The NFL is entering its closing stretch, with the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders appear to be headed for for surprisingly high playoff berths.On the other hand, several teams that had high hopes before the season have been struggling. So, #PulseOfTheNation asks:The Carolina Panthers (4-7), of course, reached last seasons Super Bowl after a long unbeaten run to start the season. The Arizona Cardinals (4-6-1) were the Panthers opponent in the NFC Championship Game after beating the Green Bay Packers (5-6) in the divisional round. The Cincinnati Bengals (3-7-1) are coming off five straight playoff appearances, while the New York Jets (3-8) went 10-6 last year, missing the playoffs on a tiebreaker.Authentic Saints Jerseys . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. Ethan Greenidge Jersey . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. http://www.cheapsaintsjerseyselite.com/?tag=cheap-michael-thomas-jersey . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. Wil Lutz Jersey . The move comes after the Canadiens were approached by the Buffalo Sabres for permission to speak to Dudley - a former Sabres player and head coach. "The Sabres called for permission and I appreciate that, Im flattered, Dudley told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. Corbin Kaufusi Jersey . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2.MILWAUKEE -- For the second straight season, the Milwaukee Bucks laid an egg opening the season in front of their home fans, falling 107-96 to the Charlotte Hornets.The problems that plagued Milwaukee in its opener are the same that tortured the Bucks last season: an inability to make 3-pointers and lengthy defensive lapses that allowed opponents to build double-digit leads.Milwaukee made just 3 of 16 3-point attempts and Charlotte shot 45 percent from the field and outrebounded the Bucks 51-46.They came out and pressed us right away and it just got out of rhythm for us, Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. We should have accepted that pressure and moved the ball. Its a lot of good stuff, but theres a lot of work to be done.The only bright spot for the Bucks was the play of forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who hit 13 of 21 shots from the field for 31 points to go along with nine rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes.Giannis was great, Kidd said. We need that for the whole season. He was off the charts, but hes got to get his teammates to join him.It was the third career 30-plus scoring game for Antetokounmpo, who is handling the bulk of Milwaukees ball-handling duties this season.I think we have to do a better job of giving that extra effort, Antetokounmpo said. As Coach (Kidd) said about the 50/50 balls, it went to them and we have to do a better job of rebounding the ball. Theres a lot of things we have to clean up. We are going to work on it, though.ddddddddddddAntetokounmpo and the Bucks will try to turn things around Saturday when playing host to the Brooklyn Nets at the Bradley Center.The Nets opened the season with a 122-117 loss Wednesday at Boston but turned things around Friday night with a 103-94 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Brooklyn.Brook Lopez led the way, scoring 25 points and grabbing five rebounds. Brooklyn also got a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double from Trevor Booker.Nets coach Kenny Atkinson was especially pleased with his teams defense, which held the Pacers to 37.8 percent shooting from the field.Its just nice to see your work pay off, and weve been working a lot on defense, Atkinson said. I said from the beginning of training camp that it was going to be an emphasis -- that the offense was probably going to lag behind the defense. So it was good to see that work pay off.Both teams come into the game relatively healthy. Tony Snell was Milwaukees only player to sit because of injury in the opener; hes still recovering from a sprained left ankle.Randy Foye, battling a mild right hamstring strain, andCaris LeVert, rehabbing a left foot injury, sat out Friday night for Brooklyn.The Bucks have won 11 of the last 15 meetings with the Nets, including a 3-0 sweep last season.Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys Wholesale Basketball Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys ' ' '