Winner needs help to make playoffs
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Editor&#39;s note: ESPN senior NFL writer John Clayton&#39;s weekly &quot;First And 10&quot; column takes you around the league with a look at the best game of the week followed by primers for 10 other games.
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After their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the Giants were faced with a riddle: How can a team that has lost five of its past six games still hold a playoff spot?
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Overcoming a poor history can be tough in sports. Keeping a strong team consistently on top might be even harder.
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CHARLOTTE - The Carolina Panthers must beat the New Orleans Saints this Sunday and get some outside help from other teams to qualify for the NFC playoffs and complete the most remarkable turnaround in NFL history.
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San Diego -- The sports cliche about taking them one game at a time does not apply in a final-week drive for the playoffs. That, the players say, is looking too far ahead.
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LeBron James and the Cavaliers are trying to bring a winner to a city that hasn't witnessed a championship since 1964 and is all too used to having its collective heart broken by the Browns, Indians and its pro basketball team.
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MINNEAPOLIS -- One is a 6-foot-1 National Player of the Year candidate, looking to lead her top-ranked team back to the Final Four.
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The Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres are both in need of wins as they chase playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. So there was a lot at stake going into Sunday night's game.
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If experience counted for everything, Jeff Gordon would be a lock to win NASCAR&#39;s first 10-man, 10-race championship playoff. The four-time series champion goes into Sunday&#39;s Sylvania 300, the first event
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Who needs Donovan McNabb? Jeff Garcia has the Philadelphia Eagles on the verge of a playoff berth and possibly the NFC East title.
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The National League Championship Series boils down to one simple fact: The Cardinals must win today and Thursday, while the Astros need win only once, to advance to the World Series.
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The Jets enter Sunday's game at St. Louis needing a victory to guarantee a wild-card spot in the A.F.C. playoffs.
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The Bruins' road to a postseason berth remains steep, but it would be more difficult today if two other teams also struggling for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference hadn't also squandered points last night.
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By Douglas A. Kaid, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.  Jan. 31--LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Sometimes the other team is simply better. It's a tough thing to admit for competitors who spend all season trying to convince themselves they can't be beaten if they play their best.
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With the Giants on the brink of a playoff berth, the teamâs coach wanted them to file away the dreary, frustrating loss to Washington and focus on the game ahead.
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The Buffalo Bills can become the second team in league history to clinch a playoff berth after an 0-4 start - but they still need help.
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Player fights to save career amid allegations of animal cruelty and illegal betting.