Tag: 2022 Week 11

The most important 10 takeaways from Cowboys’ Blood Eagle of Vikings

Why didn’t run defense matter? Is Dallas better than Philly? Look who’s on Diggs’ wall of skins! A look into what fans need to take away from Sunday. | From @KDDrummondNFL

On a short week, it’s almost time to turn the page away from the Cowboys’ most impressive win in years. Whether or not one believes the Minnesota Vikings were one of the two best teams in the NFL because of their record, 8-1 entering Week 11, or just a good team based on their advanced statistics, one simple fact remains.

Beating any good team by 37 points on the road is about as good as a performance as anyone could ask of any team. If the true measure of a contender is how they dominate bad teams (it is), then dominating a good team in such a thorough fashion deserves its flowers. Unfortunately because it came the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Dallas’ 40-3 win has to be moved on from in quick fashion. Not before we run through the takeaways from the contest though. These are the things everyone should leave their performance knowing.

Tasty Twitter reactions to Cowboys 40 burger on Vikings

The Cowboys showed up in all three phases in a dominating performance over the Minnesota Vikings. Twitter reacted to the W. 👀😁👀 From @ProfessorO_NFL

The Dallas Cowboys talked the talk all week, citing their frustration with the way things ended against the Green Bay Packers and being ready for the Minnesota Vikings. QB Dak Prescott went as far as calling it a “Playoff game.”

Could they back that talk up? Yes. They walked the walked to the point CBS threw in the towel on the game in the third quarter. Not in the final minutes, they called it a night with a full quarter to go.

As one would expect, the Cowboys fanbase was elated by the team’s offensive explosion and delighted by the defense barring their teeth as the pass rush completely overwhelmed the Vikings offensive line once Christian Darrisaw left the game. Here’s the best reactions to the Cowboys 40-3 domination of the Minnesota Vikings.

Narrowing down Cowboys’ Week 11 performance to 3 stars is a thankless job

Imagine a world where Dak Prescott, Trevon Diggs and 50×2 plus 60×2 kicker aren’t among the best performances. @cdpiglet loves this world.

What a difference a week makes. Seven days ago, the Minnesota Vikings were living the high life after coming back to beat the Buffalo Bills on the road. The Dallas Cowboys were deflated, losing a 14-point fourth quarter lead, for the first time in franchise history, to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.

Now the Cowboys are flying high after absolutely mauling the Vikings in their own home in record-setting fashion. The 40-3 victory was the largest point differential in a road win in Dallas history.

Games like this, it’s tough to pick three stars. Could Dak Prescott miss the cut while throwing for 276 yards and two touchdowns on an 88% completion percentage? What about Trevon Diggs, who followed Justin Jefferson all over the field, holding him to three catches and only 33 yards. Maher made every kick, including ones from 53, 50, and 60. . . twice.

Those are three players that could easily make the cut, but they weren’t the top guys this week. Here are the three stars from the Cowboys beat down of the Vikings.

Here’s what we learned in Cowboys’ blowout win over Vikings

Besides being a resilient team, here’s what else we learned about the Dallas Cowboys in their 40-3 blowout win over the Vikings in Week 11. | From @BenGrimaldi

The Dallas Cowboys took care of business and buried the Minnesota Vikings, 40-3, in the Week 11. After stewing over a loss in Green Bay, the Cowboys responded by thrashing a Vikings squad that entered the game tied for the best record in football. Winners of seven straight, the Vikings were coming off an impressive win over the AFC-darling Buffalo Bills. Confidence was high for Minnesota, but they were no match for the Cowboys, who dominated both sides of the ball.

The Cowboys were ready to play from the first series of the game and didn’t let up until the game was essentially over midway through the third quarter. Dallas scored on its first seven possessions, putting on an offensive display the Vikings couldn’t slow down. After allowing back-to-back 200-plus rushing yard games, the defense for the Cowboys settled down and held the Vikings to just 73 yards on the ground. Here’s what we learned about the Cowboys in their most impressive win of the season.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to CBS pulling plug on Cowboys’ blowout of Vikings

CBS had the 6-3 Cowboys vs the 8-1 Vikings televised nationwide in a premium time slot but quickly pulled the plug in the 2nd half . Yikes. | From @ProfessorO_NFL

The Dallas Cowboys came into Week 11 needing a bounce-back victory to stay in contention for the NFC East division race. They had a bit of good fortune in the early afternoon games with the Detroit Lions upsetting the New York Giants, but they still had to handle their own business.

In search of a win against a quality opponent, the Cowboys flexed their muscles and routed the previously 8-1 Minnesota Vikings on the road. They didn’t just win, they put the screws to a team with a seven-game winning streak. Dallas was so dominant, in fact, that CBS decided they had seen enough in the third quarter.

It’s not uncommon for a network to move on from a game early if it’s lopsided but switching before the third quarter ends was definitely an unpopular decision among those reveling in Dallas’ display of force. Many took to Twitter to let their disdain be known. Here are the best reactions to CBS’ decision to pull the plug on the Cowboys-Vikings nationally-televised game feed early.

Cowboys’ Prescott, Pollard smoke Vikings as Kirk Cousins packs it in early, 40-3

The Dallas Cowboys bounced back from last week’s loss to dominate the Vikings on the road to the point CBS flipped games. | From @KDDrummondNFL

Reports of the Cowboys’ demise have been grossly exaggerated. Dallas entered the game with the world questioning their ability to stop the run, predicting it would be the downfall for an organization that sat with a 6-3 record despite not having their franchise quarterback for five games. They leave the game with the ability to claim they are the most complete team in their conference after absolutely smashing the Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings entered the game with an 8-1 record, winners of seven in a row, but with a small 35-point differential on the season. They are now the first team to be 8-2 with a negative differential after Dallas hung their second 40 burger in three games, winning on the road, 40-3.

The game was so out of hand CBS broke away before the third quarter was over.

The Cowboys dominated from start to finish, with Micah Parsons forcing a strip sack of Kirk Cousins on the game’s first third down. Dallas only scored a field goal on the drive and gave the three points back, but the route was on soon after. Dak Prescott was surgical, only throwing three incompletions on the day. The two-headed rushing monster was back, with Tony Pollard gaining 189 yards from scrimmage and he and Ezekiel Elliott combining for four touchdowns. And the defense… whew. Both Micah Parsons and Dorance Armstrong recorded two sacks each while three others had takedowns as wel.

In the end, Dallas had their largest margin of victory in a road win in team history and did it against the team tied for the NFL’s best mark entering Week 11.

The detractors were right, Dallas couldn’t stop the run. Dalvin Cook ran for 6.5 yards a carry on the day. However rush yards don’t lead to victories without a strong passing attack and in every instance Dallas made QB Kirk Cousins’ life miserable. There were several times in the game when Cousins most certainly did not like that pass rush that had him seeing ghosts.

The Cowboys will now return home and prepare to host the New York Giants on Thursday.

Micah Parsons returns to Cowboys blowout after knee injury scare

The Cowboys collectively gasped when Micah Parsons suffered a knee injury , but it appears he’s okay after a quick checkup. | From @CDBurnett7

The Cowboys hold a 37-3 lead, completely dominating the 8-1 Vikings on the road. With such a massive deficit, CBS even cut the game to Pittsburgh-Cincinnati for viewers, which obviously led to some frustration.

At this point, the game is decided and there is no reason for starters to be on the field. Nonetheless, Dallas kept their stars on the field and it may have came back to bite them. Linebacker Micah Parsons harassed Kirk Cousins and Dorance Armstrong made the sack, but Parsons got stuck under a couple players and suffered a knee injury.

Parsons spent a short time in the medical tent and was questionable to return, but the Cowboys brought him back on the field even with a Thanksgiving matchup with the Giants just four days away.

Dallas may have dodged a bullet.

WATCH: Elliott scores second TD after Brown’s long gain

The Cowboys’ dominance continued, with Elliott’s second score of the game as Dallas puts a bow on the game in Minnesota.

The day continues to get worse for the Vikings. With a 30-3 lead, the Cowboys defense bullied Kirk Cousins with two sacks and were forced to punt. Wide receiver KaVontae Turpin returned the punt back across the 50 and delivered a big hit at the end.

Quarterback Dak Prescott continued his almost-perfect day with a 35-yard dime to wide receiver Noah Brown down to the 1-yard line. The Vikings threw a challenge flag out of pity but the call was confirmed. After a first down incompletion, Prescott handed it to running back Ezekiel Elliott, who spun off of a hit and freely walked into the endzone for his second score of the game.

Elliott’s score is the fourth of the day from the Dallas running backs and it’s an onslaught from the Cowboys with a 37-3 lead. With 8:15 left in the third quarter, it may be time for Dallas to send in the backups as it’s all but decided in Minnesota.

WATCH: Prescott en fuego, delivers teardrop dime to Pollard for 68-yard TD

The Cowboys continued the dominant day with their longest play from scrimmage, a perfect connection from Prescott and Pollard. | From @CDBurnett7

The Cowboys started with the ball in the second half holding a 23-3 lead. After a pair of losses, it looked like Minnesota could regain some momentum with a 3rd-and-14 coming up. Dallas had feasted on short third downs with an impressive run game in the first half, and the Vikings never expected what was next.

Quarterback Dak Prescott went through his progressions, then saw running back Tony Pollard, who hit the gas on a wheel route. Prescott dropped a dime and Pollard waltzed down the field for a long score.

Pollard’s 68-yard touchdown is his second of the game and the longest Cowboys play from scrimmage this season. Dallas takes a 30-3 lead over the 8-1 Vikings, an emphatic response after blowing a 14-point lead just a week ago.

Watch: Cowboys’ Lamb toe-tap leads to Maher thumbing nose at interfering refs

The first half in Minnesota ended in drama with a toe-tap grab, late review and two booming kicks from Maher for good measure. | From @CDBurnett7

The Cowboys had the ball at their own 14-yard line with 31 seconds left. Quarterback Dak Prescott slowly marched down the field with quick throws before delivering a dime to wide receiver CeeDee Lamb for 27 yards.

Lamb taught a toe-tap masterclass on the play, clearly keeping both feet in while securing the ball. This set up kicker Brett Maher for a 60-yard kick, which he drew inside the right upright for his NFL record fourth 60+ yard field goal. It was 23-3 Dallas for a moment until the officials made a shocking change.

The crew announced that they were reviewing Lamb’s highlight grab and allegedly made the call before Maher’s booming kick. Lamb’s catch was clear, and the review appeared as a ploy to keep the score closer to the Cowboys faithful. Nonetheless, Maher walked right back on the field and made it no doubt right between the uprights for the 60-yard field goal, which might as well be a 120-yarder.

The make was followed by a furious celebration by Prescott as Maher walked off the field with some swagger. Thanks to the kick, Dallas goes to the locker room with a 23-3 lead and receives the ball to start the second half.