through Minnesotas front seven and secondar

MINNEAPOLIS -- Mike Zimmers team lost a second straight game by a double-digit margin, with a depleted offense sputtering badly.The next day he needed eye surgery.The following morning, his offensive coordinator came into his office at Minnesota Vikings headquarters to inform him of his resignation.All this after overcoming the absences of several injured starters to take the NFLs only 5-0 record this season into the bye week.I feel the roller coaster ride, Zimmer said, flashing a smile thats been rarely spotted on his grizzled face lately.Thats the life of a head coach. Even for assistants. Zimmer took some time after a recent practice to recall his second year in the league, 1995, when he was defensive backs coach for a Dallas team that won the Super Bowl trophy.Beaten by then-rival San Francisco in the previous NFC championship game and again that regular season, the Cowboys slumped a bit in December and needed a win and a one-point loss by the 49ers on the final weekend of play to gain home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Green Bay knocked off San Francisco in the division round, and the Cowboys took down the Packers for the NFC title before beating the Pittsburgh Steelers for the championship.At the end of the year, regardless of what happens, I went in the locker room at the end of the game and said, `My God, that was a long season, Zimmer said. So I get it. Thats just how this thing works. Were not the only team to have ups and downs.Hey, its the NFL.The Vikings (5-2) host Detroit on Sunday, eager to return to raucous U.S. Bank Stadium where theyre unbeaten in three games. The Lions (4-4) know all about those ups and downs, of course, looking back to last years 1-7 start that rendered a 6-2 finish meaningless. This season, every game has been close, winning by four points or fewer each time for a cumulative margin of victory of 11 points. Four defeats, all by a touchdown or less, have come by a total of 18 points.Just take a look at it, and youve always got a chance at this point in time, right? Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. Goals are still in front of you.Here are some key angles to know about the game:MIDSEASON SWITCH: After losing to Minnesota 28-19 in Detroit last year, watching Matthew Stafford take seven sacks, Caldwell fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and both offensive line coaches. Quarterbacks coach Jim Bob Cooter took over the play calling, and Stafford and the Lions were far more effective after that. Theyve kept up that success on offense this season.What we had to do was work extremely hard. You had to little by little kind of piece something new together that we wanted to do, and go from there, Stafford said, recalling the challenge of the change.Though the circumstances are different, the Vikings would love a similar boost for their offense after Norv Turner left and was replaced by Pat Shurmur.Its not on coaches. Were the ones out there. Were the ones that need to play better, tight end Kyle Rudolph said. Moving forward, weve just got to get everybody to do their job. We have the talent and ability to make that happen.PROTECTING THE PASSER: Theres no question about Shurmurs top priority in taking over the offense. Bradford needs better protection than he received the last two games if the Vikings are going to get back on track. Bradford was not only sacked 11 times but hit hard on several other throws, sending him out of sync after playing so crisply and effectively before the bye.I dont think its a good thing, Bradford said. I think weve got to figure out a way to bring that number down.GETTING THERE: Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah, who missed three earlier games because of a sprained ankle, is still without a sack. Ansah, who finished 2015 with 14+ sacks, has five sacks in six career games against the Vikings.Maybe the first week or so he got maybe a little bit rusty, but I think without question hes still who he is, Caldwell said.STOPPING THE RUN: The issues with the offense had already been exposed before the loss at Chicago on Monday night, so the ease with which Bears rookie Jordan Howard ran through Minnesotas front seven and secondary was more alarming. Howard rushed 26 times for 153 yards and caught four passes for 49 yards.Thats inexcusable for us on defense, linebacker Chad Greenway said. Thats what we pride ourselves on and have for a long time.STAFFORDS SURGE: Over the last 16 games, mirroring Cooters move into the offensive coordinator role, the Lions are in the top three in the NFL in passer rating, touchdown-to-interception ratio, completion percentage, passing touchdowns and offensive points scored among other categories.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap Air Max 720 Ireland From China . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. Air Max 720 Ireland Outlet .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. http://www.clearanceairmax720ireland.com/ . Sgt. Eric ONeal says most of the arrests at Monday nights game were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium. Supply Air Max 720 Ireland .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem. Cheap Nike Shoes Ireland . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. MONACO -- Surprise English champion Leicester is in the pot of top seeds for the Champions League group-stage draw on Thursday despite being ranked 31st of the 32 teams by UEFA.Leicester joins defending champion Real Madrid and other winners of the seven highest-ranked national leagues in the pot of No. 1 seeds, which includes CSKA Moscow.Only Russias Rostov -- also making its debut in Europes top club competition after beating Ajax in the playoffs on Wednesday -- is ranked lower than Leicester, which is now No. 99 in UEFAs standings.Leicester will also avoid powers like Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus in the draw and cannot be put in a group with any English teams.In the pot of No. 2 seeds, Atletico Madrid, twice beaten in the final by its city rival in the past three seasons, and Borussia Dortmund seem the toughest possible opponents for Leicester.The third-seeded teams include PSV Eindhoven, which was top-seeded last season when the Dutch league was ranked above Russia, plus Tottenham and Borussia Moenchengladbach.Monaco, a quarterfinalist two seasons ago, stands out in the fourth-seeded pot which also includes former European Cup winner Celtic and Legia Warsaw, returning for the first time since reaching the quarterfinals in 1996.Beyond Pot 1, the seedings are decided by a teams ranking based mostly on its results in just the previous five seasons of the Champions League and Europa League.Spain has four teams in the draw, including Europa League winner Sevilla. Germany and England have four each and Italy has just two.Before the draw in Monaco, a series of meetings between top club delegates and UEFA should agree to change the entry slots from 2018 that would give underperforming Italy four guaranteed places. The big-three leagues are also set to get four places and avoid the playoff round in future.A total of 22 teams gained direct entry to Thursdays draw and 10 more places were allocated through the qualifying rounds which ended with the two-leg playoffs that were completed Wednesday.ddddddddddddRostov, ranked No. 146 by UEFA at the start of the competition, and CSKA will be kept apart from Dynamo Kiev, which is in the pot of No. 3 seeds.UEFA ruled in 2014 that Russian and Ukrainian national and club teams must be separated in draws during ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian separatists.Each team in Thursdays draw will get a basic fee of 12.7 million euros ($14.3 million) from UEFA, with more to be earned from results bonuses and advancing through the knockout rounds. The 32 teams will share an overall prize fund of around 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion).The top two teams in each of the eight groups advance to the knockout rounds starting in February.The final is on June 3 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.---SeedingsPot 1: Real Madrid (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Leicester (England), Bayern Munich (Germany), Juventus (Italy), Benfica (Portugal), Paris Saint-Germain (France), CSKA Moscow (Russia).Pot 2: Atletico Madrid (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Arsenal (England), Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Porto (Portugal), Napoli (Italy), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany).Pot 3: Basel (Switzerland), Tottenham (England), Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), Lyon (France), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Bruges (Belgium), Borussia Moenchengladbach (Germany).Pot 4: Celtic (Scotland), Monaco (France), Besiktas (Turkey), Legia Warsaw (Poland), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria), FC Copenhagen (Denmark), Rostov (Russia). 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