EAGAN http://www.bearscheapstores.com/riley-ridley-jersey-cheap , Minn. (AP) — Lions a fresh set of downs early in the fourth quarter two weeks ago, another opportunity to start climbing back into the game.Though they held an 11-point lead, the Vikings had been unable to pull away. On the first play after the change of possession, Stafford faked a handoff to Kerryon Johnson and rolled out to his right.With a hard stop, Stafford pivoted and threw back to his left where Johnson was waiting for the screen pass with four blockers within 5 yards of him. Vikings defensive tackle Tom Johnson wasn’t fooled, though.He kept his eyes on the running back the entire time, closing in to make the tackle for a 6-yard loss as soon as the ball was caught. Five plays later, with the Lions still in their own territory, defensive end Danielle Hunter scooped up a fumble and returned it for a victory-sealing touchdown.When the Vikings beat the Lions 24-9 that afternoon, the most encouraging development entering their week off was the start-to-finish dominance by a defense that didn’t look like its usual self in the first quarter of the season. That rollout screen play that Johnson blew up went for big gains against the Vikings a few times earlier in the fall. Coach Mike Zimmer and his staff put plenty of work into adjusting the scheme and the calls after in light of the vulnerabilities that arose in September.The Vikings allowed a season-low 209 yards to the Lions. Their next three lowest totals all came over the three previous games.“There’s a lot of teams now that are playing a style of defense similar to us. Now, all these offenses are attacking these defenses pretty much the same way. So we’ve had to adjust and change coverages,” Zimmer said, adding: “Luckily http://www.cowboyscheapauthenticstore.com/trysten-hill-jersey-cheap , our players have been able to execute it.”The 4-3 system that Zimmer largely used throughout his time as defensive coordinator for Dallas and Cincinnati gained fame by the novel use of the double A-gap blitz that send the inside linebackers as pass rushers on both sides of the center.As more and more teams began to integrate that concept, the added exposure around the league gave opponents more opportunities to strategize about how to block it. Zimmer estimated that 10 or 12 other teams around the NFL now use a form of what his original base defense was.As for the Double-A gap blitz, Zimmer has rarely called one of those this season. One alternative that has worked well has been to overload one side of the line and use a defensive back to rush like Harrison Smith or Mackensie Alexander, who had the only one of 10 sacks of Stafford what wasn’t from a defensive lineman.“Everybody copies if you’ve been good,” Zimmer said, adding: “You see a gradual thing. I’ve had many coaches say they watch our blitz tape every week to see what we’re doing. That’s kind of how it starts.”General manager Rick Spielman will often join Zimmer for his 5:30 a.m. film review of the previous game on Monday mornings, and this season he’s been witness to perhaps more scheming than usual.“It’s pretty incredible to see how they evolve things and why they evolve it,” Spielman said.The Vikings (5-3-1) play at Chicago (6-3) on Sunday night for control of the NFC North, and they’ll need the defense to keep this up.“We’re recognizing the plays and understanding the downs and distances, getting to the ball, getting to the quarterback,” cornerback Xavier Rhodes said. “We’re in great coverage. We’re aggressive. Once we call a blitz, we’re aggressive all the way around. We’re just being us. We’re finding our identity. We had it Connor McGovern Jersey , but we were making errors in the beginning of the season and now we’re trying to minimize those.” EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints are looking like a playoff team a quarter of the way into the season, and the New York Giants are once again looking like a team that isn’t headed to the postseason.Alvin Kamara ran for 134 yards and three second-half touchdowns and the Saints (3-1) won their third straight game on Sunday, defeating the offensively inept Giants 33-18.“I feel like we are getting better every week, and that’s what is important to me,” said Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time this season. “I feel like we are beginning to play more complimentary football and not just on the offense, run to pass, but really as a team.”The big difference for New Orleans this week was the play of its much-maligned defense. After giving up a touchdown the first series, the unit held New York (1-3) to a third-period field goal and a late touchdown and two-point conversion.The defense, which came into the game ranked No. 30 in the league, allowed only four plays of 20 or more yards after giving up 37 points in an overtime win over Atlanta last weekend.“What pressure would there be on us?” Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan quipped. “There was no place to go but up.”The Giants are looking a lot like the team that went 3-13 last season. The new 3-4 defense has been playing well, but the offense is averaging just over 20 points — 27 came in the win at Houston — and this was a season low.“It seems like it shouldn’t be this hard but it is Khari Willis Jersey ,” said New York star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. “We got to come with the energy like our game last week. It’s not one person doing this or one person doing that. It’s got to be everybody. We’ve just got to stick together It’s definitely not the results we want, the outcome. It’s not the way we want to play.”The Saints grabbed a 12-7 first half lead on four field goals by Wil Lutz. Kamara broke the game open in the second half with touchdown runs of 9, 4 and 49 yards.Eli Manning threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard on the Giants’ opening drive. Aldrick Rosas added a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the Saints lead to 19-10. A late 1-yard TD run by Saquon Barkley and a two-point conversion pass from Manning to Shepard closed out New York’s scoring.Takeouts from the game between the Saints and Giants:RUNNING ATTACKS: The biggest difference in the game was the running attacks. The Saints ran 32 times for 170 yards. The Giants carried the ball 15 times for 65 yards. Barkley led the way with 10 carries for 44 yards. However, he had one run of 28 yards, while Beckham had a 10-yard run on an end around. That’s 38 yards. The other 13 carries generated 27 yards.NO SHOOTOUT: The game was supposed to be a showdown between the 39-year-old Brees and the 37-year-old Manning. It never happened. Brees, who was completing 80 percent of his passes, was limited to 18 of 32 for a season-low 217 yards. NFL leading receiver Michael Thomas had four catches for 47 yards. Manning was 31 of 41 for 255 yards. His long was a 27-yard pass Beckham.TRICKS: Saints coach Sean Payton threw a wrinkle at the Giants with backup quarterback Taysom Hill. He completed a 10-yard pass on a fake punt on New Orleans’ second possession. It set up Lutz’s first field goal. He also threw an incompletion on a red zone pass, had four runs for 28 yards, and returned a kickoff for 16 yards. He had not thrown a pass and had three rushes for 39 yards in the first three games.COLLINS SHINES: Giants safety Landon Collins has not been getting many chances to make plays. He had 16 tackles the first three games. The Pro Bowler led the Giants on Sunday with nine solo tackles and 14 overall. Linebacker Alex Ogletree had 12 tackles.COVER CORNERS: Janoris Jenkins of the Giants spent almost the entire game shadowing Thomas, who had come into the game with 38 catches in his first three games. It was the most by a receiver in his first three games of the season. The Saints’ Marshon Lattimore, who had been struggling, covered Beckham most of the game. The NFL’s highest paid receiver finished with seven receptions on 11 targets for 60 yards.UP NEXTSaints: Home against Washington for a Monday night game on Oct. 8.Giants: At Carolina next Sunday.