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News | Minnesota Vikings – vikings.com

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Early Look: Vikings at Cowboys

Look back at photos over the course of time featuring games between the Vikings and the Cowboys.

EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings are on the hunt for a victory after their four-game win streak was snapped in Kansas City.

Minnesota now sits at 6-3 on the season. Despite the loss, the Vikings remained one game behind the 7-2 Packers as every team in the NFC North lost in Week 9.

The Vikings are back in action in prime time for a matchup on Sunday Night Football against the Cowboys.

Dallas is 5-3 following a win over the Giants on Monday Night Football.

Here's a look at the Vikings Week 10 matchup against the Cowboys:

Passing: Kirk Cousins had an up-and-down day against the Chiefs. He completed 19 of 38 passes (50 percent) for 220 yards, his second-lowest completion percentage of the season.

Cousins' inaccuracy was noticeable on short passes, as he was 12-of-24 on pass attempts under 10 yards against Kansas City.

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Cousins also threw three touchdown passes — all in the red zone — and did not have an interception. His passer rating was 94.2.

Cousins has completed 174 of 253 passes (68.8 percent) for 2,217 yards with 16 touchdowns and three interceptions through nine games. His passer rating of 112.0 ranks third in the NFL.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott completed 22 of 35 passes (62.8 percent) for 257 yards with three touchdowns and an interception Monday night. He had a passer rating of 101.7.

Prescott has completed 190 of 273 passes (69.6 percent) for 2,380 yards with 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2019.

Rushing: Dalvin Cook couldn't get much going on the ground, as he had 71 yards on 21 carries Sunday. His 3.4 yards-per-carry average was his third-lowest so far in 2019.

Stefon Diggs had a 12-yard carry, and Alexander Mattison had three rushes for six yards.

The Vikings have run the ball on 51.9 percent of their offensive plays, which is the third-highest total in the league. Minnesota skewed toward the pass game Sunday, however, as the Vikings ran the ball on 27 of 66 offensive plays (40.9 percent).

Cook leads the NFL with 894 rushing yards and is second with nine rushing touchdowns.

Minnesota, which ran for 96 total yards against the Chiefs, ranks third in the NFL with 153.0 yards per game.

Dallas ranks fourth in the NFL with 149.3 rushing yards per game.

Ezekiel Elliott led the Cowboys with 139 yards on 23 carries. He has five 100-yard games in 2019, including three in a row.

Elliott leads Dallas with 741 yards and six touchdowns on 158 carries.

Receiving: Adam Thielen was active for Sunday's game but played just seven offensive snaps due to a hamstring injury.

Laquon Treadwell led the Vikings with 58 yards on three catches, and Cook had four receptions for 45 yards. Rookie Irv Smith, Jr., had four catches for 33 yards.

Kyle Rudolph, Bisi Johnson and Ameer Abdullah each had touchdown catches for the Vikings. Stefon Diggs had one reception for four yards.

Diggs leads the Vikings with 38 catches for 710 yards with four scores. Cook has 33 catches for 338 yards, while Thielen has 27 receptions for 391 yards and a team-high six scores.

Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper had 80 yards on four catches, including a 45-yard touchdown to break the game open in the fourth quarter. Tight end Jason Wittten, who came out of retirement this season, had eight receptions for 58 yards.

Blake Jarwin and Tony Pollard had touchdown catches for Dallas, and Randall Cobb had six catches for 35 yards.

Cooper leads the team with 42 receptions for 701 yards with six scores. Witten has 34 receptions for 321 yards and two scores. Michael Gallup has 29 catches for 454 yards, and Jarwin has three touchdown catches on just 12 receptions.

Defense: The Vikings were hurt by explosive plays and an inability to make one final stop in Sunday's loss.

Minnesota gave up 377 total yards against the Chiefs, but 202 of them came on just four plays, including touchdowns of 91 and 40 yards.

The Vikings recorded five sacks — with six total players involved — and also limited the Chiefs to just four conversions on 13 third-down tries.

Danielle Hunter leads the Vikings with 8.5 sacks, while Everson Griffen has 5.5. Anthony Harris has a team-high three interceptions.

Minnesota now ranks fourth with 17.6 points allowed per game, and is seventh at 320.9 yards allowed per game.

Dallas is one spot away in each category, as the Cowboys are fifth in points allowed (17.8) and sixth in yards allowed (318.1).

The Cowboys allowed 271 yards and sacked Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones five times on Monday night. The Dallas defense also had three takeaways, including two fumble recoveries.

Robert Quinn has a team-high 6.5 sacks for the Cowboys, while DeMarcus Lawrence has 4.5. Xavier Woods leads the team with a pair of interceptions.

Special teams: The Vikings had a roller-coaster game on special teams against the Chiefs.

Mike Hughes forced a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half that was recovered by Holton Hill, and the turnover led to a Vikings touchdown.

But Dan Bailey missed the ensuing extra point. He made his lone field goal try from 29 yards and hit two of three extra points. Bailey has made 13 of 15 field goals, and 25 of 27 extra points so far in 2019.

Punter Britton Colquitt punted five times for 251 total yards, an average of 44.1 yards per punt. Colquitt, who's net average was 42.0, was solid on directional punts until his final attempt, which went just 27 yards.

Hughes had 29 total yards on five punt returns. The Vikings did not record a kickoff return.

Cowboys kicker Brett Maher made three of four field goals Monday, hitting from 35, 52 and 28 yards. He missed a 54-yard try. Maher made all four extra point tries.

Maher has made 13 of 18 field goals in 2019, and all 26 extra points. He has hit four of seven attempts of 50-plus yards in 2019, with a long of 63.

Cowboys punter Chris Jones averaged 40.0 yards on two punts against the Giants. He is averaging 42.7 yards per punt in 2019.

Pollard handles kickoff return duties for the Cowboys, and Tavon Austin is the punt returner.

All bunched together

The NFC currently features nine teams with winning records heading into an important Week 10 schedule, as six of those teams will play each other.

Besides the Minnesota-Dallas matchup, the Packers host the 5-3 Panthers on Sunday afternoon. Monday Night Football is an NFC West showdown with Seattle (7-2) at undefeated San Francisco (8-0).

The 7-1 Saints play the 1-7 Falcons, and the 5-3 Rams are at Pittsburgh. The 5-4 Eagles have a bye.

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