With the game on the line, the Dallas Cowboys put the ball in Dak Prescott's hands. Until suddenly, they didn't. And then they lost. The Vikings left AT&T Stadium with a 28-24 victory that should leave Minnesota fans elated and Dallas fans shaking their heads.
The Vikings got out to a 14-0 lead early in the game, thanks to precision play-action passing from Kirk Cousins, as well as questionable play-calling and fourth-down decision-making from the Cowboys. On each of its first three drives, Dallas drove into Vikings territory, only to punt the ball away from just outside the 40-yard line. Those decisions, combined with Cousins carving them up on screen passes and bootlegs, put the Cowboys in a hole.
It wasn't long before they stormed back into the game, but questionable play-calling and decision-making would come back to haunt them once again later on. With Prescott marching the Cowboys down the field for a potential game-winning drive after spending most of the evening bailing out his offense by dicing the Vikings' secondary to pieces, the Cowboys took the ball out of his hands with back to back running plays, putting him behind the chains and ultimately giving him just one desperation shot to win it. It didn't happen.
A wild Week 10 is almost in the books and there's a lot to go over. Fortunately Will Brinson, John Breech, Ryan Wilson and Sean Wagner-McGough are here to break everything down on the latest episode of the Pick Six Podcast. Listen to the full show below and be sure to subscribe right here for daily NFL goodness fired into your eardrums.
You can win a game making mistakes like that if your opponent is also doing the same. But the Vikings did not make very many mistakes in this one. Kirk Cousins avoided turnovers. The defense bottled up the Dallas run game (more on that later) and the offensive line both held up in pass protection and eventually started clearing some running lanes for Dalvin Cook (25 carries, 100 yards, TD) and Alexander Mattison (eight carries, 52 yards).
In the end, it was the Minnesota defense sealing the win, but the story of this game seems a whole lot more like the Dallas offense shooting itself in the foot. Let's move on to the takeaways.
Why the Vikings won
A monster night from their star running back, their quarterback's best big game in years, and timely stops from the defense.
Dalvin Cook gained 100 yards on 25 carries, one of which found the end zone. That's just a 4 yards per carry average, but he tacked on an additional 86 yards on seven catches, repeatedly gashing the Cowboys in the screen game.
Kirk Cousins, meanwhile, did not have an explosive game, but he did not make any mistakes and he capitalized on opportunities in scoring position. Cousins completed 23 of 32 passes for 220 yards and two scores, each of them 1-yard tosses to tight end Kyle Rudolph off of play-action.
On Dallas' opening drive, the Cowboys put Dak Prescott behind the sticks multiple times, only for him to bail them out. But when it came to 3rd and 6 from the Minnesota 39-yard line, the Vikings sent a blitz and Dak's attempt fell short. The Cowboys settled for a field goal attempt, which Brett Maher missed. The Vikings scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive. Dallas drove into Minnesota territory on each of its next two drives as well, only for the Vikes to clamp down on third down and force a punt.
After the Cowboys ripped off three straight touchdown drives to take a lead, the Vikes responded with a TD drive of their own to take a 28-21 advantage. Dak moved the Cowboys right down the field, but a 3rd and goal pass fell incomplete, and the Cowboys again settled for a field goal. When Dak marched the Cowboys back down the field from his own 6-yard line to the Vikings' 11, Minnesota once again clamped down and forced a turnover on downs.
And on the Hail Mary attempt to end the game, Jayron Kearse came away with a pick in the end zone. Like I said, timely plays.
Why the Cowboys lost
Absolutely inexplicable coaching decisions. This loss falls squarely on the shoulders of Jason Garrett and Kellen Moore.
The Cowboys' stubborn insistence on running the ball was maddening. Ezekiel Elliott gained only 47 yards on 20 carries. He had absolutely no room all night, and yet the Cowboys just kept pounding him right into the back of the offensive line. They ran the ball on each of their first five first-down plays of the game, with a long gain of five yards. They consistently put themselves behind the chains, only for Dak Prescott to bail them out time and time again with his maneuvering in the pocket and his ability to find Amari Cooper, Randall Cobb, and Michael Gallup all over the field.
Late in the game, the Cowboys once again mismanaged the time and score, and they mismanaged the clock as well. The Cowboys had yet to prove they could stop the Vikings offensively, yet they decided to kick a field goal on fourth and goal from the 5-yard line at the end of a 13-play, 70-yard drive. All that did was cut a one-score lead to one score. They still needed a touchdown even after Brett Maher's kick went through the uprights.
And after the defense got them the ball back on their own 6-yard line, Dak Prescott quickly completed 4 of 5 passes for 63 yards ... so of course the Cowboys ran the ball on the following first down, and gained just two yards. Dak bailed them out by finding Jason Witten for a first, then hit Amari Cooper for an 8-yard gain to set up 2nd and 2 from the Minnesota 11-yard line. Dak was 6 of 7 for 79 yards on the drive at this point, and the Cowboys called two consecutive runs, the second of which lost three yards. Dak's fourth-down pass ultimately fell incomplete.
The way Dallas managed this game offensively is inexcusable. They're lucky their quarterback (28 of 46, 397 yards, 3 TD and the game-ending interception on a Hail Mary) nearly bailed them out.
Turning point
There are a lot of different options here. We could go with the Cowboys' decision to kick a field goal from the 5-yard line rather than try for a touchdown to tie the game. We could go with the Vikings' final drive of the first half, where they marched 67 yards in nine plays to take a 17-14 lead after Dallas had rallied back from 14-0.
But the real turning point came midway through the third quarter. To that point, Minnesota's running game had been completely bottled up. Dalvin Cook was able to get things going in the screen game, but the Vikings could not find anything on the ground. Offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski made an adjustment to go to more toss and stretch plays, and Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison began ripping off big gains.
Minnesota proceeded to march 75 yards on 13 plays, scoring on 4th and goal from the 1-yard line on another toss to Cook. That's how the Vikings staked themselves to a 28-21 lead before Dallas led its own deep drive on which they ultimately settled for a field goal.
Highlight play
Honestly, there were a whole bunch of highlight plays in this game. But most of the flashy stuff cam from the Dallas offense. And with the Vikings winning the game, it doesn't feel right to not include them here. So let's go with Kyle Rudolph's two touchdown catches, one of which he snagged with one hand while tapping his toes in the back of the end zone.
Yeah, that's the stuff.
What's next
The Vikings' record is now 7-3, and they sit one game behind the Green Bay Packers for the NFC North lead. Minnesota does currently control the second wild-card spot in the NFC, though they have played one more game than the Panthers, Eagles, and Rams and one fewer than the Seahawks, who take on the 49ers on Monday night. The Vikings host the Denver Broncos at US Bank Stadium next Sunday afternoon.
The Cowboys drop to 5-4, and though they maintain their hold on first place in the NFC East, it is only due to their owning the tiebreaker over the Eagles. The Cowboys travel to Detroit to take on the Lions next week, which may be a bit of respite before they move into their extremely tough season-closing schedule.
