(SportsNetwork.com) - The Detroit Lions are still in the mix to be the No. 1 seed in the NFC heading into the postseason. Then again, theres also a slim chance theyll be out of the playoff picture altogether. Detroit takes another step toward a playoff berth and its first-ever NFC North crown, as it goes after a fourth straight win in a road test against the hapless Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. The Lions can clinch their second playoff spot in four years before they even take the field on Sunday if Philadelphia loses to Washington on Saturday. A win over the Bears would net the same result for the Lions, who could also clinch their first division crown in 21 years with a win coupled with a Green Bay loss to Tampa Bay. Its right there in front of us, defensive end Jason Jones said. Everything broke right for the Lions in Week 15. First, the Buffalo Bills pulled off an upset of the Packers, then Matt Praters late field goal helped the Lions pull out a 16-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings to move them into a tie atop the division with the Packers. Detroit actually holds the tiebreaker over Green Bay at the moment given its win over the Packers earlier in the year. The Lions will visit Lambeau Field in Week 17, likely with a chance at securing their first division title since winning the NFC Central in 1993. Were not taking any game for granted, any play for granted, said Matt Stafford, who threw for a season-low 153 yards in the win over the Vikings. Its not going to be pristine every time, but were going to fight tooth and nail for wins and that showed up again today. Its the first time the Lions reached 10 wins in the first 14 games of the season since the Lions started 10-4 in 1991. Chicago, meanwhile, is no such playoff position after a lifeless, 31-15, shellacking at the hands of the New Orleans Saints on Monday. And now the team is in complete disarray. Shortly after the loss reports started to circulate that head coach Marc Trestman may be out of a job at the end of the season. Then, on Wednesday it leaked that the Bears would bench starting quarterback Jay Cutler in favor of Jimmy Clausen, who hasnt started a game since 2010. The bottom line is that this is a business based on winning and losing, Trestman said. We cant sugarcoat it. We are disappointed that were not playing well enough to win. Cutler turned in another subpar performance against the Saints as he threw for just 194 yards on 17-of-31 passing with two touchdown passes and three interceptions for the Bears, who have dropped their last three games. Overall, I just feel that we need passion to come from certain places and I dont think the passion is always there all the time, Bears tight end Martellus Bennett said. The Lions have won three straight over the Bears including a Thanksgiving Day triumph when Stafford threw for 390 yards and two scores. They havent won consecutive contests in Chicago since a six-game run from 1968-73 WHAT TO WATCH FOR Detroit only managed 233 total yards versus the Vikings, but could be in store for a big bounce back this week considering the Bears have given up 35.3 points and 438.0 yards over their three-game slide. Chicagos defense has given up a league-high 409 points, 19 more than the Tennessee Titans, who have allowed 390. In fact, theyve given up 251 points in the first half alone. To put that into perspective, three teams havent surrendered that many in 14 full games, led by the Lions with 238 and followed by the Seahawks (242) and Cardinals (244). Speaking of the Lions second-ranked defense, they havent allowed more than 17 points in three straight games and five of the last six. That doesnt figure to change against a Bears team that will go with Clausen, who has completed three of his nine pass attempts this season. Before this season, the former Notre Dame star hadnt appeared in an NFL game since playing 13 for the Carolina Panthers as a rookie after he was taken in the second round of the 2010 draft. Cutler, meanwhile, has started all 14 games in his sixth season for the Bears, completing 66.1 percent of his passes for 3,640 yards, 28 touchdowns and an NFL-high 18 interceptions. He has fumbled 12 times, losing six to lead the league in overall turnovers. Our whole football team isnt where it needs to be, Trestman said. Nobodys happy about it. Jays not happy about it. We all can do better. Even without Cutler the Bears still have some offensive firepower with wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, Bennett and running back Matt Forte. You look at a guy like Alshon Jeffery, safety Glover Quin said. He can make tough catches. He can go deep on you. You look at Bennett. He can move the chains. You look at Forte. Hes a Pro Bowl player. Hes a big-time running back. You look at all those things. They can throw it. They can catch it. They can run it. OVERALL ANALYSIS Its all there for the Lions taking. All they need to do is win and they are in the playoffs. With a regular season-ending game in Green Bay next week, the Lions know theyd be better off taking care of business this week. As for the Bears, well, what can you say. They looked like a team that had packed it in last week. Now, theyll have a quarterback who hasnt started a game in four years. Its getting ugly in Chicago and it figures to be worse after Sunday. Sports Network predicted outcome: Lions 35, Bears 6 Jim Kelly Bills Jersey . Ghoulam has put pen to paper on a four and a half year deal, tying him to Napoli until 2018. The 22-year-old Algeria international, who played for France at Under 21 level, has made 87 league appearances in four seasons at Saint-Etienne. Chris Ivory Bills Jersey . Johns IceCaps erased an early two-goal deficit to come from behind and defeat the host Portland Pirates 5-4 on Saturday in American Hockey League action. http://www.authenticbillsfanatic.com/c-8...jersey.aspx.com) - Eric Fehr and Marcus Johansson each registered a pair of goals, as Washington spoiled the head coaching debut of Peter Horachek by picking up a 6-2 victory in Toronto on Wednesday. Trent Murphy Bills Jersey . Dr. James Andrews is to operate next week on the 24-year-old pitcher, who made the AL All-Star team last year. Moore will be the first Rays pitcher to undergo Tommy John surgery since Jason Isringhausen in June 2009. Josh Allen Jersey . Argentina, who have yet to beat New Zealand in 17 meetings, rocked the All Blacks with an early converted try to backrower Juan Manuel Leguizamon and led 7-0 after five minutes. But Smiths double in the 23rd and 26th minutes - when Argentina was reduced to 14 men by the sin-binning of hooker Eusebio Guinazu - turned the tide of the match and set up New Zealands third straight Championship win.Jeff Stoughtons 11th Canadian mens curling championship is a bit of a homecoming. Kamloops, B.C., the host city of this years Tim Hortons Brier, is where he won his first Canadian mens curling crown in 1996. He has won twice since -- the last in 2011 -- and is a two-time world champion. "Its kind of special being able to come back after so many years to a place with some great memories," he said in an interview. "Its pretty cool and the team is really looking forward to getting on with the week." The Brier starts Saturday and runs to March 9. Last year Stoughton lost the Brier final in Edmonton 11-4 to Brad Jacobs and his Northern Ontario rink. Stoughton had a disappointing 3-4 finish at the Olympic Curling Trials in December, as Jacobs went undefeated in claiming the right to wear Canadas colours in Sochi. Stoughton had lots of company. No one could slow the juggernaut from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.. "There was only one happy team coming out of those trials and that was obviously Jacobs," said Stoughton. "We just sort of decompressed for a few weeks and then got right back at it, had a great Skins Game, great fun Continental Cup with the guys, and then just carried right through to the Safeway championship in Winnipeg." In this years Brier field -- with both Jacobs and Alberta veteran Kevin Martin absent -- Stoughton and Albertas Kevin Koe are favourites. Manitoba has a record 27 wins at the Brier, followed closely by Alberta with 25. Koe is representing Alberta this year for the third time, after beating Martin 7-5 to take the provincial title. Koe won the Brier in 2010, his first appearance, and went on to win a world championship. Just getting out of Alberta is tough for Koe, who curls out of Calgary. "Youve got to get through one of the top teams in the world in Kevin Martin and its definitely not realistic to think you can do that every year," he said. He recognizes hes going to be one of the favourites along with Stoughton but says thats no different than any other year and the rest of the field may be deeper than some suspect. "Theres quite a few teams that a lot of people dont know about that I think will do pretty good, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, maybe even the Territories. I think its a pretty tough field actually." Theres maybe a little family pride creeping in there. For the third time in five years, hell be joined at the Brier by brother Jamie, who skips the Northwest Territories-Yukon entry. Jamie Koe is making his eighth appearance. In 2012, the brothers met in the 3 vs. 4 Page playoff. Kevin won and Jamie later lost to Manitobas Rob Fowler in the bronze-medal match but it was still a strong finish for a Territories team. Saskatchewan is led by 2003 World Junior champ Steve Laycock, back for his second appearance as skip at the Canadiann championship with a new team of Kirk Muyres, Colton Flasch and Dallan Muryes.dddddddddddd Jean-Michel Menard is back for his eighth try after becoming just the second skip from Quebec to win the championship in 2006. His lineup consists of Martin Crete, Eric Sylvain and brother Philippe Menard. One of the only new faces this year is Ontarios Greg Balsdon, who stopped Glenn Howard from making his ninth straight appearance at the Brier. "I dont want to say we lucked out because weve had good games but theyve obviously beaten us more than weve beaten them," Balsdon said of the final, that saw Howard miss with his last rock and give up the winning point. Balsdon is new to the Canadian mens championship. He was part of the Cory Heggestad-led team that won the 2013 Canadian Mixed, but he says this feels bigger. "It feels just amazing. I dont think well truly appreciate it until were there," he said. Another team that has the chops to run with the best is also the hometown favourite -- John Morris and his B.C. rink, that features former skip and Kamloops native Jim Cotter at third. "Its exciting," says Cotter. "I think back 18 years ago when it was in Kamloops and Barry McPhee was the hometown team and I remember watching in the crowd there and I was pretty excited for those guys. . . Here we are 18 years later and Ive got the same opportunity." They made it all the way to the final against Jacobs at the Olympic Trials by beating Martin. After a disappointing loss, they took a few weeks off during the holidays to regroup but Cotter says they took good things out of the trials into the provincial finals in B.C. The addition of the veteran Morris, now curling for his third province, has made a huge difference, Cotter says. "We really have clicked. Johns just a phenomenal guy on and off the ice." Jacobs, meanwhile, is still celebrating his Olympic gold-medal win. The schedule made it virtually impossible to compete for a berth in this years Brier, although starting in 2015 the previous years winner will get an automatic berth, something the women already do. With Jacobs out of the mix, 1996 Canadian junior champ Jeff Currie was able to shift the Northern Ontario title from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay with his team of Mike McCarville, Colin Koivula and Jamie Childs. Former Olympic champ Brad Gushue from Newfoundland and Labrador is still the headliner out of the Atlantic provinces and James Grattan is making his 11th appearance for New Brunswick. Eddie MacKenzie has led Prince Edward Island to the Brier for three of the last four years and Jamie Murphy is back after also representing Nova Scotia at the 2012 championship. Brier finalists each receive $40,000 in prize money, the bronze medallist gets $30,000 and the $20,000 goes to the fourth-place team. 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