DAL 40, MIN 3: Cowboys throttle Vikings on both sides, improve to 7-3

Behind an explosive offense and a tenacious defense, the Dallas Cowboys dominated the Minnesota Vikings 40-3 at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Cowboys (7-3) racked up a total of 458 offensive yards and held the Vikings (8-2) to 183 total offensive yards.

Highlights:

First Quarter:

On the Vikings’ opening drive, the Cowboys’ defense made noise early when LB Micah Parsons strip-sacked quarterback Kirk Cousins. His turnover put the offense into a prime scoring position– but the Cowboys only walked with a short field goal to get the first lead of the game, 3-0.

Minnesota’s ensuing possession would look promising as Cousins found wideouts Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen for several completions, and running back Dalvin Cook punished the Cowboys’ subpar run defense. However, the Boys’ defense came up big again, and held the Vikings to just three points.

Now, tied 3-3 in the middle of the first, neither team had momentum yet. But after a 10-play, 75-yard drive that lasted over five minutes, the Cowboys landed the “first punch” of the game — and scored on a one-yard run from running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Besides Elliott, the playmakers of that drive were running back Tony Pollard and wideouts Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb. All three had critical runs and receptions to keep the offense flowing, and the Cowboys led 10-3 after one quarter.

Second Quarter:

After holding the Vikings to another three-and-out (shoutout to Dorance Armstrong on the sack to stall their drive), the Cowboys’ offense picked up where they left off and stayed hot.

Dink and dunks from Prescott and successful runs from Elliott and Pollard got the Boys an opportunity to go up 17-3. But the Vikings’ defense got a stop, and the Cowboys had to settle for another field goal. While they were now up 13-3, the Boys missed a chance to go up two touchdowns.

The acclaimed “Doomsday Defense 4.0” was becoming a problem for the Vikings’ offense in the first half after they suffered another three-and-out and gave the Cowboys’ offense another chance to score.

And after eight plays and 59-yards, the offense didn’t disappoint and scored quickly on a 30-yard catch-and-run from Pollard. His score put the Cowboys up 20-3.