Calvin Johnson, the Detroit Lions receiver, had been mostly ineffective for five weeks.
Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh took himself out of the past two games when he blew his cool and was handed a two-game suspension.
But Detroit's two brightest stars showed up in the biggest moments in a victory on Sunday that put the Lions on the brink of their first play-off berth in more than a decade.
Johnson caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford with 39 seconds left to cap a 98-yard drive, and Suh blocked Sebastian Janikowski's 65-yard field-goal attempt on the final play of Detroit's 28-27 victory over the Oakland Raiders.
"I'd rather be on the football field helping my team than not be on the football team and watching them," said Suh, banned for two games for stepping on Green Bay's lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith during a loss on Thanksgiving Day.
The Lions need to win just one of their final two games to make the play-offs for the first time since 1999. They host San Diego on Saturday with a chance to clinch at home.
"It's a dream scenario," said Kyle Vanden Bosch, the defensive end. "Christmas Eve we've got a home game. It would be nice. You couldn't write a better story."
The Lions were in trouble when Aaron Curry returned Stafford's fumble six yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 27-14 lead with just under eight minutes to play. But Stafford engineered two long scoring drives in the final minutes to give the Lions the road victory over the Raiders (7-7).
He completed 29 of 52 passes for 391 yards and four touchdowns.
Johnson caught nine for 214 yards, ending a five-game drought with no 100-yard receiving games and only one touchdown.
"He was due" for a big game "and I'm glad it happened," Stafford said of Johnson. "I'm just proud of our team. We stuck together."
@ For more on the NFL 2011/12 SEASON visit thenational.ae/topics
Virtuzone GCC Sixes
Date and venue Friday and Saturday, ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City
Time Matches start at 9am
Groups
A Blighty Ducks, Darjeeling Colts, Darjeeling Social, Dubai Wombats; B Darjeeling Veterans, Kuwait Casuals, Loose Cannons, Savannah Lions; C Awali Taverners, Darjeeling, Dromedary, Darjeeling Good Eggs
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Zayed Sustainability Prize
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Honeymoonish
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SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Princeton
