Two regulars in the Major League Soccer playoffs, the Seattle Sounders and Sporting Kansas City, square off Thursday in a playoff-opening, knockout-round match at CenturyLink Field.Sporting KC is in its sixth consecutive postseason, while Seattle has reached the postseason in all eight years of its existence.For the third straight year, Sporting Kansas City (13-13-8) opens its postseason campaign away from home. SKC enters on the heels of consecutive shutouts, drawing against Real Salt Lake 0-0 on Oct. 16 before defeating the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 on Sunday.Seattle (14-14-6) got hot late. Following a 3-0 loss to Sporting on July 24, the Sounders were in ninth place in a 10-team Western Conference. Two days later, the team fired longtime coach Sigi Schmid.Under interim coach Brian Schmetzer, Seattle finished the season 8-2-4 to claim the fourth-place spot and a home match in the knockout round. The turnaround was even more surprising considering star goal-scorer Clint Dempsey has been out since late August due to an irregular heartbeat. He will not return to action in the postseason.Sporting relies on two key offensive players. Forward Dom Dwyer finished fifth in MLS with 16 goals. Midfielder Benny Feilhaber tied for third in the league with 13 assists, including nine in his last 11 appearances.Midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro has played an integral role in Seattles resurgence, amassing four goals and eight assists since his debut on July 31. Forward Jordan Morris set an MLS record among American rookies with 12 goals.Dating back to 2015, Sporting Kansas City owns a five-game unbeaten run against Seattle with four clean sheets. Goalkeeper Tim Melia is 3-0-1 vs. the Sounders with zero goals conceded. Prior to the five-game surge, Kansas City had just one win in its first nine league meetings with the Sounders.Statistics suggest that Sporting Kansas City is fighting an uphill battle Thursday night. In 14 knockout-round games since 2011, the road team has prevailed just twice. Furthermore, SKC is just 2-15-5 all-time in road playoff matches, including a last-minute loss to the New York Red Bulls in 2014 and the longest penalty kick shootout in MLS postseason history one year ago, a stunning setback to the Portland Timbers.The Sounders have experienced their fair share of playoff difficulty, as well. Despite reaching the playoffs every year since 2009, Seattle has yet to reach an MLS Cup final. The Sounders are 2-0 in the knockout round but have fallen in the conference semifinals five times, including last seasons exit versus FC Dallas.The SKC-Seattle winner will face the leagues top regular-season team, FC Dallas, in the Western Conference semifinals. 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Cheap NHL Jerseys Gear . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings season began with an ambulance rushing to team headquarters to save the leg of their starting quarterback.A blockbuster trade followed to get another quarterback in town just ahead of the season opener in hopes of keeping a championship window open only to have the offensive line decimated by injuries, their star running back go down with a knee injury and their offensive coordinator to walk away midseason with the offense struggling to get going.And after all that, their head coach showed up to work this week with an eye patch after needing emergency eye surgery.Few teams have faced more adversity this season than the Vikings (6-6), and their play on the field has reflected the chaos.They started the season 5-0 thanks to an elite defense and Sam Bradfords smooth transition from Philadelphia to Minnesota.But they have lost six of their past seven games as they prepare to play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, and have gone from Super Bowl hopefuls to holding on to their playoff lives over the past month.As far as last year, things are a little bit different, like smooth sailing, good things happen, everybodys happy, receiver Stefon Diggs said, thinking back to an NFC North-championship winning season in 2015.This year, things are a little bumpy in a road. But just like a football game, when youre going in a football game, adversity is going to hit at one point. What youre going to do after that is going to determine the rest of the game.For an organization that is well-versed in drama and pratfall -- Adrian Petersons child abuse case two years ago, Brett Favres downfall in 2010, the Love Boat, etc., etc. -- this season ranks nowhere near the top of the list when it comes to misfortune. But it has had no shortage of adversity.-Teddy Bridgewater suffered a dislocated knee that, were it not for the fast action by the Vikings training staff and trauma medics who rushed to the scene, could have resulted in an amputation from a non-contact drill.-Peterson tore the meniscus in his right knee in Week 3, robbing the offense of its most potent and well-established playmaker.There remains a chance he will play before the season is over, but only if the Vikings playoff hopes remain alive.-The offensive line lost tackles Andre Smith, Matt Kalil, Jakee Long and Phil Loadholt and guard Mike Harris for the season with injuries.dddddddddddd Center Joe Berger and right guard Brandon Fusco have also missed time and left guard Alex Boone has been playing through pain for weeks.All of the injuries have made an essential position group the biggest weakness on the team and the biggest reason the offense is ranked 31st in the league.-Norv Turner, coach Mike Zimmers right-hand man in charge of the offense, abruptly left the team in early November with the offense having trouble pulling its own weight.Pat Shurmer was elevated from tight ends coach to offensive coordinator, but the change has done little to spark a unit ranked 26th in the league in scoring.-Kicker Blair Walsh needed to be cut after leading the NFL in missed extra points, forcing the Vikings to scramble to add Kai Forbath in free agency.-Zimmer has needed multiple surgeries on his right eye to address a detached retina, which caused him to miss the game last week against the Cowboys.He wore an eye patch during practice on Tuesday and sunglasses on Wednesday and Thursday and will be coaching the team in Jacksonville on Sunday.We have to take advantage of the opportunities we have, said special teams coordinator Mike Priefer, who filled in as head coach for Zimmer last week.Coach Zimmer talked to the team this week about our backs being against the wall. Weve got to go get a win on Sunday and then hopefully the sky is the limit from there. But weve got to get this one first.The Vikings are operating under the assumption that they have to win their final four games to get into the playoffs, a stark difference from the team that was flying high after routing the Houston Texans in Week 5.The margin for error has disappeared, and now theyre hoping for a 4-0 finish to the season just like the one in 2012 that pushed them into the postseason after a 6-6 start.Youre so frustrated because it is things that were doing to ourselves, Boone said. At the same time you have to learn and really grow. 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