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 for the U.S. national curling championships as they dream of representing the United States at the 2020 Winter Olympics.The four players – Jared Allen http://www.thevikingslockerroom.com/authentic-nick-easton-jersey , Michael Roos, Marc Bulger and Keith Bulluck – formed a curling team with the name All-Pro Curling Team as three of the four players were All-Pro football players at some point in their NFL careers. Bulger was a two-time Pro Bowl selection as well.According to Jimmy Golen of the , the group is competing this weekend at the USA Men’s Challenge Round in Minnesota with four spots available for the national championships next month.“Every team in the NFL — whether you’re hot garbage or the defending Super Bowl champions — every coach come August says the same thing: ‘We’re trying to win the Super Bowl,’” Allen said. “We come from that mentality, where we set lofty goals.“Our short term goals are continually to get better: Fundamentals, strategy, sweeping. We know if we master these little things, it will take us a long way.”Allen and Bulger combined with a pair of regular curlers last month and played the U.S. gold medal winning team of John Shuster,Tyler George, Matt Hamilton, John Landsteiner. They lost that match 11-3.“Honestly, they were a little better than I had expected,” Hamilton said. “All in all Laquon Treadwell Jersey , Jared was technically pretty sound. But at the end of the day, I’ve seen thousands of curling shots and situations and that is ultimately going to win us more games.”The group is now going at it on their own, losing their first match of the qualifiers 10-1 to a Seattle-based team. Nevertheless, the former NFL stars are committed to getting better and competing in their new sport.“The message is: We want to bring attention to it. We want to have fun with it,” Allen said. “But we’re dead serious about what we’re trying to accomplish.” EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Kirk Cousins was happy with the victory, of course — a road win against a team Minnesota had never beaten away from home.But the star quarterback knows the Vikings‘ offense can be even better.Cousins threw two touchdown passes, Latavius Murray ran for two scores, and the Vikings pulled away in the second half to beat the New York Jets 37-17 on Sunday for their third straight victory.“Any time you score 37 points on the road, you’re doing something right,” Cousins said. “But there are times where it wasn’t good enough. We are so grateful for defense and special teams today because it gave us the opportunity to go out and score points.”The Vikings (4-2-1) intercepted Jets rookie Sam Darnold three times and also recovered a fumbled snap to help lift them to their first road win against the Jets after losing the first five meetings away from home.“We did some good things, but there are a lot of things we can work on,” wide receiver Adam Thielen said. “We were not moving the ball enough and there were a lot of plays I want back Womens Xavier Rhodes Jersey , but it’s always good to get a win.”Minnesota couldn’t get much going consistently on offense, mostly because of going 2 of 15 on third downs.In his first game against the Jets (3-4) since spurning their massive offer in free agency, Cousins was far from spectacular, but made some big plays late. With the game still hanging in the balance and the Vikings facing fourth-and-8 from the 34, Cousins connected with Aldrick Robinson for a TD to seal it.“We had so many opportunities to put that game away earlier in the game, and didn’t do it,” coach Mike Zimmer said. “We have to overcome ourselves on some of those things.”Cousins, 25 of 40 for 241 yards, opted to turn down New York’s three-year, $90 million deal in the offseason and instead chose to go to Minnesota, which signed him to a deal worth $6 million less.After Cousins’ decision, the Jets turned their attention to the draft, where they selected Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick.As expected Ben Gedeon Jersey , Cousins was the target of criticism of Jets fans and New York-area media.“I never read it, so I don’t even have any knowledge to process it or incorporate it into my approach,” Cousins said. “I believe ignorance is bliss and I try to stay as ignorant as possible.”Here are some other things to know about the Vikings’ win over the Jets:SAM STRUGGLESIn their first meeting, Cousins came out on top — while Darnold had arguably his worst game on a cold, windy day .The rookie was 17 of 42 for 206 yards with a TD pass to Chris Herndon and a TD run, but was intercepted three times as New York’s two-game winning streak ended.After going 6 of 9 for 87 yards and a touchdown with a 135.0 quarterback rating in the opening quarter, Darnold finished with the three INTs and a dismal 34.4 rating.“I’ve just got to find completions,” Darnold said. “That’s really it. And, we’ve got to do a better job executing.”THIELEN STILL DEALIN’Thielen became the fifth player in NFL history to get at least 100 yards receiving in seven consecutive games, catching nine passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.He reached the milestone with a 21-yard catch in the fourth quarter. He joined Detroit’s Calvin Johnson (eight, 2012), Denver’s Demaryius Thomas (seven, 2014) http://www.thevikingslockerroom.com/authentic-mackensie-alexander-jersey , Dallas’ Michael Irvin (seven, 1995) and Houston’s Charley Hennigan (seven, 1961) to accomplish the feat.He and Hennigan are the only players to do so in his team’s first seven games to open the season.“Stats don’t necessarily say how good you played,” Thielen said. “I’m looking forward to looking at the film and making sure I continue to get better.”THIRD-DOWN TERRORSBoth the Vikings and Jets will need to improve in third-down situations after this one.Minnesota was 2 of 15, while New York was 2 of 13.The Vikings’ first conversion didn’t come until midway through the third quarter on Thielen’s 13-yard catch after being 0 for 8 up to that point. The Jets’ first conversion came late in the third on Darnold’s 6-yard run on third-and-5.HURTINGJets running back Bilal Powell (neck) and safety Doug Middleton (chest/shoulder) left with injuries and were scheduled to undergo tests.New York could be severely short-handed at safety. Middleton was starting in place of Marcus Maye, who’s sidelined with a broken thumb. That leaves only Jamal Adams and Terrence Brooks as healthy players at the position.Minnesota cornerback Xavier Rhodes left with a sprained ankle, but Zimmer said, “I don’t think it’s a big deal.” Same for linebacker Anthony Barr, who injured a hamstring.WHOOPSJets receiver Robby Anderson apologized for tossing the ball at an official late in the fourth quarter after an incompletion, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty — and a possible fine from the NFL later in the week.“It was just frustration and wanting to make a play and us losing a pretty tough game,” Anderson said, adding that he didn’t intend to hit the official with the ball. “It wasn’t anything malicious. It was just a reaction.”