Vikings' Winning Streak Halted at Three in Home Loss to Cowboys
When you put yourself in an early hole, you remove all margin for error later in the season.
That's exactly what happened to the Vikings this year. They impressively rallied from a 1-5 start to win three straight games, but then slipped up at home on Sunday against the Cowboys, losing 31-28 in dramatic fashion. It was their third heartbreaking loss of 2020, joining one-point defeats to the Titans and Seahawks earlier in the year.
All of a sudden, all of the positive momentum the Vikings had is gone. And their playoff odds, which had been creeping up with each successive victory over an NFC North opponent, have taken a major stumble.
Now 4-6, the Vikings will need to finish at least 5-1 – if not 6-0 – over their final six games to sneak into a wild card spot.
The Vikings did plenty of things well on offense against the Cowboys, but struggled to stop the Dallas offense and were hurt by penalties and turnovers. It was an intense, back-and-forth game, and the Cowboys emerged on top.
Here are five quick takeaways from the Vikings' first loss of November.
Kirk Cousins was great, but couldn't get it done in the end
Through the first three and a half quarters, there was no question that this was the best game of the year for Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. He started the game 21 of 24 for 310 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
At one point late in the game, Cousins had a perfect 158.3 passer rating. He was fantastic all afternoon long, delivering accurate throws to every level of the field and withstanding some serious pressure from the Cowboys' defense. It was exactly the type of game that the Vikings have been looking for from their veteran QB all year long.
None of that matters much when you fail to deliver at the end.
The Vikings got the ball back down 31-28 with 1:37 left and one timeout at their disposal, needing to go roughly 40 yards to get into field goal range. Cousins completed a short pass to Dalvin Cook on first down, and then threw three straight incompletions.
It wasn't all Cousins' fault, as Justin Jefferson dropped an easy catch on second down, but he couldn't complete a pass on third or fourth down, either. In the NFL, the quarterback is always going to get most of the blame in those situations.
The defense was gashed on the ground
The Vikings' offense has been a big part of the team's resurgence over the past four games, but so has Mike Zimmer's young, revamped defense. Down several of their best players this season, that unit has been playing inspired football in November, led by a series of fantastic coaching performances from Zimmer.
For the most part, the Vikings have been strong against the run this year. That wasn't the case on Sunday.
Ezekiel Elliott ran for 103 yards, his first 100-yard game of the season, and Tony Pollard ran for a 42-yard touchdown, which is the longest run Minnesota has allowed in 2020. In total, the Cowboys ripped off 180 rushing yards on 31 carries, and the Vikings' inability to stop the run was a big reason why they struggled to get off the field on defense.
The Vikings also failed to put any pressure on Andy Dalton all game long, which made things tough on their secondary. Dalton threw three touchdown passes in his return to action.
The Vikings might have the best big three in the NFL
For the past few years, the Vikings had arguably the best trio of offensive weapons in the NFL – when Dalvin Cook was healthy. When Cook was available to play, he joined Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs in giving the Vikings three elite playmakers at the skill positions.
After trading Diggs this offseason, it figured to take some time for the Vikings to fill out their "big three" again. Instead, rookie Justin Jefferson has stepped in for Diggs and the offense hasn't lost a step.
That trio has been a major catalyst for the Vikings' turnaround in 2020, and all three players stepped up with big games once again on Sunday. Thielen caught eight passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns, including this ridiculous one-hander in the back corner of the end zone. He leads the NFL with 11 receiving touchdowns this year.
Not to be outdone, Cook had another monster outing. He turned 32 touches into 160 yards and a touchdown, his league-leading 14th of the season.
And while Jefferson wasn't quite as heavily involved, all three of his catches went for 20-plus yards, highlighted by a 39-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.
With Jefferson continuing to look like an emerging superstar and a top-two candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year, the Vikings might still have the NFL's top trio of weapons. It didn't result in a victory on this day, but it's a good sign going forward.
The Cowboys benefited from a couple questionable calls
It wasn't the reason why the Vikings lost, but Zimmer wasn't pleased about a couple of iffy calls that went against his team in this game.
Cousins took a helmet-to-helmet hit on the Vikings' opening possession of the game that went uncalled. He fumbled on the play, setting up the Cowboys' opening touchdown.
Later in the game, Harrison Smith was flagged for a 15-yard personal foul penalty on what appeared to be a completely clean, legal hit.
"There was a lot of that kind of stuff today," Zimmer said.
The Vikings' playoff hopes took a major blow
This loss reduces the Vikings' margin for error to virtually nothing over the final six games of the year. Their next two are home games against the Panthers and Jaguars, which are essentially must-win matchups to keep the playoff hopes alive.
After that, the Vikings have road games against the Buccaneers and Saints among the final quarter of the season, as well as rematches against the Bears and Lions. If they're able to beat the Panthers and Jaguars to get to 6-6, they'll need to go at least 3-1 over that final stretch, if not 4-0.
This was a very bad time for a loss, and it's a painful one for the Vikings given the dramatic fashion in which it played out.
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