making his first start since being recalled from

Playoff football is back in Big D. Roberto Alomar Jersey . The Dallas Cowboys knew it would happen before the season began by boldly sending out postseason packages to their season-ticket holders last summer. Its unknown if Nostradamus had something to do with Dallas audacious prediction to reach the postseason, but the Cowboys know they will have their hands full with the Detroit Lions Sunday in an NFC Wild Card Game. Dallas captured the NFC East title and the third seed in the conference with a 12-4 record and are in the playoffs for the first time since winning the division in 2009. Cowboys quarterback and MVP candidate Tony Romo has only one playoff victory under his belt and looks to build on that. Im playing at a level Im proud of and hope to get better, said Romo, who passed for 299 yards and two touchdowns with an interception in a 44-17 drubbing of Washington in the season finale. Im just excited about the progression of improvement and want to keep this going in our next game. Romo passed for 3,705 yards, 34 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He is 1-3 as a starter in the playoffs, completing 80-of-1,235 passes for 832 yards, four TDs and two INTs. Now that the running game has hit full stride, Romo wont have to carry the offensive load. In four starts against the Lions, Romo is 1-3 with 1,160 yards, 10 TDs and four picks. In seven home games this season, Romo passed for 1,772 yards, 14 touchdowns and was picked off seven times. He dealt with a lingering back issue all season, but has received treatment prior to the last few games to deaden the pain. Romo has built a strong rapport with leading receiver Dez Bryant, who led the team with 88 catches for 1,320 yards and a franchise-best 16 TDs. Bryant had six touchdown receptions over the last three games for the Cowboys, who ripped off four straight wins after an embarrassing loss at home to the Philadelphia Eagles. Bryant is the only player in the NFL with 12 or more receiving touchdowns in each of the past three seasons, and has five touchdown catches in three meetings with Detroit. Dez is really a remarkable player, Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said. As a teammate, as a leader, as a veteran guy, you take a lot of pride in seeing the growth of Dez and (running back) DeMarco (Murray) mature as players. Dez is a unbelievable player, hes a dynamic player, and its great to see his growth. The Lions are in the playoffs for only the second time in the past 15 years and ended a two-year drought with an 11-5 record in the first year of head coach Jim Caldwell. The Lions just missed out on an NFC North title and the Green Bay Packers claimed it with a 12-4 mark. Detroit was hoping to close the regular season with five straight wins, but dropped a 30-20 decision to the Packers Sunday at Lambeau Field. Matthew Stafford passed for 217 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for the Lions, whose 11 wins are the most since a 12-4 record back in 1991. Stafford threw for 4,257 yards with 22 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and has eclipsed the 4,000-yard passing mark for a fourth straight season. He is 2-0 in his career versus Dallas and lost his only playoff appearance to New Orleans in 2011, throwing for 380 yards, three TDs and two INTs in a 45-28 setback in the Big Easy. Wide receiver Calvin Johnson is Staffords main target and he had 211 yards and two scores on 12 receptions against the Saints. Stafford is focused on winning his first playoff game. I think, obviously, you watch every game and find ways that you can get better, win, lose or draw, Stafford said. Were a battle-tested team and have won 11 football games this year. We found ways to win a lot of them and well continue to do that. We just have to move forward. Golden Tate, not Johnson, led Detroit with 99 receptions for 1,331 yards in his first year with the team, while Megatron grabbed a team-high eight touchdown receptions. Johnson missed three games because of injury. Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh almost missed this playoff game against the Cowboys after he stepped on the legs of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers while he was down on the grass. Suh was originally suspended for the game for violating playing rules prohibiting unnecessary roughness, but the penalty was reduced on appeal to a $70,000 fine. Suh paced the Lions with 8 1/2 sacks and is a vital piece to the stout run defense, which finished first in rushing yards allowed (69.3). The Lions were second in total defense and held opponents to 100 rushing yards or fewer in 14 of 16 games, including five games with 50 rushing yards or fewer. Murray led the NFL in rushing with a team-record 1,845 yards and 12 100-yard games. Murray was tied for the league lead in rushing scores with 13 and opened the season with eight straight 100-yard games for Dallas, which was second overall with 147.1 rushing yards per game. Controlling the line of scrimmage is important, Caldwell said. Our defense has been really strong in that area throughout the year. The Lions defeated the Cowboys, 31-30, on Oct. 27, 2013 and were aided by Staffords 488 passing yards. Johnson caught 14 passes for a franchise-record 329 yards and a score in that one for Detroit, which has won two in a row in this series after losing five of the previous six encounters. Detroit and Dallas have split two playoff matchups, while the Cowboys lead the overall series by a 13-12 margin. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Sundays game features two great quarterbacks and two outstanding wide receivers. The Romo-to-Bryant connection has been on point the last few weeks and cannot afford to have a Thanksgiving flop. Romo threw for 199 yards and two interceptions, and was sacked twice in that Big D debacle Bryant had 73 yards on six catches with no TDs. He has made great strides since that loss, however. Were just getting started and were excited about the opportunity in front of us, Romo said about the postseason. Romo led the NFL with a club-record 113.2 passer rating. He has to be aware of Detroit defenders Suh, Ezekiel Ansah, George Johnson and DeAndre Levy. Levy led the Lions with 151 tackles, while Glover Quin snatched an NFL-best seven interceptions. Detroit had 20 INTs this season, second most in NFC. It will try to produce a few more turnovers and contain the likes of Bryant and Witten. The Lions hope right guard Larry Warford will be available after he was carted