Die Anpflanzler [DA] » Minnesota’s fumble gave Matthew Stafford and the

EAGAN Anthony Nelson Jersey , Minn. (AP) — Detroit 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 Jeffery Simmons Jersey , 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 Nate Davis Jersey , but we were making errors in the beginning of the season and now we’re trying to minimize those.” New regime, same old mission for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Bruce Arians is the latest coach taking a stab at making the Bucs relevant again.The former Arizona Cardinals coach came out of retirement in January to replace Dirk Koetter, who was fired after another losing season extended the club’s playoff drought to 11 consecutive seasons.And while Arians insists the Bucs are not in a rebuilding mode, it sure seems that way heading into yet another draft where Tampa Bay will continue an ongoing effort to fill holes in a leaky defense.General manager Jason Licht is working with a third head coach in six years and is banking on the bond he developed with Arians while they were both in Arizona will help him finally get it right with the Bucs.“I have a great relationship with Bruce. I have a good feel for him, what he likes. We’ve had many, many meetings together, they’ve all been great, very productive,” Licht said. “It’s an open door, no walls between the scouting and the coaching, which is what we had in Arizona and we’ve had here too.”More Tampa Bay Buccaneers newsBuccaneers make big step forward avoiding 0-2 startBucs’ running game shows signs of life with 2nd-year RB Ronald Jones II leading wayJameis Winston throws 3 INTs, Buccaneers drop season-opener to 49ersBuccaneers edge Browns 13-12 behind K Matt Gay’s game-winnerBruce Arians gets 1st win with Bucs against surprise starter Josh Rosen, DolphinsMistakes in free agency and recent drafts contributed to a tight salary cap situation that’s placed limits on how much the Bucs could spend to fix one of the league’s worst defenses this offseason.Over the past three drafts alone Tytus Howard Jersey , they’ve used a first-round pick and a pair of No. 2s on cornerbacks who’ve yet to make compelling cases that they can be long-term solutions or even bona fide starters.Jason Pierre-Paul, a pre-draft trade acquisition a year ago, became the first Tampa Bay player to have at least 10 sacks in a season since Simeon Rice in 2005, yet bolstering an inconsistent pass rush remains a priority a year after Licht used a first-round pick and invested heavily in free agency to overhaul the defensive line around veteran tackle Gerald McCoy.Licht said the toughest part of the evaluation process for the draft is not gauging a prospect’s talent.“It’s what the player is all about and how willing he is to put in the work, what kind of a teammate he’s going to be. So you can kind of separate the guys that don’t have the talent to make it. The guys that do have talent, you rank them into how talented they are, but then the tough part is reading the player,” the GM said.“Bruce doesn’t live by a lot of mottos. … But one thing he does adhere to that I took from him in Arizona is, ‘trust, loyalty, respect.’ You’ve got to have players that trust each other, trust the coaches, are loyal to everybody and respect everybody Gary Jennings Jr. Jersey ,” Licht added. “So if you can get a talented guy that you know hits on all three of those things, you have a really good chance.”Barring a trade, the Bucs hold the fifth overall selection. In addition to improving the pass rush and secondary, they likely will seek help for the offensive line and, possibly, at running back in later rounds.“We have at least five players that we think �? at least five �? that if we stay in our spot that we’d be very happy with,” Arians said.TRADE BAIT?McCoy, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, is due to earn $13 million next season, his 10th with the Bucs. Both Arians and Licht have shied away from talking specifics about how the defensive tackle fits into the plan for 2019, including whether he could be traded on or before the opening day of the draft.“That’s hypothetical,” Licht said. “Right now, we are focused on the draft.”RATING THE CLASSWhile Licht expects to find help regardless of whether the Bucs stand pat at No. 5 or wind up trading down in the draft order Ugo Amadi Jersey , the GM said there is a clear drop-off in the level of talent available after a certain point.“I would say after a certain number �? which I won’t give �? then they kind of all are together,” Licht said. “It’s tougher than most years to really rank the let’s just say top 50 players, because of that.”Staying put could mean taking one of the defensive studs up front �? Quinnen Williams of Alabama, Ed Oliver of Houston, Montez Sweat of Mississippi State �? or linebacker Josh Allen of Kentucky.CUPBOARD NOT BAREDespite going 5-11 and missing the playoffs again ast season, Licht feels entering the draft that Tampa Bay’s roster is more than talented than it was this time a year ago.“We think we have a talented team, but we know that we have some pieces that we need to add, too,” the GM said. “We are not a finished product. We have the draft coming up, we have moves that we can make all the way up through training camp.”