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Discussing his Green Bay Packers victory over the Atlanta Falcons on a snowy night at Lambeau Field this week, coach Mike McCarthy uttered the sort of platitude that certainly sounds true.Winning in December is important, McCarthy said, and winning in December is difficult.Actually, a look at recent history shows the first part is not necessarily the case — especially if the ultimate goal is the Super Bowl. The idea that a strong regular-season finish is a prerequisite for an NFL championship turns out to be one of the myths and misconceptions about the last month of the year.Only once in the last nine years has a team with a better post-Dec. 1 regular-season record than its Super Bowl opponent won the title. And three times in that span, a team with a losing record down the stretch wound up taking home the trophy: Baltimore was 1-4 after Dec. 1, 2012; New Orleans was 2-3 heading into the playoffs three years earlier; Indianapolis was 2-3 three years before that. Each of those champs beat a Super Bowl foe that had a winning record over its final five regular-season games.Theres also a deep assumption that cold-weather teams dominate in the late season and playoffs.The weather definitely plays a part in football games late in the year, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon said. I dont think theres a player alive that loves to play in cold weather, but you can get used to it.The Vikings chose the north sideline at TFC Bank Stadium — their temporary home while a dome is being built — because they thought it would help during colder games. With the angle of the sun on December afternoons, the south sideline where the visitors stand is usually completely shaded; if the sun is out, the Vikings sideline gets all of it.Coach Mike Zimmer said on-field readings from Minnesotas home game against Carolina on Nov. 30 showed a 20-degree difference between the sunny and the shaded sideline.The players thanked me for being on that side a couple of times, Zimmer said.While players — or their fans — in spots such as Buffalo or Pittsburgh might hope for an edge down the stretch in this seasons tight AFC playoff race, data compiled by STATS also shows that not all teams based in cold-weather cities thrive this time of year.Sure, over the past 10 seasons, New England is a league-best 42-7 in December, and 14-4 when its 32 degrees or colder at kickoff (oddly enough, only Houston, at 3-0, has a higher winning percentage).But Denver is only 8-9 at 32-or-below at kickoff, a .471 winning percentage thats a significant drop from its .609 in all other games over the decade. Another example: The Cleveland Browns havent been particularly good in any weather the past 10 years, but their winning percentage drops from .349 at 33 degrees or above to .238 when the mercury drops.Sometimes if you take a cold-weather team into warm weather late in the year, that can affect them just as much as it does when you take a warm-weather team and put them in cold weather. Now youve been practicing in colder weather and you have to go out and play in warmer weather — and youre not used to that, either, said Moon, who played for the CFLs Edmonton Eskimos before moving to the NFL. Fatigue sets in. Guys can get a little more tired or dehydrated.At the other end of the spectrum, there are teams from warm-weather sites that do just fine in the cold, such as the Miami Dolphins, who in admittedly small sample size have gone 4-3 at 32-or-below since 2004, a .571 winning percentage that dwarfs their 33-and-above mark of .416.If guys excel in cold weather, it has to be something theyve been coached on or theyve been taught to block it out and say, Were going to play better, Redskins receiver Santana Moss said. When coach (Joe) Gibbs was here, he always taught us that Redskins weather was bad weather — wet, soggy, gloomy, cold. And we actually won games that time of year. We had the same team that didnt even go to the playoffs, but we won games in December.___AP Pro Football Writer Dave Campbell in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, contributed to this report.___Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Arizona Diamondbacks Pro Shop . The Raptors (15-15) posted six road victories last month and have won seven of their last nine games overall. Toronto visits the Washington Wizards on Friday night. Diamondbacks Jerseys 2019 . Hes still nowhere close to throwing yet. The four-time MVP was in good spirits when he made his first public appearance on the field since having neck surgery Sept. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/ . "Im excited just for a new start, just to see where things are going, to bring some kind of tradition back to the team and guys being excited about something new," the defensive back said during a conference call Monday after agreeing to stay with the Bombers rather than go to free agency next month. Wholesale Diamondbacks Jerseys .C. -- North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried said his team had a "golden" opportunity to help its NCAA tournament chances. Arizona Diamondbacks Shirts . On paper, it looks a little like Andre the Giant taking on a midget wrestler. It has all the makings of a rout with the Americans adding an eighth win in nine outings of this biennial event. The Yanks have eight players in the top 15 in the world while the Internationals have just one.PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins spot in the post-season is assured. The Phoenix Coyotes are living much more dangerously. For long stretches during Phoenixs 3-2 win on Tuesday night, it certainly looked like the other way around. Pouncing on a series of sloppy mistakes by the suddenly erratic Penguins, the Coyotes picked up two vital points in the chase for the eighth-seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Thomas Greiss stopped 23 shots -- including all 15 he faced over the final two periods -- and received plenty of help as Phoenix rebounded a night after losing starting goaltender Mike Smith indefinitely with a right leg injury in a loss to the New York Rangers on Monday. David Moss, Antoine Vermette and Mikkel Boedker scored for the Coyotes, who never trailed while dropping the Metropolitan Division-leading Penguins to just 6-6-2 since the Olympic break. "It gives confidence that if you can win in Pittsburgh you can win anywhere," Phoenix forward Shane Doan said. Jussi Jokinen and Taylor Pyatt scored for the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves, but the Penguins failed to clinch a playoff berth and looked lifeless at times without centre Evgeni Malkin, who is out 2-3 weeks after hurting his foot in a loss to St. Louis on Sunday. While hes expected by the end of the regular season, his absence is just the latest setback in a season in which Pittsburgh has lost over 400 man games due to injuries. It didnt seem to bother the Penguins as they built a seemingly insurmountable division lead. Coach Dan Bylsma isnt sure now is the time to start throwing around blame. "I dont think injuries had anything to do with today or what you saw on the ice," he said. More disconcerting for Pittsburgh is its lack of focus. The Penguins held a brief players only meeting after the game and cancelled a scheduled practice on Wednesday. "I dont think theres anyone feeling sorry for us, but that still doesnt allow us not to have the right type of effort and work ethic," centre Sidney Crosby said. Phoenixs play had a little bit to do with it. If the Coyotes were rattled by the loss of their franchise goaltender, it didnt exactly show. Greiss has been effective when sspelling Smith this season, though he wasnt sharp while allowing the Rangers to steal two points Monday by rallying for an overtime victory after he replaced Smith with 7:32 left in regulation and the Coyotes holding a one-goal lead.dddddddddddd No matter. Despite a short turnaround in the midst of a three-game road trip that could shape the final weeks of the regular season, Greiss kept the Penguins in check. "I thought we did a good job of being close to one another," Moss said. "It seemed like if there was a breakdown, there was support. If they had a chance, (Greiss) made a huge save." Whenever Pittsburgh made a mistake deep in its own zone, the Coyotes were there to take advantage. Moss picked up his seventh goal of the year when great forechecking by Martin Hanzal and Brandon McMillan produced a turnover that ended with Moss all alone in front of the Penguins net. Jokinens 18th goal of the season tied it 11:51 into the period, kind of. His wrist shot caromed out of the back of the net so quickly the goal light never came on. Play continued for nearly 3 minutes before a stoppage in play provided time for the goal to be awarded on replay. Vermette put Phoenix back in front with a power-play goal, poking a rebound between Fleurys legs. Pyatt knotted it at 2 with just 4 seconds left in the first by deflecting in Rob Scuderis shot from the point. The back-and-forth play, however, stopped over the final 40 minutes as the Coyotes choked off the Penguins while continuing to effectively counterpunch. Boedker put Phoenix in front to stay 13:18 into the second period by grabbing a rebound in front of the Pittsburgh net and roofing it over Fleurys glove as a penalty to Jokinen expired. NOTES: Injured Penguins defenceman Paul Martin did not skate on Tuesday morning due to an illness. Martin, who has not played since injuring his hand while playing for Team USA in the Winter Olympics, will have an X-ray on Sunday to determine his progress. ... The Coyotes recalled G Mark Visentin from the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League to serve as the backup until Smiths status is determined. ... The Penguins host Los Angeles on Thursday while Phoenix wraps up its road trip Thursday in New Jersey. ' ' '