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 Replica Air Max . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U. Air Max Sale . Consider it received. Attacking on offence early and often, the Penguins topped the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Saturday night as Jussi Jokinen scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to help give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference playoff series. https://www.airmaxchina.us/. -- The guys in green raced off the court and into the locker room where they danced and sang, compared whose shot was most likely to end up featured on "One Shining Moment," and checked Twitter to see who was giving them a shoutout. Cheap Air Max .Y. -- Scott Chandler is returning to Buffalo, where he spent the past three seasons establishing himself as the Bills top pass-catching tight end. Wholesale Air Max . PETERSBURG, Fla. HOUSTON -- Gregorio Petits wife Yessica didnt come to Friday nights game because she had a headache. She thoroughly regretted her decision after Petit hit his first career home run to help the Houston Astros to a 3-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The homer put Houston on top in the eighth inning and the Astros held on for the victory, snapping Torontos six-game winning streak. "My wife is mad because she didnt come to the game," Petit said. "I got like seven messages, all smiling faces. It wasnt really smiling, but crying faces all over in my phone. (She said) I wont forgive myself for this. I missed the first one. He tried to console her. "Its OK," he said he told her. "You could YouTube it." The game was tied at 1-1 when Petit launched Aaron Loups first pitch into the first row of the Crawford Boxes in left field to give the Astros the lead. Jose Altuve connected on the next pitch by Loup (3-3) for a ground-rule double before stealing third base. "I threw two pitches and the next thing you know I give up a home run and a double," Loup said. "I guess it just wasnt my day today." Houston got an insurance run on a sacrifice fly by Robbie Grossman. Jose Veras (1-1) got the last two outs of the eighth inning for the win and Chad Qualls threw a scoreless ninth for his 12th save. Melky Cabrera singled with one out in the first and reached third on a single by Jose Bautista that crashed off the wall in left field and knocked a number out of the scoreboard there. The Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Dioner Navarro. Toronto starter J.A. Happ gave up three hits and one run with six strikeouts in seven innings. Happ retired the first 11 batters he faced before Chris Carter singled on a dribbler with two outs in the fourth inning. Matt Dominguez drew a walk before Carter scored on a single by Guzman to tie it at 1-1. Houston starter Collin McHugh did not factor into the decision after allowing five hits and a run in 6 1-3 innings to remain winless since JJune 3.dddddddddddd Jake Marisnick, acquired Thursday from the Marlins as part of a six-player deal that sent right-hander Jarred Cosart to Miami, went 0 for 3 in his Houston debut. MOUND WORK The game was delayed in the third inning when the Astros complained about the mound being too soft. Three members of the grounds crew came onto the field with rakes and other tools and worked on it for several minutes. McHugh threw a few warmups pitches after they finished and the crowd cheered as the workers walked off the field and the game continued. SPELLING TEST? The Astros had a bit of fun teasing rookie pitcher Mike Foltynewicz about his difficult to spell last name on his first day in the clubhouse after being called up from Triple-A on Friday. They used tape to spell his name phonetically (Fultynevichz) and affix it to the nameplate above his locker. He got a good laugh out of the ribbing and said theres no trick he can give them to help make spelling it easier. "I had trouble when I was younger, too," he said. "I dont think anybodys going to really get it right ... they can just keep it nice and short and call me Folty." TRAINERS ROOM Blue Jays: Infielder Brett Lawrie (broken right index finger) began a rehabilitation assignment with Class A Dunedin on Friday. Manager John Gibbons said he will probably need at least a week of rehab games before hes ready to return to the team. Astros: Rookie OF George Springer, on the disabled list since July 20 with strained left quadriceps, is inching closer to his return. "Hes taking batting practice," manager Bo Porter said. "He was able to do the outfield work (Friday). So were pretty excited that hes coming along well." Guzman left the game after the fourth inning with back spasms. He was replaced at 1B by Jon Singleton. ON DECK Torontos R.A. Dickey looks for his third straight win when he opposes left-hander Brett Oberholtzer when the series continues on Saturday. Oberholtzer is coming off a win over the As when he allowed three runs in 6 2-3 innings. ' ' '