TORONTO - For the streaking Raptors, the element of surprise is rapidly dissipating with each passing victory. Ryan Grant Colts Jersey . The word is out: theyre not to be taken lightly. Now, its not just that theyre winning, but its how theyre winning and who theyre beating that has put Toronto back on the NBA radar. "You win in Dallas and win at Oklahoma City in particular, those are like springboard games," said Frank Vogel, coach of the league-best Indiana Pacers, moments before his team dropped a 95-82 stunner in Toronto Wednesday evening. "Theres a residual effect that carries with you over the next period of games, next stretch of games." "You just play with more confidence, more togetherness," he continued. "And thats what theyre going through right now." Add the Pacers to that list of monumental, confidence-boosting casualties. It had all the makings of a long night at the office for the Raptors in the second game of a back-to-back, fresh off a hard-fought comeback win in Chicago. Regardless of the outcome, Dwane Casey had planned to use Wednesdays contest as a litmus test to measure his improving club against an elite defensive opponent. "Well find out how far we need to go or if were there already," Casey said before the game. "Last year or even two months ago [in this situation] I dont know what we would have done but were meeting the challenge," the Raptors coach added after the win, the Raptors fourth straight and ninth in 12 contests. Again, Toronto proved to be adaptable facing a top-five defence for the second straight night, grinding out another low-scoring affair by making timely plays on both ends of the floor. "Were going to go out there and battle with the best of em, night in and night out," exclaimed DeMar DeRozan, who scored 10 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter. "We dont care who you throw out there in front of us, we understand theyre going to throw a punch and were going to throw punches back." Toronto outscored the visiting Pacers 55-38 in the second half, 29-19 in the fourth quarter and totaled 27 assists on 32-made field goals on the evening. "The toughness of our team is just building every single night," Kyle Lowry boasted after recording a season-high 14 assists, the most hes registered as a Raptor, to go along with 13 points. "Were just all out there playing. Just trying to find out how we can win games." "Indiana is one of the top teams in the league but our guys battled," Casey echoed. "We came in hungry and fought for 48 minutes, stayed with the game plan and executed." For the first time since 2010 Toronto is a .500 team 30 games into the season. Its also the best record the team has had under Casey, this late into the campaign. "Personally, I dont give a crap," said Casey, asked what his teams recent success means to him, a coach with an expiring deal. "I mean, its not about me. Its about that team in there in that locker room. Im going to be in coaching for a long time. so its not about me, its about those guys in the locker room. For them, I think its another huge step as far as their growth is concerned and I truly mean that." "But Consistency in this league is huge. Swagger is great when you have it, but its a fleeting thing when you dont hold onto it." Quenton Nelson Colts Jersey . The team let Keaton Ellerby, James Wright and Matt Halischuk become unrestricted free agents after declining to make them qualifying offers. Ellerby, 25, appeared in 51 games for the Jets last season and had two goals and four assists. Darius Leonard Colts Jersey . PETERSBURG, Florida – Heading into Thursday nights action, Dioner Navarro had caught 14 innings combined from starters Drew Hutchison and Mark Buehrle. http://www.authenticfootballshopcolts.com/authentic-matt-slauson-jersey.html . Switzerland faces Belgium or Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals in April. Serbia dropped into the World Group playoffs in September. A confident Chiudinelli and Lammer defeated veteran doubles player Zimonjic and young Krajinovic 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2.(SportsNetwork.com) - Ready or not, here comes Johnny Football. With their playoff chances starting to fade, the Cleveland Browns hope to get a jolt under center this Sunday when rookie Johnny Manziel makes his first career start in a home matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Browns selected Manziel with the 22nd overall pick of the 2014 draft, the second of two first-round selections for the club. Despite his highlight-reel resume at Texas A&M that helped earn him the Heisman Trophy, Manziel was unable to beat out Brian Hoyer for the starting job at the start of the season. Cleveland started 6-3 under Hoyer, but his play has come under fire as of late with the Browns losing three of their past four. Manziel made his NFL debut in late relief action versus Buffalo on Nov. 30, with the 22-year-old completing 5-of-9 pass attempts for 63 yards while also scoring a rushing touchdown. Head coach Mike Pettine decided to stick with Hoyer for this past Sundays game versus the Indianapolis Colts, but the now-former starter didnt impress with just 140 yards passing in a 25-24 loss. Thanks to a pair of defensive touchdowns, the Browns were in position to win until the Colts Andrew Luck threw a one-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton with 32 seconds left in the fourth quarter. That gave Cleveland consecutive losses for the first time this season. Linebacker Craig Robertson recovered a fumble in the end zone and rookie cornerback Justin Gilbert had a 23-yard pick-six in the third quarter, his first career interception. Hoyer, though, was picked off twice and the only offensive touchdown for the Browns came on a nine-yard run by Isaiah Crowell. Obviously, very disappointed, said Pettine. When you lose a close game like that, for the most part our guys played at a high level. Pettine, though, apparently doesnt think that was the case with Hoyer, so Manziel will become the 21st different QB to start a game for the Browns since 1999. This decision is really not about Brian Hoyer or Johnny Manziel, it is about the Cleveland Browns, Pettine said. We are always going to make decisions that we feel are in the best interest of the team. Manziel, who has been plagued with questions about his off-the-field lifestyle and dedication to the position, had another chip put on his shoulder when Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis referred to the 6-foot, 210-pound Manziel as a midget during the teams radio show on Monday night. Lewis has since apologized for the remarks, but shined more negative light on a Bengals club that is coming off a 42-21 pounding at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cincinnati