DETROIT - When Jay Cutler guided Chicagos offence down the field for a touchdown on its first drive of the game, the Bears never once tried to run the ball.It turned out that was a bad sign.Calvin Johnson caught 11 passes for 146 yards with two first-half touchdowns, and the Detroit Lions boosted their post-season hopes with a 34-17 victory over Chicago on Thursday. The Bears were held to 13 yards on eight carries by the NFLs top-ranked run defence.Instead of trying to establish any sort of running game, Chicago used sort passes early on, but that only took the Bears so far.That front four is so good that we felt we needed to get them running sideline to sideline, and that was the best way to do it, coach Marc Trestman said. We got off to a quick start, but we werent able to maintain it.After losing at Arizona and New England and falling out of first place in the NFC North, the Lions (8-4) spotted Chicago a 14-3 first-quarter lead before rallying with relative ease in the second. Johnson had perhaps his best game of the season, and Detroit finally showed a bit of life offensively.Joique Bell ran for two touchdowns for the Lions, and Cutler threw two TD passes for Chicago (5-7). Detroits Matthew Stafford went 34 of 45 for 390 yards with the two touchdown passes to Johnson.Detroit had not scored this many points since a 35-14 win over the New York Giants in the season opener.Chicagos Matt Forte was a non-factor on the ground, finishing with 6 yards on five carries. Cutler went 31 of 48 for 280 yards with two fourth-quarter interceptions.Theyve got a really good front four, so we went to a lot of three-step drops and tried to use short passes as handoffs to try to break up their rush. It worked early, but we had short fields, Cutler said. After that, we started having to throw the ball down the field a little more and they were able to take advantage of that.Johnson had been held under 60 yards in two of three games since returning from an ankle injury, and there were rumblings that the 29-year-old receiver was slowing down. His first half Thursday was an emphatic response: nine catches for 109 yards.Guys still believe in what we got going here, Johnson said. We had a good week of practice — it was a very short week, but we were very detailed in what we did on the field, coaches taking care of us. Its our part to come out here and do our job on the field.The Bears opened the scoring on Cutlers 10-yard touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffery, and they scored again after Jared Allen sacked Stafford, forced a fumble and recovered it at the Detroit 5. Cutlers 6-yard scoring pass to Jeffery made it 14-3 with 3:35 left in the first quarter.Stafford, however, was brilliant in the second. Johnson made a leaping catch for a 25-yard touchdown, holding on despite a hit from defensive back Kyle Fuller. That was the first time Detroit had reached the end zone since Nov. 9 against Miami — and a sign that the Lions were shaking off some of the problems with their passing game.I dont know that they really did anything that we didnt expect, although they didnt have the drops that weve seen on film, or make the other mistakes that shut down offences, Trestman said. We were the ones that had those, especially penalties that took us out of good positions.Bell put the Lions ahead with a 1-yard scoring run on fourth down — leaping toward the goal line and extending the ball just far enough for a touchdown. Staffords 6-yard touchdown pass to Johnson made it 24-14 with 24 seconds left in the half.Stafford went 22 of 26 for 275 yards in the first half, and Johnson set a record as the fastest to 10,000 yards receiving, surpassing that milestone in the second quarter of his 115th game.Bells 1-yard run in the fourth was the only touchdown of the second half.NOTES: Chicago lost S Chris Conte early on because of an eye injury. ... Detroit C Dominic Raiola became the first Lions player to start 200 games. ... Lions WR Corey Fuller caught a 21-yard pass in the first half, and his brother Kyle — the Chicago CB — came over and playfully knocked the ball out of his hands after the play.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Kyle Lowry Jersey. -- The Washington Nationals placed first baseman Adam LaRoche on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained right quad. Raptors Jersey. - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, J. http://www.raptorsauthenticonline.com/Adidas-Vince-Carter-Raptors-Jersey/." That, Smith explained Monday at a news conference, would be the "typical thoughts a defensive player (would have) with the ball." And he heeded his own advice, going 69 yards for a touchdown on that play. He added a fumble recovery later and earned MVP honours as Seattle beat Mannings Denver Broncos 43-8 for the Seahawks first NFL championship. DeMar DeRozan Authentic Jersey.C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. Patrick Patterson Jersey Black Friday. - From his perch atop Regan Smiths pit box, team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.Despite a recent trip to Seattle, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says expansion is not currently on the horizon for the league. In a one-hour interview with TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun on Friday, Bettman discussed a variety of topics, including expansion, outdoor games and changes to the NHL draft. When asked about his recently reported trip to Seattle with deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Bettman said the visit simply coincided with being on the west coast for a playoff game in Anaheim. "We had a few hours to kill, we were in the neighborhood, so I figured Id go to Seattle to find out what the building story was," Bettman told LeBrun. "We werent there campaigning, we werent asking for anything, and thats been misreported. Based on the level of interest were getting from lots of people in Seattle and a fair amount of uncertainty and confusion about the building, we decided Lets go find out for ourselves what the story is with the building. And theres no prospect of a building right now." Investor Chris Hansen currently holds the rights with the city of Seattle to build a new arena, however Hansen will not move ahead with the building process until he has secured an NBA franchise. Hansen is not pursuing an NHL team for the arena, but would like to have an NHL team as a tenant of the arena under another owner. "The sense I get is he doesnt want to build a building just to have a tenant," Bettman said. "And since he seems to have things tied up with the city for the next three years, give or take, theres no certainty about a building." Bettmans takeaway from the Seattle tour; that "the possibility of a new arena is at best uncertain." Bettman said he is also aware of the arena being built in Quebec City, as well as the plans for an MGM Arena in Las Vegas, however expansion for his league currently remains off the table. "Things are popping up, but were not in an expansion process. Could we get to one at some point? Maybe.dddddddddddd But right now were not focused on going through an expansion process." While the league may not be expanding franchises, expanding fan bases through outdoor games will continue. The commissioner acknowledged that though the number of outdoor games will drop from the record six played last season, the league will play more than one outdoor game in 2014-15. Bettman explained that the elevated number of games this past season stemmed from various circumstances. "This year we used those games in a variety of ways. Part of it was promoting us going into the Olympics, part of it was promoting it coming out. And doing it in New York [around the Super Bowl] with two games...we had to do lots of stuff. Our people did an extraordinary job, but we really taxed things to the limit. But also, interestingly enough, the Olympic break let us set up for more games. So, itll be more than one and less than six next season." As the league continues its tradition of adding excitement with outdoor games, the discussion of adding more excitement to the draft has also come up. "The GMs have asked us whether or not more teams should be eligible for the lottery result moving up more teams and whether or not the odds should be adjusted a little bit. Thats something were looking at," Bettman said. Bettman told LeBrun it would be premature to say if the adjustments would be made in time for the 2015 Draft, but said changes are being contemplated. "We havent finished a proposal thats been circulated... I think if were going to make an adjustment, itll be that more picks are selected by the lottery and we might smooth out the odds a little. But again, thats not something were at yet." The current NHL draft process gives every non-playoff team a chance at the first overall selection, with percentages declining from 25 percent. The 2014 NHL Draft will take place on June 27-28 in Philadelphia. 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