ALLEN PARK, Mich. - NFL coaches always seem keenly aware of the worst-case scenario, so it was no surprise when Detroits Jim Schwartz brushed off any talk of his teams position in the standings. The Lions won at Chicago on Sunday to take over sole possession of first place in the NFC North. With a favourable-looking schedule and generally good health, Detroit has a chance to win its first division title since the 1993 season — but theres still a lot of football to be played. "Weve got six wins," Schwartz said Monday. "Thats not going to be enough." For now, its more than any other team in the division. Detroit (6-3) held on for a 21-19 win to complete its first regular-season sweep of the Bears since 2007. Chicago and Green Bay are a game behind the Lions, and the Packers are dealing with injuries to quarterback Aaron Rodgers and backup Seneca Wallace. When asked about the possibility of hosting a playoff game or earning a first-round bye, Schwartz was having none of that discussion. "Good try," he said. "Weve got way too far to go to start talking about stuff like that. ... I know its exciting for fans of our team and people around the league and things like that, but honestly I think you get sidetracked by starting to get ahead of yourself as a team. We want to guard against that." This is the latest in the season the Lions have been in sole possession of first place since they led the NFC Central after Week 10 in 1999, according to STATS. Detroit was 6-3 at that point, too, then stumbled down the stretch, barely making the playoffs as a wild card at 8-8. The fine line between winning and losing was obvious Sunday. Detroit allowed a touchdown with 40 seconds left, then stopped a pair of 2-point conversion attempts. Chicago got two chances because of a penalty on the first one. Toward the end of the second quarter, the Bears came away with no points after driving all the way to the 4-yard line. Jay Cutlers pass was tipped by Ndamukong Suh and intercepted by DeAndre Levy in the end zone. "It was a great win, no question about it, but youve got to make it count," quarterback Matthew Stafford said. "We have to make this one count later down the road and it starts next week. We have a new opponent that we dont play every week and that team is dangerous." The Lions play at Pittsburgh next weekend. Detroit made a few mistakes against the Bears that could have been costly. Stafford had an interception returned deep into Lions territory in the fourth quarter, but Chicago had to settle for a field goal. The Bears twice appeared to have reached the end zone, but the first touchdown was called back for holding and the second was turned into an incomplete pass by a replay review. When the Bears drove for their final touchdown to pull within two, they were helped by an unnecessary roughness call on Detroit defensive lineman Nick Fairley — but Fairley came back with a sack on the next play. "Its a long season to get through. Theres a lot of things that youve got to persevere through," Schwartz said. "Praise — and success — is one of those things. Quite honestly, thats something that in the past we havent done a good job of." The Lions made the playoffs two seasons ago, then collapsed last year en route to a 4-12 record. Theyve put themselves in position to take another big step forward over the next few weeks. Only one of the remaining seven games on Detroits schedule — the Thanksgiving matchup with Green Bay — is against a team that currently has a winning record. So the Lions are in an unfamiliar position: Theyve played well, caught a few breaks — and now their biggest concern may be how well they handle success. "Being successful in this league is dealing with adversity and bouncing back, but its increasingly becoming part of the scope of the NFL to deal with praise and to deal with the accolades and things like that," Schwartz said. "It makes it difficult to stay level headed. It makes it difficult to stay even keeled throughout the course of a season." Mike Foltynewicz Jersey . -- Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale searched more than three quarters for five guys who would play well together. Deion Sanders Braves Jersey .com) - New England Patriots starting center Bryan Stork will not play in Sundays AFC Championship against Indianapolis due to a knee injury the rookie sustained last week. http://www.baseballbravesproshop.com/ender-inciarte-braves-jersey/ .Hammel pitched inside more and it helped him get into the seventh inning as the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 on Friday night. Custom Atlanta Braves Jerseys . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City. Dansby Swanson Braves Jersey . -- Mike Shanahan gave Robert Griffin III a rest, and may have turned up the pressure on himself, too.OTTAWA - Daniel Alfredsson laced up his skates at his old stall in the Senators locker-room and put on the No. 11 jersey with the C on the chest just like old times. Except this was anything like old times.Players stepped onto the ice for warm-ups and made a receiving line for the man who earlier in the day announced his retirement. They tapped their sticks and Alfredsson saluted the adoring crowd for the first of many times as Alfie chants rained down.A remix of Alfredssons former goal song and one of his favourites, U2s Beautiful Day played. This was a one-of-a-kind moment for a one-of-a-kind face of the franchise.The traditional countdown to 11 minutes on the clock happened even before the game against the New York Islanders. Alfredsson met with team leaders Erik Karlsson, Chris Phillips and Chris Neil as he always used to, took a few line rushes and got to take part in his favourite post-practice game of keep-away.Karlsson, the ninth captain in Senators history and Alfredssons best friend on the team, even took the C off his jersey for warm-ups.While the Islanders went about their business, no Ottawa player left the ice until Alfredsson took one last lap with his stick raised to the fans. The 41-year-old, who signed a ceremonial one-day contract in order to retire with the Senators, left the ice to the sounds of Green Day singing I hope you had the time of your life.A video montage set to more U2 led in the rest of the pre-game ceremony. In addition to listing Alfredssons accomplishments, the final message read: The Greatest Ottawa Senator of All-Time.Alfredsson took one more lap, with the spotlight on him, and stood at centre ice