. Despite their struggles, the Dynamo has played well at home this season, accumulating a 4-2-7 record at BBVA Compass Stadium. That could present problems for Portland, which is 0-8-6 on the road.Portland is coming off a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union. With the victory, the Timbers matched their club record for home wins in a season with 11.Fanendo Adi leads Portland and ranks fourth in MLS with 15 goals this season. Diego Valeri has 12 goals. This is the first time in the clubs MLS era that two players have scored at least 12 goals. Goalkeeper Jake Gleeson leads the league with 107 saves.Andrew Wenger and Alex are tied for the team lead with five goals apiece for Houston. Ricardo Clark, Will Bruin and Giles Barnes have scored four goals apiece. Boniek Garcia leads the team with eight assists.This will be the second meeting between Portland and Houston this season. The Dynamo led 2-0 on June 26 at Providence Park in Portland, Ore., before the Timbers stormed back with three second-half goals to win 3-2.Wenger and Bruin scored within two minutes of each other on assists from Garcia to put Houston up 2-0. Lucas Melano scored in the 64th minute and Valeri scored in the 82nd as Portland rallied to tie the game. Valeri then scored the game-winning goal in the first minute of stoppage time. Custom Ray Allen Jersey . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. Custom Thunder Jerseys http://www.customthunderjersey.com/ . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Ray Allen Jersey Large . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. Wholesale Custom Thunder Shirts .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. HOUSTON -- Brock Osweiler was supposed to be the solution to years of quarterback woes for the Houston Texans.Through eight games, its unclear if thats the case.At times, such as during a fourth-quarter comeback against the Colts, Osweiler has looked worthy of the $72 million contract Houston used to lure him away from Denver.But there have been other times, such as his performance in Houstons three road games , where Osweiler didnt look any better than the string of quarterbacks the Texans ran through last season.The good news for the Texans is that they enter their bye 5-3 and leading the AFC South despite his inconsistent play and the loss of star defensive end J.J. Watt.Theres been some good spots and I think theres obviously been some bad spots, Osweiler said. But I think the thing thats encouraging is I feel like Im getting better every single week and I feel like this football team is getting better every single week.So, theres plenty of room for improvement (and) fortunately we still have eight more games.Though hes seemed rattled at times when hes struggled on the road, Osweiler never shows any cracks in public in his picture-perfect veneer off the field. He always says the right things, takes the blame when the offense sputters and vows to get better.But those close to him know that he hears the criticism mounting with each bad road outing and that his struggles weigh on him.In this league everyones striving for perfection, so when it doesnt go the way that we prepared or practiced or wanted the result to be we all die a little, so to say, offensive coordinator George Godsey said. But hes been able to overcome that, a little bit of adversity so its a good sign going into the next half of the season.Coach Bill OBrien believes Osweiler has improved each week and the quarterback insists that he feels comfortable in the offense and is convinced he has the skills to lead this team.I have great confidence in myself, I have great belief in myself, Osweiler said. Im my own biggest critic. When a game doesnt go how maybe I wanted it to or how this team wanted it to, I examine that film very hard. Im very hard on myself to improve, to learn, to get better.Osweiler has thrown nine touchdowns with nine interceptions this season to lead a passing game that is among the worst in the league, ranking 30th inn the NFL by averaging just 199.dddddddddddd2 yards a game.Hes been much better at home than on the road, with eight of his touchdown passes and all of the teams wins coming in Houston. Hell have to figure out a way to get things together on the road when the Texans start the second half of the season at Jacksonville before a game against Oakland in Mexico City followed by two of the next three away from Houston.Hes focused on getting Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins more involved in the second half after hes been limited to 434 yards receiving through eight games after finishing with a career-high 1,521 yards receiving last season. Hopkins knows hell have to do more in the second half to help Osweiler and the offense improve.There were a lot of plays I left out on the field I couldve made (in) the first eight games, he said. Just got to go out and make it right.While Osweiler hasnt played up to expectations, Houstons offense has been kept afloat by the steady play of the teams other big offseason acquisition Lamar Miller .The Texans signed the former Dolphins running back to take over for Arian Foster, the teams all-time leading rusher whom they released in March. Miller enters Week 9 ranked fourth in the NFL with 637 yards rushing.On defense, Houston lost Watt to a back injury after three games. But the defense has remained the strength of the team without last years Defensive Player of the Year, thanks to a pass defense that is among the best in the league and a breakout season by Jadeveon Clowney .Clowney moved from outside linebacker to defensive end to fill in for Watt and is having the best season of his young career.The top overall pick in the 2014 draft is healthy and has started each game and has 30 tackles, three sacks and a career-high nine tackles for losses.Defensive line coach Anthony Weaver loves the way Clowney is playing now that hes on the field consistently.Every time he goes out there and has success, his confidence gets higher, Weaver said. If Im the rest of the league that scares me. A confident Jadeveon Clowney with his God-given ability could be frightening to the rest of the league.---AP NFL website: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '