ontracts for returners C.J. McCollum, Allen Crab

PITTSBURGH -- There are penalties Mike Tomlin wont excuse but is willing to tolerate, like the facemask flag running back LeVeon Bell drew in Baltimore when an attempted stiff-arm went awry.Its the other kinds of penalties -- the ones borne out of a lack of concentration or execution -- that serve as nails on a chalkboard to the Pittsburgh Steelers coach.And at the moment, the sound is deafening.The Steelers (4-4) have racked up 29 penalties during the three-game losing streak they take into next weekends visit from Dallas (7-1) and nearly half of them have been pre-snap infractions like false starts and illegal formations that are easily avoidable by simply paying attention to detail.Those things are under our control and we need to eliminate yesterday, Tomlin said Tuesday. You can frame it how you want to frame it. The penalties have to stop.They didnt in Baltimore on Sunday, when a torrent of flags set the tone in an ugly 21-14 setback that knocked Pittsburgh out of first place and left the locker room and the coaching staff mystified at how things have gone so wrong, so quickly. A month ago, the Steelers were 4-1 and firmly in control of the AFC North. Now theyre in second place behind the Ravens and in the middle of their longest slump since dropping the first four games in 2013.I think theres anger about how we played because were capable of more than that, Tomlin said.Maybe, but it wouldnt take much to show improvement over the first three quarters against the Ravens when the Steelers managed all of two first downs while drawing 89 yards in penalties. Among the miscues: an illegal formation penalty that gifted Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker an extra five yards at the end of the first half and gave him enough room to drill a 59-yard field goal that put the Ravens up 10-0.Its tough to win in this league, Tomlin said. Its increasingly more difficult when you shoot yourself in the foot. Weve been good at that in the past. We need to get back to that.Pittsburgh has been among the 10 fewest penalized teams in the NFL in three of the last four years but is on pace to draw 110 penalties in 2016, which would be the highest in Tomlins decade-long tenure. Asked if referees are calling things tighter than they have in the past, with penalties up around the league, and linebacker Arthur Moats shrugged his shoulders.A flag is a flag, he said. Maybe theyre calling stuff that they havent in the past, but that doesnt mean its not a penalty.Pittsburgh cant afford to give away yards against the Cowboys, who have ripped off seven straight wins behind rookie quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott. Dallas isnt turning it over and isnt beating itself with careless missteps, things the Steelers have been unable to avoid.Then again, its the presence of those correctable mistakes that has the Steelers optimistic they can go on a run like they did last season, when a 6-2 second half helped them to a second straight playoff berth.If its something youre playing your best ball and youre still getting beat, thats a major issue, guard Ramon Foster said. A lot of the issues we have in all three phases have been self-inflicted.Game notes C Maurkice Pouncey underwent a surgical procedure to fix a dislocated thumb. Tomlin said theres a chance Pouncey can still play this weekend. ... WR Darrius Heyward-Bey (sprained foot) and RB DeAngelo Williams (knee) are still being evaluated.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Myles Garrett Womens Jersey . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. Myles Garrett Browns Jersey .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. http://www.brownsauthenticproshop.com/Youth-Joe-Thomas-Browns-Jersey/ . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. Sheldrick Redwine Youth Jersey . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Baker Mayfield Youth Jersey . The Swede became the first golfer to win the PGA Tours FedEx Cup and European Tours Race to Dubai in the same season. "It is still taking a little time to sink in what Ive achieved this week as was the case when I won the FedEx Cup but then it just kept getting better and better as the days went on and I am sure this will be the same," he said. Before we get to Damian Lillards expectations for his Portland Trail Blazers this season, we need his reflection on his hopes for last years team, the one everyone thought was headed to lotteryville after losing LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum and Robin Lopez.Make the playoffs, Lillard said. Last year I said we were going to make the playoffs, and we did that.Ok, so maybe it wasnt as bold a proclamation as Lillard makes it out to be. On media day last year his first reaction when the playoffs topic was raised was, I dont see why not. Then he added qualifiers, as if wary of producing a headline for a story he wasnt sure he could write.Im not sitting here saying that, Were going to make the playoffs, Lillard said that day. I would like to, and I think thats what our goal is, but its not as far-fetched as some people would make it seem.At least he isnt going around bragging that he knew the Trail Blazers would be in the second round of the playoffs, which is where they found themselves against the Golden State Warriors after bouncing back from a 2-0 deficit in the opening series while the Clippers dealt with injuries to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.He has earned the right for us to store his 2016-17 expectations in the reality room. Hes neither selling his team short through artificial modesty, nor ordering law enforcement overtime pay to block off the championship parade route.This year I want to get to the Western Conference finals and give ourselves a chance to get to the [NBA] Finals, Lillard said. I think its possible.It is, especially if the Trail Blazers wind up away from the Golden State Warriors side of the Western Conference playoff bracket. The Oklahoma City Thunder are weakened from the loss of Kevin Durant. The Clippers have yet to prove that they can get past the second round. The San Antonio Spurs are, if not necessarily worse, different without Tim Duncan. Besides, there havent been many points in time over the past 20 years when the Trail Blazers could say theyve won as many playoff series as the Spurs over the past two seasons.Unlike last year, the Blazers brought their core back, even if it was a very expensive way to stay the same. While other teams, even the heavily stocked Warriors, need a discovery period, thee Trail Blazers already found out what they needed to know in last seasons playoffs.ddddddddddddWe learned we had some fight in us, Lillard said. We wanted it.He doesnt consider the Clippers series a fluke. He notes the Clippers were at full strength when the Trail Blazers beat them in Game 3, and Portland had the lead when Paul and Griffin went down in Game 4. And speaking of having the lead, did you know that after the Warriors controlled Game 1 of the second round, the Blazers held the lead for 137 minutes to the Warriors 61 minutes the rest of the series? They just couldnt close out games the way the Warriors did.We couldve easily laid down, even against Golden State, Lillard said. We couldve said: All right, we got out of the first round ... this [Warriors] team lost nine games. We could have laid down, but we didnt.The Trail Blazers could get credit for that last year. Not just credit, but hefty contracts for returners C.J. McCollum, Allen Crabbe,?Meyers Leonard?and?Moe Harkless, and an extension for coach Terry Stotts. All that cash means no more credit. Teams dont commit a third of a billion dollars in new contracts to be content winning five playoff games again.Two things bode well for the Blazers. First, their best player is getting better. Lillard is only 26, on the cusp of his prime, and in his fifth season he says the game is slowing down for him, making more sense, even getting easier. Second, the NBA is coming around to the Trail Blazers style of play. They used to be criticized for being perimeter-oriented, then were forced to grow even more so when Aldridge left for San Antonio. But the league as a whole shoots more 3-pointers now, and the Trail Blazers are better at it than most teams; their .370 three-point shooting percentage tied for fourth best in the NBA last season.Stotts is trying to present this season as a continuation of last season, rather than a separate entity. Retaining so much of the roster allows him to do so. His point guard sees it the same way.Lillard also sees this team playing deep into May. We never talk about vision as one of Lillards best attributes. Maybe thats about to change. ' ' '