The Cowboys Vikings Halloween Night-game was looking more like a Nightmare on Sunday Night. Already without starting quarterback Dak Prescott, the Cowboys also lost Tyron Smith as well as Trevon Diggs and Jabril Cox at one point. Meanwhile, star receiver Amari Cooper was also hobbled by a tight hamstring but he managed to play through the pain. Cooper Rush subbed in for the injured Dak Prescott, who was a game-time decision, and he passed for 325 yards and two second-half touchdowns. The last one was a 5-yard toss to Amari Cooper with 51 seconds left in the game which helped deliver the Dallas Cowboys a 20-16 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night.
Rush overcame a poor first half performance, as well as two turnovers courtesy of former Dallas safety Xavier Woods, to slice up the Minnesota secondary when it mattered the most in his first NFL start. The fifth-year backup directed an eight-play, 75-yard drive and he finished it with a perfect throw to Cooper on a fade in the corner of the end zone. Cooper fought through the pain of his injured hamstring to finish with eight catches for 122 yards. The longest of those catches came on the final drive where an overthrown pass from Rush bounced off of the chest and arms of a Vikings defender before Amari Cooper made a bobbling circus catch for a 33 yard gain. At that moment, it felt as though the Cowboys could not lose the game. CeeDee Lamb pitched in with six receptions for 112 yards including a big gain on a trick play where he caught a perfect pass from fellow WR Cedric Wilson. Wilson added a long TD reception in the first half to go along with his perfect passer rating (on one pass attempt) and he finished the game with 84 receiving yards.
The Vikings prioritized shutting down the Cowboys rushing attack led by Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. They had done a good job against the Cowboys ground attack but they could not prevent Elliott from making the play of the game on the Cowboys final drive. Zeke caught a pass on 3rd and 11 and fought his way past three defenders to set up first and goal and the game winning TD pass. Had Elliott been stopped short on that play, the Cowboys would have attempted a field goal to force the game into overtime which potentially could have led to a very different outcome. The Cowboys (6-1) didn’t have a lead on this game until the final minute but they had the lead when it mattered most, at the final whistle.
The Cowboys played with a backup quarterback, two backup tackles, they lost the turnover over battle, and they gave up 96 yards in penalties, yet they still came away with the victory on the strength of their defense. Rookie linebacker Micah Parsons may have had the best game of his young career and Randy Gregory was a disruptive force as he has been all season long. Next week the Cowboys take on the Denver Broncos at home and hope to have both Dak Prescott and Tyron Smith back in the starting lineup.
