Vikings fall to 4-6 after Cowboys rally for 31-28 victory
CeeDee Lamb #88 of the Dallas Cowboys pulls in a touchdown pass against Jeff Gladney #20 of the Minnesota Vikings during their game at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 22, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Vikings entered a three-game home stretch Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys with a chance win their fourth straight, get back to .500 for the first time all season and re-enter the NFC Playoff conversation.
Kirk Cousins had one of his best games of the season with 314 yards and three touchdowns, but Mike Zimmer’s defense failed to make plays in the most critical moments of the fourth quarter in a 31-28 loss to the now 3-7 Cowboys. Andy Dalton connected with Amari Cooper for a first down on 4th-and-6 over Jeff Gladney with 2:05 to play.
Five plays later on 3rd and goal, Dalton hit a wide open Dalton Schultz with 1:37 left in regulation for the game-winning score. With one chance left to win or force overtime, Cousins hit Dalvin Cook for four yards, Justin Jefferson dropped what might have been a first down and the game ended on consecutive incompletions to Thielen.
The Vikings have had six of their 10 games come down to the final possession or one score, and they’re 3-3 in such games. Another disappointing result in a key spot for the franchise.
“We scored enough points to win, but we didn’t play well enough at the end. I really felt like we were going to win the game throughout the course of the whole game,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “We couldn’t come with a fourth down play to win the game.”
“Heartbreaking loss today. It’s one of those games, and so many NFL games are like this, where 1 or 2 plays makes the difference in the end. We just didn’t come out on the right side of enough of those plays to win the game,” Cousins said. “Ultimately when you don’t win, you leave the stadium just feeling sick to your stomach.”
The Vikings started slow and trailed 16-7 at the half after losing two fumbles and committing six of their eight penalties in the first half. The Cowboys got their first score, a Dalton 6-yard pass to Ezekiel Elliott, after a sacked and forced fumble on Cousins.
The Vikings answered with a 1-yard touchdown from Cook, then halted a Cowboys’ scoring drive with an interception from Eric Kendricks. Minnesota then appeared to execute a perfect fake punt, with Britton Colquitt hitting Kris Boyd for a first down, but Boyd was flagged for an illegal shift on the play when he wasn’t set at the snap.
The Cowboys turned it into points with CeeDee Lamb’s circus 4-yard touchdown catch, then got a field goal before the end of the half after Cook took a huge hit and lost a fumble.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win, just didn’t pull it off. But we knew the type of team we was facing. Fast team, coming off a bye week, fresh team. Just don’t got the wins to show it, but they’re a good team,” Cook said.
Cousins hit Thielen for consecutive touchdowns to give the Vikings a 21-16 lead early in the fourth quarter. The first, on the opening drive of the third quarter, might have been Thielen’s best of the season. He made a 1-handed catch on a fade route in the corner of the end zone, and got both feet in while also being held.
The second was far simpler, and gave the Vikings a lead with 14:57 to play.
The Cowboys answered back, as Tony Pollard gashed the Vikings defense for a 42-yard touchdown. After a successful two-point try, Dallas led 24-21.
Cousins and the Vikings answered back. He hit Jefferson for a 39-yard touchdown, and Minnesota led 28-24 with 9:37 to play. But the Vikings managed just one first down the rest of the game.
Dalton had the final answer in a fourth quarter that featured 29 combined points and four lead changes. He hit Cooper with Gladney in coverage on a 4th-and-6 play to keep the game alive, then hit Schultz for the game-winning score. A defense that found ways to beat Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and Nick Foles the last three weeks couldn’t finish off Dalton.
“Things happen. We did a lot of things during the course of the game where we could’ve done better and it would’ve put us in a better position. We’re not going to blame it on that one play,” Kendricks said.
Dalton finished 22-of-32 for 203 yards and three touchdowns. Elliott finished with 21 carries for 103 yards, and Cooper and Lamb combined for 115 yards and a touchdown.
The loss spoils a big day for Cousins, who finished 22-of-30 for 314 yards, three touchdowns and had a 140.1 rating. Cook had 32 touches for 160 total yards and a rushing touchdown. He leads the NFL with 13 rushing touchdowns, which also ties a career-high. He also became the first Viking to run for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons since Adrian Peterson in 2012-13.
Thielen had eight catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns, and he’s the first Vikings’ receiver to have at least 10 touchdowns through 10 games since Randy Moss in 2003. He now has 11 touchdowns on the season, tying a career-high. Jefferson finished with three catches for 86 yards and a score.
A home game with plenty at stake for playoff implications against a team with just two prior wins, and the Vikings let it slip away.
“We want to make the playoffs, that’s our ultimate goal, but we’ve got to get better as a whole and that’s our mindset,” Cook said.
Minnesota's three-game win streak is gone, the Vikings are 4-6 and their margin of error for a spot in the NFC Playoffs is getting razor thin with six games left.
“It’s the NFL man, you’ve got to come to play every week. We’ve got to be perfect every single time we go out there, or close to it,” Kendricks said.