The Dallas Cowboys bounced back in a major way in their Week 11 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings. After blowing a 14-point lead heading into the fourth quarter of their Week 10 game on the road against the Green Bay Packers, the first time in franchise history they blew a lead of that size heading into the final quarter, they had another record-setting performance.
Dallas went on the road and massacred the Vikings, winning 40-3. That is the largest margin of victory in a road game for the Cowboys in franchise history, getting on the right side of things after the letdown last week.
This was the first time this season that the offense had all of their key players healthy and they looked great as the Vikings had no answers for the Cowboys’ offense. The Cowboys racked up a season-high 458 total yards on offense despite the backups coming in for the majority of the fourth quarter.
Dak Prescott had his best game of the season, an encouraging sign after some struggles against the Packers. Prescott completed 22-of-25 attempts for 276 yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to running back Tony Pollard.
Pollard brings explosiveness to the Cowboys’ offense that Ezekiel Elliott lacks. His first touchdown went for 30 yards and the second went for 68. He nearly doubled Elliott’s rushing yardage in the game as well, gaining 80 yards on 15 carries while Elliott managed only 42 on 15 totes.
Scoring that amount of points at any time is impressive, but how the Cowboys achieved it was a first in the NFL. According to CBS Sports, the Cowboys are the first team in NFL history to score 4+ touchdowns and make 3+ field goals of at least 50 yards in the same game.
What a way for kicker Brett Maher to go into his birthday. He turned 33 years old on Monday and continued his excellent season on Sunday. He made all four of his extra points in addition to four field goal attempts, connecting from 27, 53, 60 and 50 yards in the game.
For as good as the offense and special teams played, the defense was just as dominant. Holding the Vikings to only three points is quite an achievement as they had scored at least 20 points in eight out of nine games entering the contest.
The Cowboys are now heading into a huge matchup against their NFC East rivals, the New York Giants, on Thanksgiving with a ton of momentum. They are rolling while the Giants will be limping into that matchup, giving the Cowboys a golden opportunity to keep pace in what is shaping up to be a very competitive race for the NFC playoffs.
