EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Having nine wins with three games left in the regular season used to be almost a guaranteed ticket to the NFL playoffs.Its not for the Detroit Lions and New York Giants as they head into Sundays game at MetLife Stadium.Both are 9-4, in good position, and either team can make the postseason with a win and a combination of other results.The Lions are riding a five-game winning streak that has given them a two-game lead over Minnesota and Green Bay in the NFC North. The Giants are two games behind Dallas (11-2) in the NFC East but they hold a one-game lead in the wild-card race after winning seven of eight.The problem for the loser will be the schedule. After the Giants, the Lions close at Dallas and then return home to face the Packers, who have are playing much better after a midseason slump.The Giants close with road games against division rivals. They have a quick turnaround for a Thursday night game against the Eagles (5-8) and finish at Washington (7-5-1), which beat them earlier this season.Theyre playing for a lot, were playing for a lot, said Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford , who will be playing with an injured middle finger on his throwing hand. Its an NFC game, its going to be a big one. Were excited about the opportunity, obviously, great to be in this type of a position. Just got to go out there and play well.The Lions, who made the playoffs as a wild card in coach Jim Caldwells first season in 2014 with an 11-5 record, are looking to get back to the postseason after going 7-9 last year. The Giants are looking to end a four-year playoff drought in Ben McAdoos first season as coach.For us to be here where we are, standing at 9-4 with playoff contention right there on the horizon, it is definitely fun to be here and to understand that the offense hasnt reached that top pinnacle of where we want to be, and we know it is coming, said receiver Victor Cruz, a member of New Yorks Super Bowl-winning team in February 2012. We know it is only a matter of time and hopefully it is this week.The defense has been the strength of both teams, with New Yorks group preserving probably all nine wins. The Giants offense has yet to score 30 points. The Lions offense has played well in the fourth quarter, posting comeback wins eight times.Some things to consider for Sundays game:MATCHING MANNINGS: Caldwell is close with Peyton Manning, dating to their years with the Indianapolis Colts. While he has watched Eli Manning from afar, he sees a lot of similarities.He has the same sort of mental makeup and youd have to certainly attribute that to Archie and Olivia, Caldwell said of the quarterbacks parents. Theyve had some young guys in that family, or the men in that family, that have performed very, very well under pressure. Theyve been built for it. Hes had maybe some of the best tutelage that one can have watching his older brother play, and then obviously both of them watching their dad play.ELI WOES: The Giants offense has been horrible in recent weeks, and so has Eli Manning. His passing yards have been in the 190s in the last three games and he has thrown three interceptions and lost two fumbles. He has not had a 300-yard game since throwing for 403 against Baltimore on Oct. 16.I got to play better, Manning said. Got to find completions, got to protect the football better. Thats whats got to happen in these type of games, and you get into December, you got to protect the football. Thats the most important thing right now.LEANING ON THE OL: Detroit desperately needs its offensive line to keep the Giants line off Stafford, who hurt the middle finger on his right hand early in last weeks win over Chicago . The line, which includes first-round pick Taylor Decker at left tackle and third-round pick Graham Glasgow at center, will have to block 350-pound defensive tackle Damon Harrison and defensive end Oliver Vernon.The Giants have 26 sacks since mid-October, second best in the league in that span.FIELD POSITION: Giants punter Brad Wing has placed 10 of his last 22 punts inside the oppositions 20. He was the NFC special teams player of the week for netting 42.9 yards in the win over the Cowboys. Watch New York long snapper Zak DeOssie; he is dealing with a hamstring issue.NO RUNNING: The Lions and Giants are among the NFLs worst rushing teams. Detroit is ranked No. 29, averaging 83.7 yards. The Giants are No. 31, averaging 78.7 yards. Theo Riddick leads the Lions with 357 yards on 92 carries, a 3.9 yard average, but is a major threat as a receiver. Rashad Jennings has 459 yards on 136 carries for New York, a 3.4 yard average.---AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Allen Park, Michigan contributed to this report.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and -http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFLFake Nike Shoes . 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. Cheap Nike Shoes From China . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. https://www.nikeshoeschina.us/ . LOUIS -- St. Nike Shoes From China Online .