ed this season by Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/aaron-donald-jersey , who have flourished into one of the NFL's most productive and versatile wide receiver tandems.Kyle Rudolph has again been in mostly a supporting role, often asked to assist a vulnerable offensive line with blocking and rarely the first option while running a route from his tight end spot with more than half of the throws made by Kirk Cousins sent to either Thielen or Diggs.When the Vikings badly needed a spark for their sputtering offense on Sunday in Detroit, Rudolph took full advantage of his rare opportunity as the focal point, a little like a holiday-appropriate red-nosed reindeer tasked with pulling the sleigh through a snowstorm for Santa Claus."Just my time," Rudolph said after the Vikings beat the Lions 27-9 to stay in control of the second wild-card spot in the NFC . "You just prepare each and every week as best you can. We've got two really, really good receivers on the outside, and today when the ball came my way I just tried to catch it. I can't tell you why or give you a reason that happened today, other than it's almost Christmas. Christmas is usually good to me."The leaping catch he made in the end zone on the final play of the first half wasn't close to his only contribution, either, as critical as that desperation catch turned out to be. Rudolph was targeted a season-high nine times, and he snagged all of those passes for a career-high 122 yards and just the third two-touchdown game out of the 115, including the playoffs, he's suited up for."I take a lot of pride in preparing myself each and every week when these opportunities do come," Rudolph said. "I don't always know when they're going to come in the passing game. I have a lot of other roles that I have to do that I take advantage of them."The Vikings (8-6-1) still need one more win to secure a second straight year in the playoffs, a feat they last accomplished in the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Otherwise their fate will be in Washington's hands http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/todd-gurley-ii-jersey , with a loss by Philadelphia in that case the only way in. NFC North champion Chicago will visit U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, with the Bears still playing for a better seed."We've got to empty the bucket, and that's the way we've got to play next week at home," Rudolph said. "I'm really looking forward to that environment."Rudolph had seven receptions for 63 yards in the game against Green Bay on Nov. 25 after voicing to the coaching staff a team-success-driven concern about the lack of impact he'd been able to make as a pass-catcher to that point. He had only eight catches for 68 yards combined over the three games that followed, though.With Thielen and Diggs frequently drawing double teams during the second half of the season, and undoubtedly in the playoffs as long as the Vikings continue on, Rudolph's production is vital for an offense that has been up and down in Cousins' first year in purple.Since Kevin Stefanski replaced John DeFilippo as offensive coordinator, the Vikings have employed more play-action passes and bootleg rollouts for Cousins, concepts that can only help Rudolph thrive up and down the field."It just adds another weapon," coach Mike Zimmer said, adding: "The more guys we can use, the better it is."Despite such quiet stretches during this season, Rudolph has 60 receptions for 615 yards, both the second highest of his career behind 2016. The longest-tenured player on the offense, Rudolph also has a 77.9 percent catch rate on the throws he's been targeted on to surge past his previous best of 70.6 in 2014."He's a tremendous talent http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/cooper-kupp-jersey ," Cousins said.If the Vikings beat the Bears (11-4), the probable scenario is the No. 6 seed and an instant rematch in the wild-card round in Chicago.That would change if Seattle (9-6), which opened as 11陆-point favorites against Arizona (3-12), loses at home to the Cardinals. Then the Vikings would jump the Seahawks for the No. 5 seed and travel to NFC East champion Dallas (9-6).If the Vikings lose but the Eagles also lose to send them back to the tournament, they will face the Bears unless San Francisco (4-11), which began as a nine-point underdog, wins at Los Angeles (12-3).In that case, the Vikings would play the Rams next weekend with the Bears taking the No. 2 seed and the first-round bye.The NFL set the schedule up to maximize the drama, bumping the Bears-Vikings game to the late-afternoon timeslot so it will be played simultaneously with the Eagles-Redskins, Cardinals-Seahawks and 49ers-Rams games. There will be four other AFC games with postseason impact taking place at the same time, too."I don't think I want to get in 8-7-1," Cousins said. "I think 9-6-1 is a better way to earn your way in, and hopefully we can get the job done." The Kansas City