leading the Saints to a fourth playoff appearance in five se

Still stinging from a 31-24 home loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots travel across the country to face the woeful San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.And they will do so without Rob Gronkowski.The big tight end, injured by a smashing hit from Seattles Earl Thomas on Sunday night, missed five plays but came back and finished the game, which ended when an attempted fade to him in the end zone was incomplete. He was ruled out of the game against the 49ers on Friday.On Monday a report surfaced he suffered a punctured lung. Then Tuesday another report said it was a bruised sternum.There was no Gronkowski news Wednesday -- except that his brother, Glenn, was re-signed to the practice squad.While all was quiet on that front, it was apparent neither Gronkowski will be on the field when the 7-2 Patriots visit the 1-8 (with eight straight losses) 49ers.Clearly, Rob Gronkowskis absence makes the powerful New England offense weaker. But the injury took focus away from what the Patriots defense did Sunday, which was little as Russell Wilson threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns.Chip Kelly is the coach of the 49ers now, but last year he brought the Philadelphia Eagles to Gillette Stadium and won, scoring 35 points.(Coach Bill Belichick) has been on us about that game, too, defensive captain Devin McCourty said Wednesday. Obviously, we didnt do some things well that game, so we just talked about the importance of, with Chip Kelly being there now, theyll definitely probably go through that game, and things that they gave us trouble with theyll look at and probably go back to.Hes (Belichick) trained us as players I think in really all phases of the game about being prepared for those things, so weve gone through that game a little bit, just watching and seeing how we might get attacked, obviously, not by Philly but by a team coached by Chip Kelly.Asked what his team has to do to calm the fears of anxious Patriots fans about the defense, McCourty said, Its simple. Weve just got to play better -- theres nothing I can say to calm that or anything, weve just got to go out there and play better. I think thats what everyone in the locker room and everyone on the defense wants to go out there and do. Theres nothing to say. Youve just got to go do it.The 49ers are 29th in the NFL in total offense and 30th in passing. But theyre seventh in rushing, with Colin Kaepernick always a threat to take off with the football. And the New England defensive players have been impressed with the way the Niners have moved the ball the last two games -- the third and fourth games with Kaepernick as the starter.I mean, if wed have played well (last week) wed still have something to prove, New England defensive end Chris Long said. Every week we have something to prove. If you have a mindset any different in this league, youre going to get embarrassed because theres good teams every week that you have to play that has weapons. San Francisco certainly has that.The 49ers only win was a 28-0 opening victory over the Los Angeles Rams, who also remain on New Englands schedule. They lost by three points at Arizona last Sunday.Earlier this week, Kelly, the former offensive coordinator at the University of New Hampshire, revealed some extremely important news on his relationship with Belichick.Were Facebook friends, Kelly said. We spend a lot of time online together.He is a good friend. Hes always been very, very kind to me, whether I was at New Hampshire or Oregon or now, when Ive been in the NFL. Very good friend. ... I was just very thankful that he is a friend of mine, and Ive got great respect for him. Excited about the matchup this week and getting a chance to coach against him again.Talking about Kaepernick and the Niners attack Wednesday, Belichick said, They run the ball as much as any team in the league so that sets up their play action and some of the quarterback movement plays that hes good at, as well as their third-down package. He has a good group of skill players to work with. The receivers are good, the tight ends are good, the backs are very good. They can move the ball. Air Max 270 Homme Soldes .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. Nike Air Max 97 Blanche Soldes .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. http://www.maxnikepascher.fr/ . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Nike Air Vapormax Pas Cher . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. Air Max 90 Pas Cher Chine . - After leading the Saints to a fourth playoff appearance in five seasons, Drew Brees expressed confidence in the direction of his team and, perhaps more importantly, showed a willingness to listen to contract proposals if the team needs his help getting under the NFLs salary cap. KINGMAN, Ariz. -- Authorities say a van failed to yield the right of way at a stop sign before colliding with a Dallas Cowboys staff bus along an Arizona highway.The Arizona Department of Public Safety said Tuesday the four occupants of the van who were killed in the Sunday collision on U.S. 93 north of Kingman were Chinese nationals.The department says the vans driver was a 52-year-old man and the passengers included two 52-year-old women and a 19-yearr-old woman.ddddddddddddIdentities were withheld pending notification of next of kin. It could not be immediately determined if they were related.DPS spokesman Quentin Mehr said the bus hit the van broadside.Nobody was injured on the bus that was headed to a pre-season promotional stop in Las Vegas. No players were on the bus. ' ' '