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Fourth-and-no is becoming fourth-and-go in the NFL.More coaches are going for it in situations that used to be automatic punts or field-goal attempts. Through Week 13, teams went on fourth down 350 times and converted 181 or 51.7 percent.Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden made perhaps the boldest call when Washington faced fourth-and-inches from its 41-yard line with a 29-24 lead and 6:12 remaining against the Green Packers on Nov. 20.Going for it meant risking the possibility that Aaron Rodgers would get the ball close enough for a short field with the game on the line. It defied conventional coaching logic, but Gruden kept his offense on the field, quarterback Kirk Cousins sneaked for the first down and the Redskins went on to score and secure the win.I think its confidence in the offense, No. 1 and, quite frankly, the defense if you dont get it, that if you do give away a short field that theyll get the ball back for us, Gruden said this week. But mainly, its confidence in the offense. We have a big, physical offensive line, we have got a big back, and we have a quarterback where if we want to do a bootleg or if we want to drop back and throw it, we have confidence that he can make an accurate throw.Confidence in the offensive line that can get movement, we can get a foot or a yard or 2 yards, and confidence in the quarterback to get it done.For Cousins, it was an easy decision, even if teams holding leads late in the fourth quarter usually punt in that situation.I think you had to do it, Cousins said. Its just a matter of which play to call and how do we execute it versus the front or blitz that they will bring.No team has more fourth-down attempts than Philadelphias 19. But coach Doug Pedersons aggressive playcalling cost the Eagles (5-7) a win against the New York Giants in November.Pederson passed up two chip-shot field goals to go on fourth downs in the first half. Both attempts failed. The Eagles lost 28-23 after failing to score a touchdown on four tries from the Giants 17 in the final minute.Obviously, six points wouldve made a difference. But Pederson had no regrets and stuck by decisions that backfired.It shows confidence and belief in the guys, Pederson said. At that time, I felt like we were moving the ball.Last week, teams were 17 for 30 on fourth down. Several of those attempts came at odd times during games, including a few in the Texans-Packers game played in snow.The Texans went on fourth-and-1 from the Packers 49 early in the second quarter in a scoreless game. Alfred Blue got stopped and Green Bay turned the short field into a touchdown.Houston later passed up a 23-yard field goal and went on fourth-and-1 from the Packers 6 midway through the third quarter. Brock Osweiler tossed a TD pass to tie it 7-7.But coach Bill OBrien got conservative after that conversion.He chose to punt on fourth-and-5 at Green Bays 36 in a 7-7 game late in the third. He decided to punt again on fourth-and-7 from the Packers 44 with 8:59 left and trailing 14-7.Its just where we were on the field, said OBrien, offering no explanation for the inconsistent decisions.The Packers converted on fourth-and-2 from the Texans 42 when Cristine Michael ran for 5 yards on their first scoring drive. But they failed on fourth-and-2 at the Texans 48 later in the game.OBrien also had some interesting fourth-down calls against Oakland in the Monday night game in Mexico on Nov. 21.He went on fourth-and-inches from the Raiders 15 with the score tied and 6:15 left in the game. Akeem Hunt got stopped short on what appeared to be a poor spot by the officials.I felt like we needed a touchdown there, said OBrien, even though a field goal wouldve given Houston the lead.After Oakland went up 27-20, the Texans faced fourth-and-5 from their own 44 with only 3:13 to go and one time-out remaining. Yet, OBrien chose to punt. The Texans never got the ball back.If I had it back, Id go for it, OBrien said afterward.Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn passed up a short field goal down 27-16 in the third quarter against Kansas City last Sunday. He went on fourth-and-1 at the Chiefs 10. Atlanta didnt convert and eventually lost 29-28 because Eric Berry picked off a 2-point conversion and returned it the other way. Quinns decision to go for it earlier instead of kicking a 23-yard field goal also proved costly.---AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.---For more NFL coverage: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP-RobMaaddi Paul ONeill Yankees Jersey . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Joe DiMaggio Yankees Jersey . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. http://www.yankeesrookiestore.com/Yankees-Don-Larsen-Kids-Jersey/ . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Zach Britton Jersey . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Phil Rizzuto Jersey . PAUL, Minn. The hockey world is a tight community. Yet, its also a business. And with big money comes intense pressure to deliver. General managers, coaches and players are paid to win, and thus they come and go. They understand the realities of their jobs.But the firing of Gerard Gallant by the Florida Panthers?on Sunday night hit a collective nerve. Even tough hockey decisions normally meet a threshold of fairness, but it doesnt feel like this one did.The response I got to Gallants firing from team executives and coaches around the league was a universal shaking of the head. A coach who was nominated for the Jack Adams Award last season is gone just 22 games into the 2016-17 campaign -- while his team is over .500 and has battled key injuries since the get-go.The fact that photos surfaced of Gallant having to hail his own cab in Raleigh, North Carolina, after being told he was fired -- well, that just adds to the level of outrage for many.I suspect that Gallant knew he was on the clock from the moment former GM Dale Tallon was promoted to president of hockey operations last spring. Gallant had been Tallons coach. And now Tallon had been punted from the day-to-day hockey decision-making.You cant fire a coach right after he has been nominated for coach of the year, can you? But the Panthers canned Gallant. For no justifiable reason.Some of this has to do with a clash between the Panthers analytics group and old-school guys such as Tallon and Galllant.dddddddddddd And Im not here to fan the flames of that debate. I think you need to keep an open mind to both analytics and how best to use that information, within the context of understanding what makes a player useful just from knowing the game. Theres room for both schools of thought in hockey, and Im mighty tired of people trying to make you pick a side.The silver lining for Gallant is that he has two more years on his contract past this season. He has time to make his next coaching gig a good one. And he will get another opportunity, to be sure. Hes too good a coach not to get another look soon. As my colleagues Craig Custance and Joe McDonald suggested, perhaps Las Vegas GM George McPhee will consider Gallant as a candidate to be the first coach of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.What will be fascinating in Florida is how people assess credit/blame for the Panthers performance moving forward. Florida still has a great core, one that Tallon built and Gallant molded, players who love their former coach. If and when the Panthers achieve sustained success, will the narrative be about the new regime bringing the program to the next level or that the Tallon-Gallant partnership gave this team its true kick-start?There will be probably room for both. But what is clear is that Gallant deserved better. Cheap Jerseys their former coach. If and when the Panthers' ' '