'Going against America's team': Vikings get big road test at Dallas Sunday night
Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer before an NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs on November 3, 2019 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. ((Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images))
EAGAN - There’s no getting around it Sunday night in Dallas: The Minnesota Vikings face a huge opportunity on the road on the national stage.
The Vikings largely haven’t responded well when faced with a big game in front of a national audience. They can change that narrative, at least for one week, with a win at AT&T Stadium Sunday night against the Cowboys. They’re looking to bounce back from a walk-off 26-23 loss at Kansas City last Sunday after having the ball twice in the last seven minutes with a chance to win the game, only to go backwards with a pair of 3-and-outs.
The Vikings are still very much in the thick of things in the NFC North Division, trailing Green Bay (7-2) by one game with seven to play. The Vikings also host the Packers in Week 16, just before Christmas. It’s one of three home NFC North games to close out the schedule.
The schedule coming out of the mini bye week after beating the Redskins is no easy task. Three out of four on the road, including Sunday night’s game at Dallas and a Monday Night Football match-up in Seattle against MVP candidate Russell Wilson.
The luxury, if you want to call it that, after losing to a Chiefs’ team without injured 2018 MVP Patrick Mahomes was that the rest of the NFC North went 0-3 last Sunday.
All the Vikings care about right now is getting a win at Dallas. They’ll worry about the rest later.
“We don’t really look ahead to three out of four on the road or anything like that. We just look at this one game and figure out how we can win this particular game,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “The important thing is we don’t look back, other than the mistakes we made and how we move forward, and go from there.”
What the Vikings have shown this season is a bounce back factor. They’ve followed their other two losses this season with wins. After losing at Green Bay in Week 2, the Vikings dominated in a 34-14 win over the Oakland Raiders.
After losing 16-6 at Soldier Field, hearing Kirk Cousins apologize to Adam Thielen on a radio show and Stefon Diggs no-showing for practice, the Vikings showed they can forget about the drama when they get on the field. They went to New York and beat the Giants 28-10.
So what happens this week in Dallas after letting a winnable game slip away at Kansas City? We’ll find out Sunday night.
“You hope you have a resilient group and the only way you can show that is by bouncing back. We’ve done it twice, and we’ve got to do it again this week,” Cousins said Wednesday. “This will probably be the toughest challenge we’ve had to date against a really good football team. Great opportunity, but we gotta go do it.”
It’s a match-up that features two of the best running backs in the NFL. Dalvin Cook leads the league in rushing, and is just 106 yards away from 1,000 on the season. He’d be the first Viking running back to get there in 10 games since Adrian Peterson. He’s added catching the ball out of the backfield as a weapon this season, with 33 catches for 338 yards through nine games. Most importantly, he’s stayed healthy after playing just 15 games his first two seasons after suffering a torn ACL and a hamstring injury.
His counterpart this week, Ezekiel Elliott, is sixth in the NFL in rushing. He’s also got 24 catches for 176 yards.
If there’s one player that knows the importance of Sunday’s game, it’s Cousins. His track record of losing to above .500 teams, especially on the road and under the bright lights, is well-documented. He struggled last week despite throwing for three touchdowns at Kansas City, and he has a chance to prove his doubters wrong yet again Sunday night in the national spotlight.
That, and a win in Dallas gets the Vikings one step closer to the playoff picture.
“When you’re a playoff team, if you’re going to be a playoff team, you have to win tough games in tough environments at some point otherwise you’re probably not getting into the playoffs. We see this week as a great opportunity to do that,” Cousins said.
It’ll be quite the test for the Vikings defense. The Cowboys are No. 1 in total offense in the NFL at more than 436 yards per game. With Elliott leading the way, they’re fourth in rushing at nearly 150 yards per game. Behind Dak Prescott, they’re fourth in passing with more than 287 yards per game.
They’re also sixth in total defense, just ahead of the Vikings.
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Zimmer, who spent seven seasons with the Cowboys as a defensive coordinator. He downplayed the return earlier this week and is remaining focused on flying home with a win.
He’s missed the playoffs in three of his five seasons as head coach. As veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph put it, Sunday’s game can help change that with a win.
“You’re not only going against America’s team, but this is a team that will be right there come December in the NFC playoff picture. These NFC games down the second half of the season kind of count for double because you get a win, and you keep them from getting a win. These NFC games are what usually decide that.”