One of the most important goals for an NFL offense is to stay on schedule. Gaining yardage consistently keeps the offense in beneficial down-and-distance situations. Good down-and-distance situations help the offense to move the chains and keep drives alive, and also provide good opportunities for explosive plays because the defense has to defend both short and long passes. Of course, the best way to keep the chains moving is to convert so often on first and second down that you never even have to see third down.Which offenses are doing the best job of staying on schedule so far in 2016? To determine this, we averaged every teams rank in four different categories:Conversion rate on first down.Average yards to go on second down.Conversion rate on second down.Average yards to go on third down.Its no surprise which team comes out as the best offense in the league at staying on schedule. The Dallas Cowboys have the best offensive line and perhaps the best running back, which means regular, consistent yardage in any down-and-distance situation. However, some of the other teams that are good or bad at staying on schedule may surprise you. For example, although the New England Patriots have perhaps the leagues most powerful offense right now, they are only middle-of-the-pack at staying on schedule, even if we look only at games since Tom Brady returned from his suspension.Here are the five best and five worst offenses at staying on schedule, with the league-wide rankings at the bottom of the article:BEST1. Dallas CowboysThe Cowboys almost always gain yardage on first down -- a league-leading 78 percent of the time. That puts them in excellent position on second down, where they have the lowest average yards to go (7.1) and the highest rate of first-down conversions (41 percent). It helps that Ezekiel Elliott is so consistent, leading the NFL in Football Outsiders running back success rate metric.Of course, the Cowboys dont just make plays on first down; they make big plays too. Thirty-three percent of their first-down plays gain 8 or more yards, second behind Atlanta. Cheap Jordan 12 From China . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. Cheap Jordan 12 For Sale . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. http://www.airjordan12cheap.com/ . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. Cheap Jordan 12 Free Shipping . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Air Jordan 12 Wholesale . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- ?? The Minnesota Vikings have dug about as deep as they can into their roster to maintain the offensive line, after allocating plenty of offseason resources to the position on which their Super Bowl hope could hinge.Two weeks ago, they even took a flier on an injury-waylaid veteran. Pressed up against the salary cap and hesitant to part with young players or more high draft picks after the steep price of acquiring quarterback Sam Bradford, they likely wont be able to make a deal for another blocker before the trade deadline next week.This group, then, is what the Vikings must work with in order to preserve Bradfords health, let alone give him time to throw, and keep up a championship chase.I think its just playing better with what you have. I mean, what are you going to do? Theres not much you can do. Its not like youre going to go down to Carls Jr. and find somebody, said left guard Alex Boone, perhaps unaware that the fast-food chain doesnt have any locations close to Minnesota, where he is in his first season after signing as a free agent from San Francisco.Bradford was sacked six times, losing fumbles on two of them , and intercepted once under pressure during a rough performance at Philadelphia that stuck the Vikings (5-1) with their first defeat and prompted coach Mike Zimmer to describe the lines play as soft.Jake Long, the former first overall pick in the 2008 draft who was picked up for depth the week before, was beaten for both strip sacks in limited time spelling T.J. Clemmings at left tackle. Right tackle Jeremiah Sirles had trouble, too, with the fierce outside rush the Eagles applied, using safety blitzes, wide-aligned outside linebackers or interior linemen on stunts.If Sam is getting hit, if Sam doesnt feel comfortable back there, its our fault, Sirles said. Its not one guys fault. Its five guys fault. But we all took our turn.The blame for the problematic pressure transcended the front five, though. Running back Matt Asiata whiffed on a couple of attempts to pick up a blitzing defender. Bradford wasnt his usual sharp self in the pocket, playing against his former team in a diffficult environment for the visitors.dddddddddddd The receivers, collectively, didnt run routes as crisply as they had in the first five games.The mistakes that we made on Sunday, theyre all fixable, Bradford said. A lot of them were just mental mistakes. Theyre things that we have done correctly the previous five weeks and just failed to execute or failed to do them correctly.Sometimes, linemen are just outrushed, or running backs are overpowered, either due to poor technique or an unfavorable matchup. Many times, though, an offense can prevent a sack or a hit or a pressure with better recognition of the rush and communication about how to handle it. The Eagles brought well-timed and well-disguised blitzes, and more than once had a free rusher in Bradfords face.Theres so much that goes into protection, right guard Brandon Fusco said. You cant always point to the offensive line, you know?When the Vikings play Monday at Chicago, theyll be tasked with fending off some viable outside linebackers in Leonard Floyd, Pernell McPhee and Willie Young. That means Clemmings and Sirles, and Long if he continues to rotate in for one or both of them, will need to be on their game.When they put me in there, Ive got to earn that trust and play better, Long said.The Vikings didnt draft an offensive lineman until the fourth round, when they took guard Willie Beavers. He was released before the start of the regular season, before being added to the practice squad and elevated to the active roster after the injuries piled up.They spent money, though, by signing Boone and right tackle Andre Smith. With Smith and left tackle Matt Kalil on injured reserve and another starter from last year, Mike Harris, out indefinitely with an illness, the Vikings have the third-highest allocation of their salary-cap figure to the offensive line in the league.Youre a professional, Boone said. Youre expected to do it.---Online:AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL coverage on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '