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 Wholesale Green Bay Packers Jerseys . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Ray Nitschke Jersey . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. http://www.cheappackersjerseyssale.com/?tag=kentrell-brice-jersey-sale . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Jaire Alexander Jersey . -- Bryant McKinnie came out of his stance and lowered his shoulder into a practice squad player, causing a crisp thud to reverberate in the Miami Dolphins practice bubble. Marquez Valdes-Scantling Jersey . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. RIO DE JANEIRO -- The Japanese womens basketball team talked the upbeat pregame talk that any team worth a nickel usually does. But once this quarterfinal knockout game at the Rio Summer Olympics started, the Japanese were actually backing the talk up against the heavily favored U.S. as if theyd cribbed every trick that prohibitive underdogs from Princeton to Chaminade, Danny & the Miracles to Jackie Stiles and Southeastern Oklahoma State used once upon a time.The Japanese cut, they curled off well-set screens, they dribbled and drove and made kickout passes to perimeters shooters who shot like they never expected to miss. For a while it was so effective you might have expected to see Pete Carril in their huddle during a timeout. They played a now you see us, now you dont brand of uptempo basketball that dared the Americans to keep up, but they brought out the best in the Americans, too. The U.S. was grateful for the push.Japan trailed by as little as 46-44 near the end of the second quarter before the U.S. quashed any thoughts of a monumental upset and limited Japan to just 18 points over the last two quarters for a 110-64 win.We needed this kind of game, we needed this, American guard Angel McCoughtry said.They were hard to handle, they had us worried, Diana Taurasi said. That was the first time we went into the locker room here and said, Weve got to get this going.The U.S. now moves into Thursdays semifinal round opposite France, which defeated Canada on Tuesday. Spain plays in the other semifinal against Serbia, the reigning European champs who upset Australia earlier in the day 73-71, sending the Aussies home without a medal for the first time since 1992.For an American team that has steamrolled its way through these Olympic Games by winning its first five game by an average margin of 40 points, you could tell parts of this game were fun. The Americans had a total of only 10 days of practice together to prepare for these Games, and until they were tested like this, McCouughtry said, they didnt really know how theyd respond.ddddddddddddThe answer, as it turned out, was that everyone played well. The U.S. shot 67 percent from the field against the undersized Japanese team, whose tallest player is 6-foot-3.The only downbeat outcome of the game for the U.S. was that Sue Bird, the teams four-time Olympic point guard, left the game after suffering an undisclosed knee injury in a second-quarter collision. On the advice of the team trainer and doctors, she didnt return. When asked after the game if she was OK as she was walking through the mixed zone press area, Bird nodded and said, Oh yeah.Taurasi said, Hopefully everything will check out OK in the morning.Bird always tried to tell people the womens basketball team will have a game or two at every international competition thats interesting like this. She swears these Olympic competitions arent automatic American wins. But its always a hard sell.The American women have won five straight gold medals. Theyre riding a 47-game winning streak. The gap between them and the rest of the worlds Olympic teams seems to have gotten wider in the last three or four Olympics, not narrower. But theres a generational shift underway, too. Thirty-somethings such as Bird, Taurasi, Tamika Catchings, Lindsay Whalen and Seimone Augustus -- nearly half of the 12-player roster -- will almost surely be retired by the next Summer Games.Japan will host those Olympics, in Tokyo.So remember this night.American coach Geno Auriemma called Japans offense as good as Ive ever seen as far as how quickly they move the ball and how quickly they move themselves.Taurasi said Japan is just a couple of pieces away from being one of the top four or five teams in the world.But not only that.Whewwww, said McCoughtry, the U.S. teams most vocal worrier, exhaling heavily. It was tough chasing them around and around. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Hockey Jerseys Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys China Wholesale Baseball Jerseys China Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys Near Me Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic MLB Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Throwback Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '