Thursday.Colorado scored the first goal in just six of its 23

Imagine driving down a highway with no signs. No speed limit indicators. No exit alerts.Thats akin to the final moments of an NFL game, and many times at the end of the first half, too. It can be chaos.And the way some teams butcher time management makes you wonder how they get to the stadium on time. But the way some handle it spurs expansive -- and well-deserved -- praise.Joe Montana used to wink at teammates or crack jokes in the huddle before and during two-minute drills. So did Brett Favre.Tom Brady stares down opponents in such an intimidating manner, you expect defenders to skulk away rather than try to stop him.Yet other star quarterbacks and heralded coaches also have had major struggles with handling the clock. That includes Favre and Donovan McNabb among accomplished QBs, Andy Reid and Marty Schottenheimer among successful coaches.Just last week, Kirk Cousins blew a chance for more points at the end of the first half against the Giants by getting sacked within field goal range. The Redskins rallied, helped by Eli Manning being picked with the game on the line.Several coaches have headed home from losses with timeouts in their pockets. Wonder where they used those.The criticism that comes with it a lot of times is a little unrealistic, says Brian Billick, who coached the Ravens to the 2000 NFL title and now is an analyst for NFL Network. People will comment on it as if there is an absolute right or wrong in how you do things.Someone in technology figured out there are a billion possibilities with regards to score differential: where you are on the field, time remaining, timeouts remaining, personnel on both sides of the ball, all of that. Maybe 500 million possibilities I can do, he adds with a laugh. The other 500 million I struggle with.Billicks point is well taken. Much of how teams handle clock management has to be intuitive. And while the coach or coordinators might be coming up with play calls, they need the players to execute. The old cliche of 11 guys on the same page is specifically appropriate in those situations.For example, at what tempo do you want to run the offense? Are you in need of a quick score or can you use up most of the remaining time to score? Need a touchdown or a field goal?Do the players recognize the need to get out of bounds -- or perhaps stay in bounds?And theres sometimes more to consider.Even in some situations that are similar, theres usually something in there, the conditions on the field, or the game, or the wind, or something else that adds another variable in there besides just point differential and time and timeouts, notes Bill Belichick, who has been blessed with Brady running two-minute and four-minute offenses. Its interesting how after all of these years ... and still every week there are new situations that somebody will bring up, or will come up in another game, or something that well talk about and kind of review our strategy and just say, `Well, this is normally what we would do here, but you know, the way that situation came up, thats not really quite what we want. We want something just a little bit different than that.Colts coach Chuck Pagano has felt the wrath from many sides concerning clock management. In the opener against the Lions, he was criticized for not taking more time off the clock or forcing the Lions to use their timeouts during a drive in which Indianapolis scored the go-ahead touchdown. Detroit drove downfield for a winning field goal.In last Sundays victory over San Diego, Pagano joked that after T.Y. Hilton broke free for a touchdown, that he left too much time on the clock.Billick believes that make-believe can lead to doing the real thing right. He knows that every coach and coordinator in the NFL recognizes that.You have got to practice it and practice it and condition your players to understand that this is not panic, but its a higher level of tempo, he explains. Increase your pace without panicking, understand the parameters. Staying in bounds or getting out; throwing a pass to stop the clock or running because you dont want the clock to stop. Keep a lot of people coached up as best you can in a game.Sometimes you have to be Captain Obvious.One secret to success is certainly having a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback or other clutch veteran players making sense of the madness. Its not essential -- Billick, for instance, succeeded with Tony Banks and Trent Dilfer at quarterback. But it helps immensely.Take a Ben Roethlisberger, who certainly has the experience to do it, but also because of the confidence he has to hang in there, to take a hit to make a play, Billick says. Sometimes that catches up with a quarterback. But obviously he is good at it and knows what he can get done.The Peytons and Bradys of the world are really good at it, adds Billick in his best Captain Obvious mode. Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, as you can imagine. What has happened on the field that they have not seen?Of course, they dont succeed all the time battling the clock. When they dont, theyre certain to hear about it.The criticism, Billick concludes, is one of the ultimates in hindsight.---AP Sports Writers Tom Canavan, Kyle Hightower, and Michael Marot contributed.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Shoes Australia From China . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. "All the players, they know me and they were really happy to see me and they were really happy that this is over for me," Cilic said. Wholesale Shoes Australia . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. https://www.shoesaustraliaonline.com/ . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. Cheap Nike Shoes Australia . -- Hunter Smith scored the winner with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period as the Oshawa Generals edged the host Sarnia Sting 5-4 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Fake Shoes Australia . With the short-handed Warriors needing help from someone -- anyone -- to stop a three-game skid, ONeal returned from right knee and groin injuries that had sidelined him for four games and put up season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds. It was just enough to help lift Golden State to a 102-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. The Colorado Avalanche are searching for answers, trying to find a way out of the tailspin that has them 0-3-1 on their homestand.They might have a kindred spirit in Saturdays opponent, the Dallas Stars, who visit Colorado on Saturday night in the homestand finale. The Stars lost the first three of their four-game road trip and four of their last five overall, including a 6-2 setback to Pittsburgh on Thursday night.Its a tough stretch for Dallas (9-10-6), which won the Central Division last season, but its not an unfamiliar feeling. The Stars had stretches last season where they went 1-5-2 and 1-6-0 but bounced back.We went through this last year, coach Lindy Ruff told The Dallas Morning News. I think were struggling and saying, Theres got to be an easier way. But there is no easier way. You have to put the work in.Similar sentiments are being said in the Avalanche camp. Colorado (9-12-1) played poorly at home all season, going 4-7-1 at Pepsi Center. It failed to capitalize on a decent road record to build momentum, often going stretches of games with a lack of intensity.It hurt in Thursdays 3-2 loss to Columbus.We have fits and starts of really good hockey, but its not long enough, Matt Duchene told HockeyBuzz.com. We have to make sure that were the team thats taking control; its just more of a killer instinct, more of an attitude to make things happen instead of worrying about making mistakes.The Avalanche fell behind 2-0 Thursday before a couple of goals in the second period got them even. They took three straight minor penalties in the third, and although they killed them ooff -- including Columbus having a two-man advantage for 40 seconds -- a turnover soon after they got back to full strength led to the Blue Jackets winning goal.ddddddddddddOne of the Avalanche goals was scored by Samuel Henley in his NHL debut. He, along with Gabriel Bourque, were assigned to San Antonio on Friday after being recalled Thursday.Colorado scored the first goal in just six of its 23 games and is 5-10-1 when trailing 1-0.Its the start of games, the start of periods (when) were just not ready, as ready as we should be, and Im not sure why, Duchene told HockeyBuzz.com. Itd be nice to strike first and dictate the game a little more. I think thats a big key to success in this league, playing with the lead and dictating the game. We have to be more determined to do it early.The Avalanche scored first in their opener against Dallas on Oct. 15 and went on to win 6-5. They would like to mirror that effort but eliminate the part where they nearly gave away a three-goal lead before holding on.The Stars, on the other hand, want to avoid a repeat of that game, and they want to start a winning streak. Dallas, like Colorado, has not won more than two in a row this season.When I get my top guys on the right side, then we will win games on a consistent basis, Ruff told The Dallas Morning News. Im looking at the job Ive been doing, and it hasnt been good enough because the guys I take so much pride in arent on the right side for me, and that bothers me. ' ' '