waiting for wife Bibbi and sons Hugo, Loui, Fenix and William Erik to join him. With the boys wearing Karlsson jerseys, they took their place on the red carpet like Ottawa royalty, and Alfredsson thanked the fans for all the great moments and all the beautiful memories.He didnt want to say goodbye. The Alfredsson family sang along to O Canada, and then the former captain and the current captain had a ceremonial faceoff with the puck dropped by the kids.Alfredsson, who promised this year would be for his family, skated off alongside his wife as he left the ice at Canadian Tire Centre for the final time.On Thursday morning, Alfredsson reflected on the time of his life spent with the Senators as he called it a career. With family, friends and former teammates watching, the longtime captain read the speech he rehearsed 10 or 15 times and teared up reading to a friend over the phone.Alfredsson announced his retirement in the nations capital, his adopted hometown, the place he played 17 of his 18 NHL seasons. The captain from 1999 through 2013 who left 17 months ago to sign with the Detroit Red Wings got to put on his old sweater for one more day.The Senators pulled out all the stops to honour Alfredsson on what unofficially became Alfie Day in Ottawa. With his wife and sons in the front row and former teammates like Karlsson and Wade Redden looking on, the face of the franchise bid adieu, a decision prompted by lingering back problems.Alfredsson, who had 444 goals and 713 assists in 1,246 NHL games, tried to rehab the injury. If he played one more season, it would have been for the Red Wings.According to Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, he and general manager Bryan Murray would have welcomed him back to Ottawa.During the summer we spoke a couple of times, but it was more about how he felt and whether he could play 100 per cent, Melnyk said. Bryan and I said, Look, give us 80 per cent, were happy. And he would not play unless he was 100 per cent.Remembered fondly for the goal he scored against the Buffalo Sabres to send the Senators to the Stanley Cup final in 2007, for the love fest at the 2012 all-star game and for winning a gold medal with Sweden at the 2006 Olympics, Alfredsson also knows his career was marked with phone calls and major decisions.It began with the decision to leave Goteborg, Sweden at 22 to play for the Senators, who drafted him in the sixxth round in 1994.dddddddddddd Alfredsson was glad he and Bibbi, his girlfriend at the time, made the leap.One evening nearly 20 years ago a young man in a small town in Sweden got a phone call that would change his life, Alfredsson said. We began an incredible new chapter of our lives in your town starting in August 1995. Our marvellous boys were born here, and we grew from youngsters into aging parents. You made your town our town.Ottawa was Alfredssons town in his Calder Trophy season in 1995-96 and through 15 playoff appearances. One of his favourite memories was seeing thousands of people lined up along the street to celebrate the trip to the Cup final.It was an incredible experience to play hockey with so many great players, so many great friends over so many great seasons, he said. I really realize that Im a very lucky guy.Back problems flared up in 2011, what Alfredsson called signals that all these years of hockey had a cost.I worked hard to fight it off and I got some great help along the way, he said. But in the back of my mind, I still knew that the clock is ticking.With the clock ticking on his career, Alfredsson got to a crossroads in the summer of 2013, after he decided to continue playing but did not have a contract to return to the Senators. On the morning of June 29, he said he got a call from an old Swedish pal.This call started a process that would launch the next chapter in our lives, Alfredsson said of signing with Detroit. It was a very, very hard decision to make: changing teams, uproot my family, start over again in a new place. But change helps you grow.No doubt the relationship between Alfredsson and the Senators organization was strained by his departure. But during and after an off-and-on injury season with the Red Wings that still included him tying for the team lead in scoring, Alfredsson stayed in touch with Murray.I have great respect for Daniel and I know he has great respect for the Senators for what happened here, said Murray, who coached Alfredsson for two seasons, including 2006-07. It wasnt very hard for us to get together and talk. He took me for a drive in his new car. He drove me out to my old house in Birmingham (Michigan). He showed me where he lived. We had I think mutual respect for each other all along.Setbacks in Alfredssons rehab kept him from playing and forced him to make one final decision.It finally came to the point: Could I play a little bit? Maybe, Alfredsson said. I dont know what I price I would have had to pay down the road. I felt it was no fun just being on the edge or on the cliff of maybe or maybe not playing. It just felt right.It wouldnt have felt right to the Senators if Alfredsson had said his goodbye to the NHL in Detroit. Again, the phone rang.Bryan said he and Mr. Melnyk had spoken and had an idea that I should not end my career in Detroit but with a proper retirement here in our adopted hometown, Alfredsson recalled. I spoke with (Red Wings GM) Ken Holland about my retirement and that Bryan and Mr. Melnyk wanted me to retire as an Ottawa Senator, and Ken encouraged me to retire here. He said its the right thing to do.Alfredsson, lauded not just for his Hall of Fame hockey career but his charitable contributions in Ottawa, is about as normal a person as a superstar athlete can be. To him, this felt like too much.I never believed that my career entitled me to any special treatment, Alfredsson said. However Bibbi and I both agreed this was the right thing to do and it would give us a chance to say thank you to the people and the fans of Ottawa.Alfredsson received a lengthy standing ovation after his speech of 749 words, including four in French for the bilingual market he represented: Merci et a bientot. He doesnt know how soon he might get back into hockey but is reserving this year for his family and for himself to reflect on his career.Im just very grateful for this opportunity to say thank you and goodbye, Alfredsson said. And please no more phone calls for a while.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter ' ' '