ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions are alone in first place, and their top competitors in the NFC North have been floundering.Its an opportunity for the Lions to win their first division title since 1993 -- but their outlook could change awfully quickly if the next few weeks go badly.Confidence is building, but one thing we know about the league is, it will humble you, defensive lineman Kerry Hyder said.The Lions play three of their next four games on the road, starting this weekend at New Orleans. With road games against the New York Giants and Dallas also coming up, there are plenty of potential pitfalls awaiting a Detroit team that is in this position only because of its success in close games.The Lions (7-4) havent had a game decided by more than seven points all season. Theyve won enough of them to take a one-game lead over Minnesota in the division, and Detroit has the tiebreaker over the Vikings after sweeping them. But the Lions have room for improvement in all phases.Like anything else in our system, we can get better, coach Jim Caldwell said. We can get better defensively. We can get better offensively. We can get better in our kicking game.Detroit has had its share of chances recently to end its division title drought. In 2011, the Lions won their first five games, but they finished 10-6, well behind Green Bay. In 2013, the Lions were 6-3 and in sole possession of first place. The Packers were dealing with major injury problems, but Detroit lost six of its last seven games, costing coach Jim Schwartz his job.The following season, the Lions went 11-5 but lost a showdown at Green Bay in a regular-season finale that decided the division.Detroit has won six of its last seven after beating Minnesota on Thanksgiving , and the Vikings have dropped five of six. Green Bay is below .500. If the Lions win two of their remaining five games, that might be enough to keep them in first place. They have home games against Chicago and Green Bay still to come.The road games will be tough, though, starting with Sunday at New Orleans.Obviously Drew (Brees) has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league for a long time, pretty prolific. Those guys have been together, Caldwell said. Hes been in the same system.The Saints (5-6) arent in great shape in the playoff race, but unlike Minnesota, New Orleans has been playing fairly well lately . The Saints have won five of eight since an 0-3 start.New Orleans has scored at least 32 points in six of its 11 games. Detroit has reached that total only once.They have a powerful offense, Hyder said. They can run the ball well, they can throw the ball deep well. As a defense, weve got to bring our lunch pails.Game notesTE Brandon Pettigrew, who tore his left anterior cruciate ligament late last year and hasnt played at all this season, spoke for a bit in the locker room Monday. He did not rule out the possibility of returning this weekend. Well see where it goes. Im not going to say for certain, he said. ... The Lions signed TE Logan Thomas to the practice squad and released LB Brandon Chubb from the practice squad.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL .---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtristerVapormax Flyknit 2 Suomi . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. Vapormax 97 Suomi . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. http://www.vapormaxsuomi.com/ . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. Nike Vapormax Plus Suomi . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. Vapormax 2019 Suomi . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area.RIO DE JANEIRO -- China is poised to return to the top of the medal podium in diving.Shi Tingmao and He Zi finished 1-2 in the womens 3-meter springboard semifinals Saturday, the first of six individual events at the Rio Games.Shi totaled 385.00 points, with He nearly 21 points behind in second at 364.05. China has won the event at seven straight Olympics, one short of the eight straight golds won by the United States from 1920-56.The Chinese won three of four synchronized diving golds in Rio.Jennifer Abel of Canada, who led after the preliminaries, slipped to third at 343.45 in the five-round semis.Shi was third after the prelims a day earlier in her first games. She will dive last in Sundays final, where scores dont carry over.I feel there are benefits of going last, but still the pressure will be much bigger, Shi said through a translator. This is why its so important for me to adjust my mental state from what I had today.Four years ago in London, He finished second to countrywoman Wu Minxia in 3-meter.American Abby Johnston was fifth at 324.75 after a consistent performance in which her scores were no lower than 61.50 on any of her dives.I was a little more nervous today than I was yeesterday, and I hope I can be more confident tomorrow, she said.ddddddddddddJohnston plans to retire after Rio and return to medical school at Duke University.Teammate Kassidy Cook, an Olympic rookie, missed making the 12-woman final by four points. She finished 13th.Cook missed her second dive, a front 3 1/2 pike in which she starts back on the board instead of at the edge. She earned just 41.85 points.Those are kind of tricky, she said. Once I land on the end of the board, I know how to do the dive. Its just a matter of getting there. I felt a little shaky in my step, so I was out of timing with the board.The water in the diving pool remained a dark green for the fifth straight day instead of the usual clear blue.Aussie Maddison Keeney, who finished fourth, described it as pretty gross.Youre standing on the stairs and you cant see your feet, one and half meters down, she said. When youre standing up there, its a bit off-putting. I just try to close my eyes and close my mouth.---This story has been corrected to show that Abby Johnston placed fifth, not fourth. ' ' '