The season wasnt supposed to go like this for the Cardinals and Panthers , Bengals and Packers . They combined to go 50-14 in 2015, all of them making the playoffs.This season, heading into Green Bays Monday night visit to Philadelphia, they are an ugly 15-26-2.Maybe all of that losing is overlooked when the Browns are 0-12 and the Niners are 1-10, having dropped those 10 after winning their opener. It shouldnt be.It starts to wear on you, Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick says. Im a winner. Ive never been in this position.That position is 3-7-1.Im just bummed, says Carson Palmer, whose Cardinals are 4-6-1 after making the NFC title game in January. Its disheartening, frustrating, and it hurts.How did it go so bad?ARIZONAThe Cardinals looked like the most-balanced roster in the NFL heading into September. While theyve had their share of injuries -- who hasnt? -- their shortcomings have centered on disappointing performances from many of the people they were counting on heavily.Start with Carson Palmer, who isnt making the big plays he produced last year and has thrown 11 interceptions to go with 15 TDs. Hes made some bad decisions and hasnt gotten much production out of any skill position guys except running back David Johnson, who has been terrific, and the always reliable WR Larry Fitzgerald. Arizona struggles to protect the stationary quarterback, too.Although the defense has some nice stats, its also not making game-changing plays.And special teams have been suspect.CAROLINAClearly the strangest collapse of 2016. The Panthers remain a dangerous opponent, as they showed Sunday by storming back from a 17-point halftime deficit at Oakland before losing 35-32.Super Bowl losers tend to struggle the next season, and Carolina is no exception, particularly in the secondary. Removing the franchise tag from 2015 All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman, who landed in Washington, has plagued the defense all season.The offensive line is a mess, leading to Cam Newtons falloff from his MVP showing. Jonathan Stewarts injury badly damaged a running game that only now is recuperating.Carolina also cant close, being outscored 128-75 in the fourth quarter. Close games have been going the other way, too, with five losses by three points or less.We are done comparing everything to last year, standout tight end Greg Olsen says. The reality is that we are 4-7. It is a tough loss. Obviously, there are a lot of things that we could have done better to give us a better chance.CINCINNATIEvery coach, player and team executive will swear that past performances dont have much effect on current events. The Bengals might be better off living in the past, at least regular season-wise.This franchise has made five straight trips to the postseason, losing in its first game each time. No matter what the Bengals say, that does wear on a team, particularly one with so many veterans who have gone through those January failures.Cincinnati has the look of a group waiting for the opponent to seize control. Its meltdown in the wild-card matchup with Pittsburgh last season, a game the Bengals had no business blowing, sure seems to have caused a major hangover.Add in having few complements to the wonderful A.J. Green, who is now sidelined; a leaky blocking unit; questionable coaching decisions by Marvin Lewis and his staff; and key mistakes by special teams.GREEN BAYWhen you have a quarterback with a Hall of Fame-quality resume like Aaron Rodgers, and youve been to the playoffs seven straight seasons, expectations remain high. Results in 2016 have been low.Dont blame Rodgers, whos trying to carry the offense without a recognizable running game and with a line so jumbled it looks like, well, Swiss cheese.Of all the 2015 playoff teams who are spiraling this season, the Packers have had the worst injury epidemic. Their secondary is so undermanned it sometimes seems theres no one left to line up at cornerback.Questions even have begun to arise about the job security of Mike McCarthy, despite his stellar career record. Thats the usual fallout when projected contenders fall apart.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Rod Woodson Jersey .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. 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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Eli Manning is one of the few players on the New York Giants who knows what it is like to make a playoff run.The previous time the Giants did it was in 2011 and Manning went on to lead New York to its second Super Bowl title in five seasons.The past four years have been dismal, including consecutive 6-10 seasons the past two years that forced Tom Coughlin out and led to the hiring of Ben McAdoo.New York (7-3) will head into this weekends game at Cleveland riding a five-game winning streak and in position to end a four-year playoff drought.It has the best record among NFC teams not leading a division, but the schedule will get tougher in the final six weeks.It feels good. Were winning football games and doing some things well, Manning said Tuesday. We just have to stay hungry and keep competing. Keep working on getting better each and every week. We just have to stay the course. Definitely room for improvement.If there is an area of concern for Manning, the offense just isnt putting up a lot of points. The Giants are averaging under 21 points and their seven wins have been by a total of 27 points.Winning close games was something the teams in 2007 and 11 did in their title runs.Thats what you have to do in this league, Manning said. Those teams, win the close games and on the line, we tend to play our best football. Thats a good thing. Thats a great quality to have.You have a confidence that when you get in the fourth quarter and in tthese close games, were going to be able to pull it out.ddddddddddddManning isnt worried about a letdown in a trap game against the winless Browns. He said the team has done a good job of focusing on the weekly task.For us, we have to understand and be prepared for every game and situation, the 13-year veteran said. If you dont go about and you dont prepare, youre going to lose.We have to have great preparation. Its not a team weve played a whole lot. We have to get familiar with the personnel, their scheme, have a great practice, go into a tough environment and win a football game.Winning also has created a loose locker room. There is a lot of work, but also a lot of kidding around.The locker room should be fun, Manning said. You win football games, five in a row, it should be fun. Youre enjoying that time and in contention to win a division. All of those things. Its an exciting time. There should be a lot of good energy around the
