By Alex Al-Kazzaz
The Dallas Cowboys have yet to lose at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis Minnesota. Their first win there was back in 2016. Since 2020, the Cowboys have beaten the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium three consecutive times. Who'll ever forget last season when Cooper Rush led Dallas to a hard-fought 20-16 win with Dak Prescott inactive? And this time, the Cowboys gave the Vikings their second-worst home loss. The final score of 40-3 speaks for itself.
This game was quite a bad case of reverse psychology; The Vikings went from gaining a huge road win against Buffalo to being embarrassed at home by a Dallas team that blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead to Aaron Rodgers & Company. No doubt, this game brings many answered questions. Did the Vikings thrive too much on their win and not take the Cowboys seriously? Perhaps the Cowboys decided to get their act together? Maybe so, but it's too soon to know. Did the Vikings just have a bad day? Did the Cowboys just get lucky? Again, way too many unanswered questions.
The seven sacks by the Cowboys' defense are the most in a game since their 2008 Thanksgiving game against the Seattle Seahawks. Micah Parsons finished with two sacks, thus becoming the third player since 1982 with at least EIGHT multi-sack games through 26 career games, joining Aldon Smith and Shawne Merriman. Furthermore, the defense has now gone TWO games this season without allowing a touchdown.
Kirk Cousins had a terrible night. He went 12-for-23 for only 105 yards. Justin Jefferson was briefly on the scene but mysteriously disappeared. Minnesota only had 183 yards of total offense while Dallas had over 450. At this point, has the situation gone from a bad case of reverse psychology to a terrible one?
Dak Prescott was close to perfect. 22-for-25 for 276 yards and two touchdowns. Tony Pollard is the talk of the offense as he rushed 15 times for 80 yards and caught 6 catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Funny how Ezekiel Elliott runs for two scores while Pollard catches the other two. Dallas kicker Brett Maher amazingly netted a 60-yard field goal not once, but TWICE! The first time after the referees ICED him to review a catch by CeeDee Lamb that put Dallas in field goal range with less than 10 seconds in the first half. Speaking of Lamb, he once again has a major significant moment on the road against Minnesota.
The Dallas Cowboys are now 7-3 and back in second place in the NFC East. On Thursday, they'll play the New York Giants in their traditional Thanksgiving game. The Giants recently suffered a 31-18 home loss to the Detroit Lions. Dallas already beat New York in Week 3 on Monday Night Football. Dallas wants to sweep New York for a second consecutive year. In addition, Dallas is determined to win its first Thanksgiving game since 2018.