Heres a measure of just how good things are going in Big D. One team can clinch a playoff berth this weekend: the Cowboys.Dallas visits Minnesota on Thursday night. With a victory and either a loss by Washington or a loss/tie by Tampa Bay gets the Cowboys into the postseason parade.Minnesotas defense should provide a decent challenge for rookie sensations Ezekiel Elliott, the leagues leading rusher, and quarterback Dak Prescott. If the Vikings can get some sort of penetration through the best offensive line in football, they could have a chance.But they must steer clear of falling behind against Dallas, something most Cowboys opponents havent avoided.The Cowboys are ranked atop the AP Pro32 as they go for an 11th straight win since their opening loss to the Giants, who they take on next week.Minnesota (No. 14 (tie), AP Pro32) has fallen on hard times since being the leagues last unbeaten team at 5-0 and now is 6-5 -- and a 3-point underdog at home.Dallas takes the first step toward that playoff clinching.COWBOYS, 24-16KNOCKOUT LEAGUE TIP: Havent liked anything weve seen lately from Houston, so put on those Cheeseheads and take GREEN BAY.No. 9 (tie) Detroit (plus 4 1-2) at No. 22 New OrleansA somewhat unusual selection for Pro Picks Best Bet, but Lions should cover, Saints should win. So ...BEST BET: SAINTS, 31-29No. 9 (tie) Washington (plus 3) at No. 25 ArizonaRedskins get the proper amount of rest -- and then some -- this time.UPSET SPECIAL: REDSKINS, 26-21No. 14 (tie) Tampa Bay (plus 3 1-2) at No. 21 San DiegoFar more interesting matchup than it appeared three weeks ago.CHARGERS, 28-27No. 23 Indianapolis (minus-1) at No. 28 New York JetsFar less interesting matchup than ESPN hoped.JETS, 24-22No. 24 Carolina (plus 6 1-2) at No. 5 SeattleA bit less interesting matchup than NBC hoped when schedule came out.SEAHAWKS, 23-20No. 16 Buffalo (plus 3) at No. 3 OaklandRaiders showed lots of grit last week, might need it again.RAIDERS, 23-17No. 6 Denver (minus 4) at No. 30 JacksonvilleTough spot for Broncos after that war with Chiefs? Probably not.BRONCOS, 20-10No. 4 Kansas City (plus 4) at No. 8 AtlantaTough spot for Chiefs after that war with Broncos? For sure.FALCONS, 26-16No. 18 Houston (plus 3 1-2) at No. 19 Green BayTexans seem as if they are chasing Titans despite leading AFC South.PACKERS, 24-16No. 27 Los Angeles (plus 13) at No. 2 New EnglandPatriots havent been real force in past month. That changes here.PATRIOTS, 33-13No. 20 Philadelphia (pick-em) at No. 26 CincinnatiBoth teams can look to 2017 now.EAGLES, 19-17No. 11 Miami (plus 3 1-2) at No. 13 BaltimoreBy far the most perplexing game this week.RAVENS, 16-14No. 7 New York Giants (plus 6) at No. 12 Pittsburgh2004 first-round QBs and Super Bowl winners Eli vs. Ben. Giants winning string ends here.STEELERS, 27-24No. 31 San Francisco (plus 4) at No. 29 ChicagoWont get many worse matchups than this one.49ERS, 14-13---Last Week: Against spread (10-6). Straight up: (11-5)Season Totals: Against spread (84-84-6). Straight up: (103-71-2)Best Bet: 6-6 against spread, 8-4 straight up.Upset special: 5-6-1 against spread, 5-7 straight up---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Custom Green Bay Packers Jerseys . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Dave Robinson Jersey . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. http://www.shoptheofficialpackers.com/Elite-Elgton-Jenkins-Packers-Jersey/ .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. Paul Hornung Womens Jersey . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Bart Starr Youth Jersey .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does.CHICAGO -- Paul MacLean didnt want to take too much credit when accepting the Jack Adams Award as the NHLs coach of the year. He called himself a "representative" of a lot of other peoples hard work around the Ottawa Senators. But amid injuries to Norris Trophy-winning defenceman Erik Karlsson, centre Jason Spezza and goaltender Craig Anderson, it was MacLean who held it all together as the Senators managed to make the playoffs. "For me it was important that I continue to set the expectations of the team at a high level but also be realistic about those expectations," MacLean said. "We had Erik Karlsson injured, we had Jason Spezza injured. We didnt have those two players playing in Binghamton. For us to expect someone to come up and be able to be those two players is not realistic and its not fair to the players. "We try to stay as real as we could game-by-game and give the players realistic expectations and a realistic way to play the game to have success." Despite losing Spezza for all but five games and Karlsson for all but 17, the Senators had success in the form of a 56-point season. MacLean credited captain Daniel Alfredsson, the winner of the Mark Messier Leadership Award, along with Chris Phillips, Sergei Gonchar and Chris Neil, for providing a veteran presence given plenty of adversity. When the injury bug started to become an epidemic for the Senators, MacLean first wondered, "Whos next?" Then, the 55-year-old did some impressive coaching. "Thats what good teams do is find a way to win," he said. "So we were challenged early in the season to find ways to win and I think our leadership group accepted that, and the quality of our young players that we were able to bring up accepted that." Ottawa won with Kyle Turris as its leading scorer and players like defenceman Patrick Wiercioch and forward Mika Zibanejad playing major roles. MacLean also credited Anderson for his impressive season, along with young goalies Robin Lehner and Ben Bishop. The Chicago Blackhawks didnt have to deal with as much adversity this season in large part to the play of captain Jonathan Toews, who captured the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the leagues top defensive forward. "It meeans the world," Toews said.dddddddddddd "Its a tremendous feeling, I think, first of all, when youre mentioned in the same sentence after a full NHL season as guys like Pavel Datsyuk and Patrice Bergeron. To be able to go head-to-head with guys like that in the playoffs and to know them from the past, you understand how much they mean to their teams and how much they contribute offensively and defensively." Toews narrowly beat Bergeron of the Boston Bruins to win his first Selke Trophy, after a season in which he won 59.9 per cent of his faceoffs and had a plus-28 rating. The 25-year-old centre pointed to his time at Shattuck-St. Marys under coach Tom Ward as the point when he became a strong two-way player. "I really understood the importance of playing good hockey on both ends of the rink," Toews said. "Since then I really worked on every little part of my game that I could." Beat by Toews for Selke, Bergeron still got an award Friday, given the King Clancy for his humanitarian work. Tampa Bay Lightning right-winger Marty St. Louis won his third Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct. St. Louis already won the Art Ross Trophy by finishing the 48-game season with an NHL-best 60 points. Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins was named general manager of the year, and Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding, who battled back after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the off-season, got the Bill Masterton Memorial trophy for perseverance. On a much different scale, MacLean showed plenty of perseverance in getting the job as Senators coach. The long-time assistant wondered if he had passed the expiration date for becoming an NHL head coach. But experience kept MacLean from being "overwhelmed" by anything this season, and a berth in the playoffs provided validation that was only furthered by being coach of the year. "I just think that sticking to it and still believing in what I did as an assistant coach has helped me now that I get the opportunity to be the head coach," MacLean said. "This kind of gives us credibility that all those times when I was thinking that I could do this that now this kind of gives me the credibility that I was right, I could coach in the league." ' ' '