And down the stretch they come.The Cowboys already are in the playoffs. The Patriots and Seahawks almost certainly will qualify soon, too. Believe it or not, Raiders fans, your team is about to end its 13-season drought.As for the rest, well, the scramble is on. Heres whats ahead in the frantic final four weeks of an already unpredictable season:AFCIt would seem that the wild cards will come out of the West, by far the best division in football. Whether its Denver, Kansas City or Oakland, those teams will provide quite a test for the North or South winner in the first round of the postseason.Whoever wins the West almost certainly will have a first-round bye, too. After the Chiefs win Thursday night and their sweep of Oakland -- plus a win over Denver in their pocket -- they hold most of the cards in the division.It just shows how good our division is, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr says. I think its a cool thing, to be honest. I think its awesome. Competition brings the best out of everybody. Its been like that all year. Weve all been right there with each other and weve all been pushing each other. Its fun, man.Defending Super Bowl champ Denver (8-4) has the toughest road with games against Tennessee, New England, Kansas City and Oakland.The other bye figures to go to the Patriots -- no surprise there. It would be the seventh straight year New England was off for the first weekend of the playoffs.The other two divisions are murky, with the South a tossup.Houston has led the division all season, but is in the midst of a major swoon, its offense unreliable, its defense banged-up. Indianapolis has Andrew Luck back, and he could be a difference maker, but losing its best defender, linebacker DQwell Jackson to a four-game suspension, is damaging to a mediocre unit.Tennessee, a team to watch out for in 2017, must play Denver and Kansas City before finishing with the Jaguars and Texans.This is a four-game playoff to get to the playoffs, Texans coach Bill OBrien says.Houston, Indy and Tennessee all are 6-6. Will 8-8 be good enough to sneak off with the South -- and then get hammered by a wild-card team?As for dropping the hammer, thats the operating standard for the North, best personified by the Ravens and Steelers. Both are 7-5, both are hitting stride, and both face off Christmas night. Cant wait.NFCDallas has so separated itself from the rest of the conference that not only can it secure the East title with a win at the Giants on Sunday night, it also can nail down home-field advantage throughout the playoffs if Detroit and Seattle lose.Well let other people talk about those kinds of things, coach Jason Garrett says. The best thing this team has done is focus. We focus on one opponent at a time. We focus on one days preparation at a time. Well continue to do that.Lets pencil in the Cowboys as the top seed, then sit back and watch an intriguing race for the other bye between the Seahawks and Lions.Detroit (8-4) almost is as much a surprise as Dallas, but it hasnt yet convinced folks it will win the North. Its final three games are at the Giants and Cowboys, then hosting the Packers (6-6) on New Years Day. Green Bay won the first meeting, and Aaron Rodgers has been playing lights-out football for weeks.But give Detroit its due: No team has been more impressive in close games, Matthew Stafford is having his best season, and its plus-6 turnover margin is among the NFL leaders.The Packers, who must navigate through three divisional games to finish the schedule after hosting Seattle on Sunday, look more like a wild-card chaser.Seattle (8-3-1) might have the leagues most talented roster when everyone is healthy. Thats hardly the case now, and losing perennial All-Pro safety Earl Thomas for the rest of the season is damaging.The good news for the Seahawks is their offense, while streaky, has playmakers such as Russell Wilson -- also in the midst of an MVP-caliber year -- Jimmy Graham and Doug Baldwin, plus, at last, a threat at running back with Thomas Rawls return to the lineup.And the Seahawks have little reason to look behind them in the West.Atlanta (7-5) hadnt been looking in the rearview mirror since it took hold of the South at 4-1. Now it has been caught by Tampa Bay, and the Falcons have thrown away some games, making everyone wonder how much staying power they have.They do, however, have a huge edge in the remaining schedule. While they face the Rams, 49ers, Panthers and Saints (total record: 14-34), Tampa gets New Orleans twice, Carolina -- and Dallas.The wild-card race is such a jumble that diving deep into tiebreakers on Jan. 1 might be needed to settle things. The Giants (8-4) have the inside track, but also a difficult schedule (Cowboys, Lions, Redskins, Eagles) and a major injury with Jason Pierre-Paul done for 2016.Its possible the runner-up in the North and South, perhaps even the Cardinals or Vikings if they ever get things straightened out, will be alive beyond Christmas.The NFL sure must like a the more the merrier idea.