off the field Sunday with a knee injury. Warford is day-to-day and hopes to be ready for the Cowboys. They havent really told me what to say, Warford said. Cant say anything about the injury right now, but hopefully Ill be back soon. Lions rookie center Travis Swanson made his first start in Green Bay and replaced suspended veteran Dominic Raiola. Dallas had four players with 70 or tackles in Barry Church (97), Rolando McClain (81), Anthony Hitchens (75) and J.J. Wilcox (74). Bruce Carter recorded five interceptions and Wilcox had three. Church and Wilcox will have to help over the top with corners Brandon Carr and Orlando Scandrick lining up against Johnson and Tate. OVERALL ANALYSIS The Lions have it tough facing the Packers two times a season and were able to split the NFC North series with each team winning at home. The Cowboys are just as talented, and the Lions will have to enter Dallas den in hopes of keeping the season alive. The Cowboys were a perfect 8-0 on the road in the regular season and 4-4 at AT&T Stadium. The house that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones built will be electric this weekend, and getting Murray going early is priority No. 1. As difficult as that will be for Detroit to stop, theres Romo and Bryant to worry about. We have a great defense, theyve held us in games a lot of times, Johnson said of Detroits stop unit. Like they say, defense wins championships, so if we just step our game up on offense well be alright. Detroit is facing a fine collection of talent and will need a complete effort to pull off the victory. It wont happen this year, unfortunately, as Romo and the Boys ride off into the NFC divisional round of the playoffs. Kevin Cron Jersey .Airport spokeswoman Heather Lissner said that all departing flights were back on schedule. However, arriving flights were still trying to catch up.Super Bowl Sunday got off to an inconvenient start for hundreds of passengers trying to get to Phoenix for the game. Danny Bautista Jersey . -- Adam Tambellini scored three times and set up one more as the Calgary Hitmen won their sixth in a row by crushing the host Lethbridge Hurricanes 8-1 on Saturday in Western Hockey League play. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/1108l-steve-finley-jersey-diamondbacks.html . -- Athletics manager Bob Melvin is already starting to run out of superlatives to describe Scott Kazmir. MIAMI -- Eager to give himself some run support, New York Mets pitcher Jonathon Niese stepped to the plate with a runner at third and dropped down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt. His teammates, meanwhile, swung away -- and connected. Daniel Murphy hit a three-run homer and the Mets matched a season high with 17 hits Sunday to beat the slumping Miami Marlins 11-5. Niese (4-4), who has been plagued by a lack of offensive help this year, won for the first time since May 22 and enjoyed pitching with a big lead. "It was a good feeling," he said. "We hit them hard and hit them early. Its a lot more comfortable going out there, and youre able to pound the zone." Niese allowed less than four earned runs for the 19th consecutive start, giving up three in six innings. "The offence really busted out, and Jonathon did another great job," teammate David Wright said. "Every time he takes the ball, you think hes going to go nine innings, and offensively we havent done a lot to pick him up. Im glad we were able to do that today." Niese -- batting eighth -- drove in a run with a bunt in the second inning. Manager Terry Collins joked that he hadnt called for a suicide squeeze since 2006, and Niese said it might have been the first of his career. "Luckily was able to get a pitch I could put down," Niese said. Kirk Nieuwenhuis scored without a play for a 2-0 lead. "The squeeze was huge," Collins said. "We dont do that much, but I wanted to see if we could get something started, so we tried something different." The bulk of the offence, however, came from higher in the order. Wright drove in a run for the sixth game in a row. Curtis Granderson thrived again in the leadoff spot, reaching base four consecutive times. He and Lucas Duda each had three hits. Murphy had two hits, including his sixth homer. Nieuwenhuis, making his first start since being recalled from Triple-A, doubled twice. "Weve been waiting a long time to break one open," Collins said. "People think we play ugly game. Were getting beat 4-3 and 3-2. Were hanging in there. Wee get a lot of guys on, we just havent been able to get big hits. Randy Johnson Jersey. When you have big hits, you look great." Rookie Anthony DeSclafani (1-2), making his fourth major league start, gave up seven runs in 3 2-3 innings and departed with a 7.59 ERA. He was unable to keep the ball down or throw breaking pitches for strikes. "I fell behind hitters, and the fastballs were flying up in the zone," he said. "When that happens, youre not going to get the results you want." The Marlins (37-38) fell below .500 for the first time since April 30. Ten days ago they had the best home record in the majors, but they went 3-7 on their longest homestand of the year, losing all three series. "You just have to keeping grinding and stay positive," Garrett Jones said. "Its a long season. Every team runs into this type of thing where the offence isnt clicking and the pitching isnt clicking." The Mets had scored a total of 13 runs in Nieses previous five starts, but he led 7-0 before giving up three runs in the sixth. The left-hander then struck out Derek Dietrich with the bases loaded to end the inning and his afternoon. Nieses performance was part of a trend. Mets starters have an ERA of 1.74 over the past six games. The Mets have won four of their past five, but they still trail NL East leader Washington by five games. "If we keep the starting pitching going and keep the offence going, I think we should climb back in this thing," Niese said. NOTES: Marlins SS Adeiny Hechavarria (elbow) sat out his second game in a row but was feeling better available to pinch-hit. ... Marlins Spanish-language radio announcer Felo Ramirez celebrated his 91st birthday. ... The Mets improved to 16-11 in day games. ... The game drew a crowd of 24,613, plus 605 dogs on "Bark in the Park" day. ... The Mets begin a two-game homestand Tuesday when RHP Bartolo Colon (7-5, 3.88) pitches against Oakland. ... The Marlins begin a four-game series at Philadelphia on Monday when RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-3, 3.76) pitches against RHP Roberto Hernandez (3-5, 4.52). ' ' '