SEATTLE - Game plans vary from week to week, opponent to opponent. Dede Westbrook Jersey . Any NFL coach will scoff at the notion theres a formula that works the same against everyone.The exact opposite is true when constructing a contender. The basics must be adhered to:—Stability in coaching, the front office and, perhaps most importantly, ownership.—Forward thinkers.—Strong drafting and personnel decisions.—Oh, and standout quarterbacks.Pete Carroll, who won national championships at Southern California and now has a Super Bowl ring with the Seahawks, never thought he could top USC. His mind has changed.I thought I had seen the top of it. We won for so long, Carroll says of his Trojans years. We won a lot of games there, a lot of games in a row, and did a lot of stuff. How could you hope to hit it again? Ive been around coaching a long time. Its hard to do that and its rare when it happens. So it just feels like we were very fortunate that weve been able to find a way to put it together in this fashion.Lets see how this Final Four stacks up.SEATTLE (13-4)On the verge of becoming the first defending Super Bowl champion in a decade to reach the game again, the Seahawks easily check off all those categories.Hired in 2010 and given full power by owner Paul Allen — perhaps the NFLs richest man, but one who doesnt interfere in how the team is run — Carroll added John Schneider as general manager, and off the Seahawks went. They made the playoffs that first season, albeit as the first division winner with a losing record (7-9), and upset New Orleans in a wild-card game.The building had just begun, though, and it didnt all come together until 2013.Seattle has done its best work in the draft. Such stars as QB Russell Wilson, DBs Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor, LB Bobby Wagner, and mainstays C Max Unger, LBs K.J. Wright and Malcolm Smith (last Februarys Super Bowl MVP), and TE Luke Willson were drafted after the first round. Key wideouts Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse were undrafted.The Seahawks have hit the mark with veteran free agents DLs Michael Bennett, Tony McDaniel and Cliff Avril, too.As for forward-thinking minds, simply look at their belief that 2012 third-rounder Wilson should start as a rookie. He merely has a record-setting 36 regular-season wins already.GREEN BAY (13-4)The only publicly owned NFL team, the Packers havent allowed democracy to slow them in the Mike McCarthy era. While Packers President Mark Murphy is a steadying presence in Titletown, McCarthy and GM Ted Thompson have built a winner around All-Pro QB Aaron Rodgers.Their philosophy is to build from within — rarely does Green Bay delve into free agency, although the addition of DE-LB Julius Pepper was masterful this season. Of course, when youve gone from a Hall of Fame type quarterback in Brett Favre to another one in Rodgers, it makes personnel moves easier.This is the ninth year of our program, says McCarthy, who led the Packers to the 2010 NFL championship. Weve gone through this. Having 20-25 per cent of your roster turning over and the majority of it being first- and second-year players, its a process that you go through from Game 1 until today, and you put your best foot forward Sunday.McCarthy and his staff arent afraid to gamble, be it trusting that a jack-of-all-trades collegian such as Randall Cobb could become a star receiver, or that moving standout outside LB Clay Matthews inside would make the defence more formidable.NEW ENGLAND (13-4)Robert Kraft is one of the most powerful NFL owners, with input on all key issues. He might be more involved in league matters than those of his team, because he has Bill Belichick in charge.And Belichick has Tom Brady behind centre. Enough said.New Englands hierarchy reports to Kraft on business matters, to Belichick on anything football-wise. With all personnel matters in his hands, Belichick is willing to take chances (see Randy Moss, Chad Johnson, LeGarrette Blount, et al) on veterans with troubled histories. He also reads the draft better than most — except perhaps the Seattle group — finding gems everywhere, from DT Vince Wilfork in the first round (2004) to Brady at No. 199 way back in 2000 to quarterback turned star receiver Julian Edelman (232nd in 2009).No one pushes the limits in all aspects like Belichick. Some of it (Spygate) gets him in hot water, and others — last weeks use of eligible players at ineligible positions — is totally legal, if devious.INDIANAPOLIS (13-5)When Peyton Manning was at quarterback, this was a model franchise under coach Tony Dungy and owner Jimmy Irsay. Much changed when Manning missed all of 2011 following neck surgeries; Dungy had retired in 2009. Irsay has been the constant, and hes had his own personal issues, including a six-game league suspension after he was arrested on preliminary charges of misdemeanour driving while intoxicated and four felony counts of possession of a controlled substance.But Irsay is a first-rate owner and his choice of Chuck Pagano as coach has been a terrific one. The Colts have gone 11-5 all three of Paganos seasons, and have progressed one step further in the playoffs each year.A major reason: they lucked into Andrew Luck. Manning departed in 2012 just when Luck was coming out of Stanford, and the Colts earned the top draft pick.Pagano is a defensive mastermind, yet the Colts have been more impressive with the ball in his tenure. Theyve scored beyond Luck in the last three drafts with the likes of WR T.Y. Hilton, TEs Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen, DEs Bjoern Werner and Jonathan Newsome, and OL Jack Mewhort.Yes, they belong in this Final Four.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Ronnie Harrison Jersey . The result was a game-winning, power-play goal. Chiasson snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory on Monday night. Logan Cooke Jersey . Coming off a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal endured another demoralizing result after rallying for a 2-1 lead -- only to concede a fluke equalizer. http://www.thejaguarsfansshop.com/Jaguars-Malik-Jackson-Draft-Jersey/ . The 20-year-old overager has appeared in 35 games for the Ontario Hockey Leagues Erie Otters this season, scoring 41 goals and adding 27 assists with a plus-28 rating.The Chicago Blackhawks filled their hole at second-line centre by securing the services of a veteran at a cut-rate price. Numbers Game looks at the Blackhawks signing Brad Richards. The Blackhawks Get: C Brad Richards. Richards, 34, has been a productive scorer throughout his career, but that productivity has waned as he approaches his mid-thirties. While he finished with a respectable 51 points in 82 games last season, that 0.62 points per game represented a career low and the second-lowest rate of his career was in 2012-2013, when he had 0.74 points per game. The downward trend is pretty clear at this point. He played 18:40 per game last season, his lowest average time on ice since his rookie season in 2000-2001. Given the massive contract that Richards had with the New York Rangers (nine years, $60-million), and the new recapture penalties that were imposed in the latest collective bargaining agreement, the Rangers had little choice but to buy out Richards, after paying him $33-million for the first three years of his deal. A long and productive career leaves Richards with few needs financially, so he went into his newfound free agency looking for a good fit and settled on joining the Blackhawks, a Stanley Cup contender who could use an upgrade at their second-line centre spot. In the past couple years, even as his point production has started to fall, Richards has had his zone starts tilted towards the offensive zone, with more than 65% of his shifts starting in the offensive zone. As a result, hes had strong possession stats, which may be enough to suggest that, eveen in decline, in a sheltered role, Richards would be an upgrade on Michal Handzus as Chicagos number two centre. Brandon Linder Jersey. In Chicago, there is a good opportunity for Richards to have a productive year. Any combination of the Blackhawks top scoring wingers includes Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad, so playing with two of them ought to give Richards a chance to have decent even-strength production. Whether Richards can match last seasons scoring totals, however, probably will have some dependence on power play production and, over the past couple seasons, Richards has really struggled to produce with the man advantage. Furthermore, Richards presence likely means that top Blackhawks prospect Teuvo Teravainen wont be starting the season in Chicago and that may be fine for his overall development, but if Teravainen shows that hes ready, it would be easy enough to see Richards bumped down the depth chart, as has happened from time to time with the Rangers over the past couple seasons. There is a benefit to the contract that Richards signed with Chicago -- a one-year, $2-million deal -- in that his declining production in New York was frequently contrasted with how much money the Rangers had tied up to get him. Now, Richards is a bargain signing and if he gives Chicago decent second-line production, he would bring a positive return on investment. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap Denver Nuggets Jerseys Cheap Minnesota Timberwolves Jerseys Cheap Oklahoma City Thunder Jerseys Cheap Portland Trail Blazers Jerseys Cheap Utah Jazz Jerseys Cheap Los Angeles Clippers Jerseys Cheap Los Angeles Lakers Jerseys Cheap Phoenix Suns Jerseys Cheap Sacramento Kings Jerseys Cheap Dallas Mavericks Jerseys Cheap Houston Rockets Jerseys Cheap Memphis Grizzlies Jerseys Cheap New Orleans Pelicans Jerseys Cheap San Antonio Spurs Jerseys Cheap Golden State Warriors Jerseys ' ' '