---AP Sports Writer Schuyler Dixon contributed.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Austin Seibert Browns Jersey . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. Joe Thomas Womens Jersey . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. http://www.footballbrownsnflprostore.com/Youth-Greedy-Williams-Elite-Jersey/ . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Ozzie Newsome Womens Jersey . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Joe Thomas Jersey . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Ian Kennedy has been getting scant support, 11 runs in his previous nine starts, the lowest in the majors in that span.Alex Gordon and the Kansas City hitters quickly made up for that drought.Gordon homered twice and doubled, Kennedy pitched eight sharp innings and the Royals extended their winning streak to seven games, beating the Minnesota Twins 10-0 Saturday night.Tonight the offense was just rolling, Gordon said. Like we talked about last year, just keep the line moving. Thats kind of what we had tonight.Its a little contagious, everyone was feeling good at the plate and you just roll with it, he said.The Royals string is their best since they won seven straight in April 2015. The World Series champions have won 12 of 14 to move back into the AL wild-card race.We scored four, which helped, and then attack the zone a little bit more, Kennedy said. And then we scored more later on and we just kept tacking on. It allows us to go out there and throw strikes and try to get ahead of guys and be efficient.Gordon has homered five times in five games. He connected in the fourth inning and again in the fifth for his fourth career multihomer game and his first since May 18, 2014.Kennedy (8-9) gave up four hits, walked none and struck out six. He allowed only one runner past second base and has an 0.79 ERA in his past five starts.Kennedy has allowed no more than one run while pitching at least six innings in that five-start span, tying a team record. Larry Gura had a parallel streak in 1981.(Danny) Duffy hasnt done that yet? Kennedy said. It seems like every time hes out there, hes doing that same thing.Salvador Perez and Gordon hit back-to-back home runs in a four-run fifth, chasing Hector Santiago (10-8).Kennedys got a sneaky fastball, Twins star Brian Dozier said. And he lives away. He was getting the call all night about three or four inches off. He kept peppering us. Its what veteran pitchers ddo.dddddddddddd He kept getting it and we tried to make adjustments.Obviously with a good pitcher like that, and you give up run after run after run from the third inning on, its tough to play catch up, he said.Santiago was tagged for eight runs and 11 hits over 4 2/3 innings. The lefty is 0-4 with a 10.89 ERA since the Twins acquired him in an Aug. 1 trade with the Los Angeles Angels.Too many pitches in the middle of the zone, too many mistakes, Santiago said.Lorenzo Cain doubled twice, singled and drove in three runs.NO DOZIER HOMERDozier had homered in seven straight games hed started against the Royals before going 0 for 4.TWINS RECALL MEJIALHP Adalberto Mejia, acquired by the Twins from the Giants in a July 28 trade for Eduardo Nunez, was recalled from Triple-A Rochester, where he was 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA in three starts. Mejia was scheduled to start Saturday for the Red Wings, but instead went to the Minnesota bullpen. Mejia made his big league debut, giving up two runs on five hie Twins announced after the game he was being sent back to Rochester. ... 1B-DH Kenny Vargas, who hit .259 in 25 games, was optioned to Rochester.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: Closer RHP Wade Davis, who went on the disabled list July 31 with a flexor strain, is going to Surprise, Arizona, to throw batting practice. Well see how he does there, Royals manager Ned Yost said. Yost said Davis has thrown three or four bullpen sessions.UP NEXTTwins: RHP Ervin Santana, who has won his past three starts, is 13-14 with a 3.69 ERA in 39 starts