Chiefs had the Cardinals' Josh Rosen seeing red last week.As in a whole lot of red jerseys right in his face.The Chiefs sacked Arizona's rookie quarterback five times in their 26-14 victory. They hit him 13 times, forced a fumble and generally made life miserable on a cold afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium.No wonder Rosen was asked quite sympathetically how he felt after the game.Probably like he went through a trash compactor.But that performance by the Chiefs' much-maligned defense was closer to the norm than anything special this season. They already have 31 sacks to match their total from all last season, even though their highest-paid player and top pass rusher Jared Goff Jersey Elite , Justin Houston, has missed four games to injury.That puts the Chiefs in a tie with Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Green Bay for the NFL lead."Defenses right now are stretched in the National Football League. You've seen it every week," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. "To be able to get the pressure that we did on the quarterback (against the Cardinals) was a huge part of it. Stepping up with big plays when needed."The Chiefs struggled last season to pressure the quarterback, and there was little reason to think that would change this season. They brought back most of the same cast, though Tamba Hali stepped into retirement after an unproductive year and rookie Breeland Speaks took his spot, and defensive coordinator Bob Sutton was retained after coming under intense scrutiny.But the Chiefs did make a couple of other important changes to the coaching staff, replacing their longtime linebackers coach Gary Gibbs with Mark DeLeone and Mike Smith. DeLeon handles the inside guys and Smith handles the outside linebackers, and by splitting up the duties both of them are able to give more one-on-one time to their players' skill-specific needs.The progress is easiest to see in Dee Ford, the Chiefs' former first-round pick who had battled injuries and inconsistency his first four seasons. The Chiefs picked up his fifth-year option 鈥?that was no guarantee 鈥?and he has flourished when it comes to getting after the quarterback.He has nine sacks to trail only the Rams' Aaron Donald 鈥?who will be on the field against Kansas City on Monday night 鈥?and the Vikings' Danielle Hunter. His total is also tied with J.J. Watt, Myles Garrett and Von Miller, leaving the always-upbeat Ford in some pretty select company."I don't think anyone in this league can block him coming off that edge one-on-one," said Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt, who has tried several times with little success in practice.Ford isn't just getting sacks, though. He has also hit the quarterback an astounding 20 times and has four strip-sacks to give the Chiefs the ball in some crucial situations."Every week http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/jared-goff-jersey , that's really what we preach. When you pressure the quarterback, mistakes happen, turnovers happen," Ford said. "This is just our way of playing defense."The Chiefs' Chris Jones has seven sacks, including one in six straight games, and fellow defensive tackle Allen Bailey has a career-best five. Houston only has three sacks because of injuries, but he was back to near-100 percent against the Cardinals, picking off Rosen at the line of scrimmage."Just hitting the quarterback, affecting him in any type of way," Jones said. "Helping the back-end guys out 鈥?we affect the quarterback with tips, overthrows. They could be incomplete passes or interceptions. We kind of complement each other."Indeed, the Chiefs' aggressive pass rush has been doubly important after their secondary had to go through some growing pains. Kansas City traded away top cornerback Marcus Peters, star safety Eric Berry has been out all season with a heel injury, and fellow safety Daniel Sorensen only recently returned to the field after breaking his leg in training camp.In other words, it has been a mishmash of next-man-up lineups in the defensive backfield Authentic Brandin Cooks Jersey , putting even more pressure on the guys up front to help them out."We say every week that we've got to be willing to win the game however it presents itself, whether it's on offense, defense or special teams," Ford said. "Defense actually met this week and that's one thing we spoke on: Let's take it to another level. We can't really rely, especially late in the season, off of a lot of points from our offense."They're tremendous," Ford added by way of clarification, "but we can be tremendous also, and the same goes for special teams. Once we play like that as a unit, this team can be really great."NOTES: SS Eric Berry (heel) and C Mitch Morse (concussion) did not practice Thursday. ... Reid said the change in venue for Monday night's game from Mexico City didn't change his preparations. "Other than going to a hotel in Los Angeles," he said. "That's about it."