Angebot, Shop » On the road in Minnesota Ryan Tannehill

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Miami Dolphins enjoyed quite the emotional high last week Rashan Gary Jersey , defeating despised New England with a double-lateral touchdown that covered 69 yards on the game’s final play to give their long-shot postseason bid a big lift.Dolphins, literally, came crashing back to the turf.The Vikings used a career-high 136 rushing yards and two touchdowns by Dalvin Cook to complement a swarming defense that took down Tannehill behind the line of scrimmage nine times for 71 lost yards in a 41-17 victory on Sunday, tying Miami’s franchise record for sacks allowed.“All around, starting with me, we weren’t good enough,” Tannehill said.Tannehill, who left the game against New England briefly because of an ankle injury, said afterward he felt fine despite the series of collisions he made with the ground throughout the afternoon. Miami’s chance in the AFC wild-card race took the biggest hit, with Baltimore, Indianapolis and Tennessee all winning to move to 8-6 and push the Dolphins (7-7) into ninth place in the conference race.The Dolphins were sacked nine times on Dec. 11, 2011, in a 26-10 loss to Philadelphia, with four against Matt Moore and five on J.P. Losman. They also gave up nine sacks on Oct. 17, 1999, all against Damon Huard after he relieved an injured Dan Marino in a 31-30 victory at New England.Coach Adam Gase, whose team fell to 1-6 on the road this year, put the blame for the awful pass protection largely on the offensive line, running backs and tight ends for not giving Tannehill much of a chance.“We just didn’t block well enough,” Gase said. “We knew what we were in for as far as the pass rush. They just beat us.”The Vikings saved eight of their sacks for the second half Darnell Savage Jr. Jersey , after Kalen Ballage’s 75-yard touchdown run on the first snap of the third quarter pulled the Dolphins within 21-17 after they’d fallen behind 21-0.On first-and-10 from Miami’s 38, Tannehill was sacked for a 9-yard loss by blitzing linebacker Anthony Barr. Defensive end Danielle Hunter took him down for an 8-yard loss on the next play, putting the Dolphins in an extremely difficult third-and-27 situation. Tannehill completed an 8-yard dumpoff to Danny Amendola, and the Dolphins had to punt. On their five possessions following the rookie Ballage’s score, the Dolphins netted a staggering minus-27 yards on 16 plays.“Personally, I played my worst game of the season,” said running back Kenyon Drake, the hero of the previous game after he crossed the goal line following a 52-yard slither and scamper through New England’s secondary. “I let the team down. I missed a couple key blocks on third down. So you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and be motivated to get better.”No matter what was going to unfold for the Dolphins down the stretch, topping that “Miami Miracle” sequence was going to be tough. The way they performed against the Vikings all but cemented that play as the season highlight.Though they fell behind by three touchdowns after Minnesota’s first three possessions, the Dolphins insisted they didn’t carry any emotional hangover with them this week . The way they rallied from the early deficit offered evidence that this was true, but the way they wilted over the final 28 minutes of the game raised plenty of questions about the direction of the team nearing the end of Gase’s third year. After going 10-6 and making the playoffs in his rookie season, the Dolphins are 13-17 over the last two years, albeit with Tannehill missing 21 of those 30 games to injury.The Dolphins have been outscored 218-120 in road games this season. They’re 7-17 away from home under Gase, with 11 losses in their last 12 road games.“From my perspective, the guys did a good job of moving on to prepare for Minnesota and not letting it bleed into the next week,” Tannehill said. “We didn’t come out and execute well from the first snap.” ATLANTA (AP) — Matthew Slater is more than halfway to his father’s longevity as an NFL player. He doesn’t plan to equal it.The star special teamer of the New England Patriots just completed his 11th pro season, and he’s at his fifth Super Bowl, with two wins. In his dad Jackie’s 20-season NFL career, he made one Super Bowl — coincidentally, with the Rams in 1980 — and lost to Pittsburgh.“That’s a long time to do anything,” Matthew Slater said Tuesday. As for the New England kick coverage ace lasting so long Elgton Jenkins Jersey , he added with a laugh: “Absolutely not.”Of course, when your team becomes a regular visitor to the Super Bowl, it lengthens the season by more than a month. No one in the NFL would want to pass on that, but in reality Slater has played nearly 12 seasons, making All-Pro in 2016 and being voted to seven Pro Bowls.Not bad for someone whose Hall of Fame father didn’t necessarily want Matthew to play football.“He felt that way for two reasons,” Matthew Slater says. “First, he didn’t want me to feel the pressure of living up to his name. He thought the expectations could be unfair.“He also wanted me to avoid injury. He knew the toll it takes on you physically.”Matthew and his brother played plenty of sports, and guess who usually was the coach. Yep, Jackie.“Sports have always been a big part of my life and have so many life lessons from being on a team, and the disciplines of preparing to compete and how you compete, and having teammates around you. I thought they were good lessons to learn,” Jackie Slater said.“I discouraged them to play football. I didn’t think (Matthew) would be big enough to play football. I coached in basketball, soccer, track and field, even some flag football. I didn’t see football as something that he would excel. But when he played flag, he had good speed and he caught the ball and ran well.”Matthew kept improving in high school and grew, though not to Jackie’s offensive tackle measurements. Because Jackie was unfamiliar with the kind of skills his son possessed, he turned to teammates Ron Brown — a 1984 Olympic champion speedster, who played wideout and returned kicks — and outstanding cornerback LeRoy Irvin. Brown refined Matthew’s technique and speed, and Irvin worked with him on back-pedaling and breaks for receivers.“Things I was not familiar with,” says Jackie Jace Sternberger Jersey , who recalled watching Matthew leave everyone behind in a 100-meter race, only to have Brown say “he did everything wrong.“I knew I needed to get out of the way.”Not really. Matthew, now 33, credits pretty much everything he has achieved in football to his father, who entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.“He made every effort to be present,” the son says. “That’s what I appreciate the most: He was a father first. So many young kids … many black kids … I see they don’t have a presence like that.“Anytime I have success, certainly my dad is sharing in it. It all goes back to my dad; I wouldn’t be playing this game without him. It’s pretty unique, a son being able to do something his dad did. We are enjoying this ride together.”For sure. But on Sunday, well, Jackie admits to being a bit torn when the Rams — his team — take on the Patriots — Matthew’s team.You see, Jackie Slater still has plenty of millennium blue and new century gold running through his veins.“This is a win-win situation for me,” the elder Slater notes. “If my son loses, it’s not as if he hasn’t experienced the thrill of victory in a Super Bowl, something I never did. And if he loses, it hurts, but he has a great attitude about it. It helps me live with the defeats he has.“If the Rams win, I will be happy because I have been pulling for this team for more than 40 years. My first hero in the game was Tom Mack, who I actually played with for three years.“You know, he has an unbelievable opportunity to experience things I never did. I don’t know what it is like to win the Super Bowl beyond the joy my son had when he won on two occasions. That’s almost as good as me winning, I felt.”