DETROIT -- Matthew Stafford ran for the winning touchdown in another close victory.The big concern now is whether hell be able to throw effectively as the Detroit Lions chase a division title.Staffords 7-yard scoring run with 3:17 remaining lifted the Lions to a 20-17 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, but the Detroit quarterback was bothered by a finger issue on his throwing hand. The middle finger on his right hand was taped up and covered by a white glove, and Stafford passed for only 223 yards with two interceptions.I just tried to play through it, play as good as I could, he said. I let those guys know that it may not be pretty coming in there, but those guys made some great plays for me.Detroit (9-4) leads the NFC North by two games, but the Lions havent won a division title since 1993. They play their next two games on the road against the New York Giants and Dallas.They barely held on in this one. Chicago (3-10) made it across midfield in the final minute before two consecutive holding penalties negated completions that would have put the Bears in field goal range.I think our margin for error right now is very minimal, Chicago coach John Fox said. Efforts not an area were deficient in.The Bears host Green Bay next weekend.Detroit trailed 17-13 before Stafford led the Lions on a seven-play, 76-yard drive for the winning touchdown, which came on a second-down scramble up the middle. He completed 21 of 35 passes on the day, including a 16-yard touchdown strike to Anquan Boldin with 19 seconds left in the first half.The Lions came away with the win, but their quarterbacks health is in question.Any time youre doing something thats out of the norm like that, its going to affect you, to be honest, Detroit coach Jim Caldwell said. The great thing about it is hes mentally tough and was able to battle through it.Here are a few things we learned from Detroits eighth victory in nine games:RECORDDetroits season hasnt just been exciting -- its been historic. The Lions are the first team in NFL history with eight comeback wins from fourth-quarter deficits in a season, according to information provided by the team from the Elias Sports Bureau.Only one of Detroits games this season has been decided by more than seven points.PERSEVERINGAlthough the Lions held on for another close victory, they arent getting every break in these games. Staffords pass into the end zone early in the fourth quarter was tipped by a defender, then bounced off receiver Golden Tate and caromed over to defensive back Demontre Hurst, who intercepted the ball.Stafford later had an interception returned for a touchdown, but he rebounded to lead the Lions on the winning drive.RETURNDeAndre Levy is finally back. The Detroit linebacker was active for the first time since Week 1, returning from a knee injury. He had three tackles and an assist.Levy had an amusing take on Detroits penchant for playing close games.Early on in the year, watching it was giving me a heart attack every week, but now its kind of like you settle into it, he said. You kind of know its going to happen and you kind of expect to win.POTENTIALChicago quarterback Matt Barkley did some good things in his third career start. With the Bears down 13-3, he found Cameron Meredith for a 31-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, and he had his team driving at the end until the two holding calls.STILL BATTLINGAlthough Chicagos record is ugly, the Bears are still playing hard. Before playing the Lions tough Sunday, they beat San Francisco and had close losses to the Titans and Giants.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL .---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister Andre Dawson Jersey Large . PETERSBURG, Fla. Custom Jose Fernandez Jersey . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. http://www.custommarlinsjersey.com/ . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. Authentic Custom Marlins Jersey . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Custom Marlins Jerseys .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. SEATTLE -- You know a team has been through a grueling stretch when the players are eagerly looking forward to spending their long-needed off day at ... an island prison.Were actually going to Alcatraz, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Matt Joyce said of his plans for Pittsburghs day off in the Bay Area on Thursday. John Jaso is going to go, and my wife has been asking for years, and Im going to surprise her. She likes stuff like that.His wife cannot have liked all the time Joyce has been at work the past month and half, though. Because of rainouts, makeup games and the usual packed baseball schedule, the Pirates have gone to a ballpark 47 of the past 48 days. They were supposed to have three off days during that span, but rainouts and makeups meant they took the field 37 times in 36 days, including a doubleheader against