The Dallas Cowboys made a statement yesterday by beating the 8-1 Vikings 40-3.
The Cowboys dominated from the coin flip. Micah Parsons set the tone early with a sack on Kirk Cousins on the Vikings’ first offensive possession. He finished the game with four tackles and two sacks, bringing his season total to 10.
After blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead against the Packers a week ago, the Cowboys made sure that did not happen again. The offense kept their foot on the gas, scoring 17 points in the second half.
Yes, the defense of the Cowboys was dominant all game, but the outburst from Dak Prescott and the offense is what caught my eye. The 40-burger is the second-highest total Dallas has scored in a game this season.
The fast start from the offense allowed the defense to do what they do best, rush the passer. They finished with six sacks on the day.
We knew the defense could do this, they had just been very shaky the last few weeks, but I remember this week people said Dak Prescott was the weakest link of this football team. That made me laugh.
The Cowboys scored on each of their first seven possessions and didn’t have to punt the football until 3:55 remained in the THIRD quarter.
Prescott finished the game 22 of 25, 276 yards, and two passing touchdowns. He made a statement yesterday and didn’t even play in the fourth quarter.
Dak Prescott coudn't have handed the ball to Tony Pollard any better than that. What a perfect pass by Prescott on the 68 yard throw. Pollard just walked the dog into the end zone as the great @Boys_Vox would say
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) November 20, 2022
Prescott noted in one of his press conferences that this was a playoff game, and he showed up big time. The Cowboys out-gained the Vikings 458-150. It got so bad that the CBS national broadcast switched from the game of the week to the Bengals and Steelers game.
“We know we needed to respond after last week.” “If we can continue to do this, this team can be special,” Prescott said after the game. Guess what? I agree with him.
"We knew we needed to respond after last week … If we can continue to do this, this team can be special."
– Dak Prescott after a gigantic @dallascowboys win
🎤 @tracywolfson pic.twitter.com/0GhIXveJpb
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 21, 2022
With his two touchdown passes yesterday, Prescott hit the 150-career mark. He has the most passing touchdowns in his first seven seasons as a Cowboy. Tony Romo is second with 118.
Tony Pollard had another fantastic day. He has totaled 464 yards and six touchdowns in his last three games. The combo of Ezekiel Elliott and Pollard are so good together. Zeke did the dirty work, picked up the well-needed first downs, and scored two touchdowns from inside the five.
Dak Prescott 🤝 Tony Pollard
68-yard TDCowboys rout up to 30-3.pic.twitter.com/uoJ1Oh67OY
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) November 20, 2022
As we advance in the season, the Cowboys have everything right in front of them for the taking, and they sit two games behind the Eagles for the lead in the NFC East. The way Philly has looked the last two weeks, their second matchup on Christmas Eve could have a lot of stake.
The Cowboys just showed that they could go on the road against one of the best teams in football and win the game convincingly. If they don’t find a way to overtake the Eagles and get the no. 1 in the NFC, this is the type of team they could see in the playoffs.
Consistency is the key for the Cowboys moving forward. Nonetheless, this team has shown us what they can be more often than not.