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. Discount Nike Shoes From China . The Vikings announced Thursday that Priefer will be one of seven holdovers from the previous staff, along with offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, wide receivers coach George Stewart and others. Norv Turner will mark his 30th year of coaching in the NFL as the offensive co-ordinator, as widely reported for weeks, and George Edwards will be the defensive co-ordinator.After 15 rounds, there they are again at the top of the AFL ladder, just as they have been for much of the past decade, looking down on the rest of the competition.Hawthorn and Sydney sit first and second respectively, and on Thursday evening play off in one of the most eagerly anticipated home-and-away matches of the year.Longmire extends Swans dealWhile most neutral observers will enjoy watching two potential grand finalists going toe-to-toe, there is another appeal - the knowledge that, come 10.45pm on Thursday, one of those two powerhouses will have suffered a defeat.Thats what its come to: the dominance of the same two or three clubs (Geelong is up there, too) each season is affecting the codes popularity. People are getting bored by the utter predictability of the competition which is beginning to have echoes of the Scottish football league, when Celtic and Rangers shared the championship between them virtually every year.For all the AFL Commissions attempts at levelling the playing field, through the draft, salary cap and equalisation payments, Hawthorn and Sydney continue to defy the social engineering. Like two cockroaches, they just march through the AFLs stream of Mortein and saddle up for another season of success.Hawthorn officials were understandably jubilant after winning the grand final last season, thumping a pathetic West Coast to claim their third premiership in a row.Yet when the leagues two heavyweights, chief executive Gillon McLachlan and chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, walked into the rooms afterwards, their faces hardly radiated happiness and the joy of life.The pair was privately furious that the Hawks had again scuppered their best-laid plans at producing a vibrant, exciting, even, fair-for-all competition. Hawthorn officials were nonplussed by the lack of magnanimity.This is one area where the NRL has had it all over the AFL in recent seasons: the variety of premiers.In the past nine seasons, three clubs have dominated the AFL competition - Geelong, Hawthorn and Sydney - with Collingwood breaking the nexus in 2010. Yet the NRL has produced six different premiers in the past six seasons alone - and four different clubs again that have finished runner-up.There is not the same entrenched superiority among the rugby league clubs. Even fans of the smaller, leess established teams know at the start of each season that, if the coach and administration are half-decent, theyve got a fighting chance of featuring in the grand final.dddddddddddd That North Queensland, based in tiny Townsville, can knock off the mighty Broncos of Brisbane in the big one - and what a contest last year that proved to be.Of course there is universal respect - and sneaky admiration - for the way the footy operations are run at Hawthorn and Sydney. With peerless administrations that boast clever recruiters and brilliant coaches - and foster rock-solid cultures - the two clubs are the envy of many.But if they play off in the grand final again this year, the collective groan from most non-aligned footy supporters in Melbourne will be heard all the way up the Hume Highway, and across the Nullarbor.This remains the AFLs great challenge. Yet when theyve needed to show a bit of backbone and defend their equalisation policies, and stand up to the rampant self-interest of powerful clubs such as Collingwood and the Hawks, they have tended to cave in like jellyfish.Because of the bleating of the Pies and Hawks, among others, we are now lumbered with a hopelessly compromised system where those two uber-rich clubs are paying not much more each year in equalisation monies than middle-tier clubs such as Richmond and Geelong. And that means the smaller clubs, who have been routinely shafted on the matter of free-to-air TV exposure, Friday night timeslots, lack of blockbuster fixtures and woeful stadium deals, are again short-changed.The Western Bulldogs, or Footscray as they once were, have not tasted final-Saturday success since 1954 - their one and only premiership. Only St Kilda fans with long memories will recall their sole triumph, in 1966, while Melbourne - in spite of a lengthy period dominating the competition in the 1950s and early 60s - have not lifted the premiership cup since 1964.Thats an excruciating wait for three disenfranchised generations of fans at those three clubs.Yet here we are again with those brown-and-gold Hawks, and Sydneys red-and-white Swans, perched atop the ladder and once again leading the charge towards September. ' ' '