the Mets on June 7 to makeup for a rainout on June 6. Their only day off was also a travel day.One rainout meant that what should have been a day off in the middle of a nine-game homestand became a road game. The Pirates played a game June 8 in Pittsburgh, then flew to Denver and arrived after midnight, played a game June 9, then flew back to Pittsburgh and arrived home after midnight. On June 10, catcher Francisco Cervelli broke his hand.Its pretty grinding, Jaso said. Even with the off day [Thursday], were still going to be getting in super late and were going to be exhausted from the plane ride and jet lag, and everything that comes with it.We have to get over that. Its a never-ending battle, but its just something you need to remain callous to, and just grind through it and just keep playing.Jaso said this after having played a night home game Sunday followed by a 12:30 p.m. start Monday, a five-hour flight to Seattle and a game Tuesday. As he talked about it, he yawned twice.The Pirates started off their long stretch in good fashion, winning 10 of 12 games in one span to improve to 28-19, good then for second place in the National League Central, 4 ? games behind the Chicago Cubs. But as the games started to mount, the Pirates began to nosedive, going 10-22 and falling to 38-41, 14 games out of first and fifth in the wild-card standings.It probably has affected the performance on the field. You have to be honest about it. It has, Jaso said. But the other honest part that you have to work with is that every other team deals with the same thing, so its a pretty even playing field when it comes to that. So you just have to take it as it comes.You cant take it personally like something is against our team. Other guys are playing night games followed by day games in another city.Or as Andrew McCutchen said: We cant let that be the excuse for our play overall. We have to suck it up. Everyone has to play 162 regular games, so it doesnt matter when you play them -- you just got to play them and go out there and keep going and keep going hard.We just need to play better. Thats the bbiggest thing.dddddddddddd Were not playing our best baseball.Especially not in June. The staff ERA was 5.31 (148 runs/250 ? innings), with Francisco Liriano going 0-4 with a 7.03 ERA, Juan Nicasio going 1-2/7.08 and Jonathon Niese 1-4/6.21. They also lost starter Gerrit Cole to a strained triceps in the same game Cervelli broke his hand.Its one of those things thats frustrating for sure. I havent pitched this bad in my whole career, Niese answered when asked what was the cause of the decline. Its a crazy year. If I had all the answers, I wouldnt have the results I have.Meanwhile, Pirates batters struck out 258 times in June, or roughly once an inning. Manager Clint Hurdle thinks part of it is umpiring that has gone against his batters. He was ejected in Tuesday nights 5-2 loss to the Mariners after arguing with the umpire.Its short at-bats, Hurdle said. I dont think were getting three strikes.Part of the recent hitting slump also was because they faced some of the best pitchers in baseball, including Jake Arrieta (twice), Noah Syndergaard (twice), Madison Bumgarner, Clayton Kershaw, Johnny Cueto, Jose Fernandez, Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels.The Pirates did have one good recent series, taking three of four games from the Los Angeles Dodgers last weekend at home. They also beat Kershaw and Bumgarner last week.We had a stretch where we played the best teams in baseball, Joyce said. We understand its a long season. Were not looking for excuses or anyone to feel sorry for us. Its just one of those tough stretches we had. And we walk away stronger from it.Now youve seen us bounce back from that and figure ourselves out and how were going to win and start having fun again. Now we just have to keep the momentum going.Hurdle said it is important to closely examine the stretch and see how they can improve.An overall thing like this were going through for everyone involved is to review, he said. What did we well, what might we be able to tweak or do better or different next time.The Pirates went 20 season without going to the postseason before playing in the wild-card game in 2013. They won that game but didnt win the ensuing division series and lost the wild-card game in 2014 and 2015. They havent won the World Series since 1979. Pittsburgh will have to improve on its recent stretch to get another crack at the postseason this year.In this game, when it rains, it pours. Its always going to happen, Jaso said. Youre always going to go through slumps, but its all about staying positive to get out of those slumps. But I would never say, Were out of it, were going to be cruising now.Like fate is going to take us. No. Fate doesnt take us anywhere. You have to keep working and stay focused. Thats what also gets you out of slumps.And perhaps some time off at the break will help, too. ' ' '