had a three-game win streak halted and allowed the race for first place in the AFC North to get tighter. The Bengals lead the pack at 8-4-1, while the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens both trail at 8-5. The Browns remain in the mix as well at 7-6. The Bengals led 21-17 over the Steelers after the third quarter, but Pittsburgh outscored Cincinnati 25-0 in the fourth, a quarter in which it gained 229 of its 543 total net yards. Im sort of at a loss for words, said Bengals linebacker Vincent Rey. Let me just say that I know we can play better, myself first and everyone else, too. We start back on that road beginning this week. Andy Dalton threw for 302 yards, hooking up with wide receiver A.J. Green for an 81-yard touchdown and running for a 20-yard score. But he also lost a key fourth-quarter fumble. Green caught 11 passes for a career-best 224 yards. The pressure to win this game is just as great for the Bengals as it is for the Browns. Cincinnati must host the mighty Denver Broncos next week before ending the regular season with a rematch at Pittsburgh. Also, Cleveland has already beaten Cincinnati this season, picking up a 24-3 road win back on Nov. 6. The Browns got rushing touchdowns from Ben Tate (since waived), Crowell and Terrance West, while Dalton was picked off three times and held to 86 yards passing. It marked the Browns third victory in their last four versus the Bengals. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Many will question Pettines decision to wait as long as he did to turn to Manziel, especially given that Hoyer had just one touchdown pass to eight interceptions over the clubs current 1-3 stretch. Over 13 games this season, Hoyer has thrown for 3,196 yards with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Although I am disappointed by coachs decision, I respect him and his choice and will be there to support Johnny, Hoyer said. As always, I will do whatever I can to help this team wwin. Quenton Nelson Jersey. Pettine hopes that Manziel can do that on the field. The flashy quarterback hasnt really had a chance to really show what he can do, but is known for his ability to create plays and will look to prove he has the arm, speed and confidence to handle the NFL. Brian has done everything that has been asked of him and he has done so as a true professional, said Pettine. Its never just any one position when a unit is not functioning at the level youd like. We are trying to get the offense to perform at a higher level. Johnny has worked very hard to earn this opportunity and it will be very important for every member of the offense to elevate their play for us to obtain our desired result. Said Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas, Im excited to see what Johnny can do. He did some good things for us in the preseason and when he was in there against Buffalo. One player who should be excited to see Manziel under center is playmaking wide receiver Josh Gordon. Gordon had a monster 2013 season with 87 catches for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns, but missed the first 10 games of this campaign due to suspension. He had a big season debut with eight receptions and 120 yards in Week 12 at Atlanta, but has been held to nine catches and 90 yards the past two weeks. Gordon made only two catches versus the Colts. Gordon had 125 yards and a touchdown on five catches the last time he faced the Bengals. Clevelands defense relies on shutting down opponents quarterbacks and the Browns lead the NFL with 19 interceptions. Cornerback Buster Skrine picked up two of his four picks this season versus the Bengals, while safety Tashaun Gipson leads the league with six picks. Gipson, though, has missed the past two games with a knee injury and is out this weekend as well. The play of linebacker Paul Kruger has helped the defense as well. Kruger leads the team with nine sacks, the most by a Browns player since Kamerion Wimbleys 11 in 2006, and has a career-high three forced fumbles. Linebacker Karlos Dansby, meanwhile, has a chance to return this weekend for the Browns from a knee injury suffered on Nov. 16. Though the Bengals have two capable runners in Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard, it will be hard for them to pass up testing Clevelands secondary again due to the presence of Green. Greens 224 yards versus Pittsburgh were the second-most in a single game in Bengals history behind only Chad Johnsons 260 in 2006. Greens previous high was 183 yards set in 2012 and he has gone over 100 yards in three of his past four games as he seems to have fully moved past a toe ailment that plagued him earlier this season. When youve got a guy like A.J., you want to get him the ball, Dalton said after the Steelers game. We had a lot of really good looks today, and we hit big plays. Down the stretch, weve got to rely on A.J. Hes such a big play waiting to happen. After getting blitzed by the Steelers offense, the Bengals are now tied for 28th in the NFL with 377.8 yards allowed per game. They also learned this week they wont have linebacker Vontaze Burfict for the rest of the season as he was placed on injured reserve Tuesday because of a knee issue that had caused him to miss the past six games. Luckily for Lewis defense, Rey has proven to be a capable option. He has made 10 starts while playing in all 13 games, with injuries opening the door for increased time. Rey has responded with a club-high 97 tackles, with 15 of those coming versus the Steelers. Vinny is a great example of the concept that its not how you get here, its what you do when you get here, said Lewis. Hes a smart player, a dedicated worker and a physical player. Hes earned everything hes gotten and we are very fortunate to have him. OVERALL ANALYSIS Though there will be pressure on Manziel given that the Browns are still very much in the playoff hunt, making his debut at home should help things a bit. The Bengals know this and Dalton said his club needs to get off to a good start. The better you are early on in the games, you can take away the crowd and all that kind of stuff, said Dalton. But we know the kind of atmosphere were going to get. So weve just got to be ready to come out firing. Cincinnati got next to nothing offensively when it last played Cleveland and would love to return to the favor this weekend. The key will be forcing Manziel into trying to do too much and a veteran coach like Lewis should have his defense ready. Sports Network predicted outcome: Bengals 23, Browns 20 Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Wholesale Jerseys From China Stitched Jerseys Wholesale Black NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo Cheap NFL Black Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping ' ' '