One thousand Minnesota Vikings regular-season games are officially in the books.

The Vikings became the 22nd NFL team to cross the four-digit threshold when they visited the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. The 34-26 win at Dallas provided a few notable numbers we'll look at after seeing where the Vikings are in the Power Rankings heading into Week 16.

No. 21 (up 1 spot): Eric Edholm, NFL.com

After scoring only 42 total points in Weeks 10-13, the Vikings have now put up back-to-back outings with 31 or more on the scoreboard, led by a resurgent J.J. McCarthy. Following his interception on the second snap of Sunday's win, McCarthy was pretty dialed in, resilient and effective, even if his shoddy connection with Justin Jefferson remains a major point of confoundment. They just haven't been on the same page most of the season, and Sunday was similar. Jefferson is Minnesota's star receiver. McCarthy likely remains the quarterback of the foreseeable future. At some point, these two must become more simpatico. Credit to McCarthy for finding other ways to get it done the past two weeks, but the Vikings can't win games this way forever.

No. 20 (up 2 spots): Kris Knox, Bleacher Report

J.J. McCarthy threw another interception on Sunday, but aside from that, he had an impressive game for the second straight week. In doing so, he gave fans a glimpse of what sort of team the Minnesota Vikings can be in 2026.

Minnesota went on the road against a Dallas Cowboys team that desperately needed a win to keep its dwindling playoff hopes alive. Though they struggled to run the ball consistently, the Vikings got plenty from their passing game, played timely defense on third downs, and walked away with a fairly convincing win.

McCarthy has only made eight career starts, and while he's had his fair share of rookie-esque struggles this season, he appears to be on the upswing. The Vikings should feel a lot better about where they can go next season than they did just a few weeks ago.

No. 19 (up 4 spots): Pete Prisco, CBS Sports

J.J. McCarthy did some really good things against the Cowboys, which is a good sign. But he has to stack those games.

No. 19 (up 5 spots): Nate Davis, USA Today

QB J.J. McCarthy has a 120.3 passer rating against the NFC East … and 57.9 against everyone else.

No. 19 (up 3 spots): Josh Kendall, The Athletic

Despite Sunday night's offensive outburst, [the Vikings 2025 MVP] has to be a defender, and [Jonathan] Greenard is the most obvious candidate among a balanced group. The bad news in a bad-news kind of season for the Vikings is that he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury after recording his third sack of the season against Dallas. That sack total is not impressive, but he has 46 pressures and is tied for seventh in non-sack tackles for loss (eight).

No. 21 (up 1 spot): Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News

The Vikings were playing for pride and trying to see more positive flashes for J.J. McCarthy in Dallas, and he came through with a strong offensive night. The Vikings need every good vibe to close the season.

No. 20 (up 3 spots): Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports

J.J. McCarthy's passer rating in his first six games: 57.9. McCarthy's passer rating in his past two games: 120.3. This is why it's dangerous to bury a young player after six games, even though McCarthy was unquestionably bad. He still missed plenty of passes against Dallas, but he also looks much better. The Vikings season isn't going anywhere, but three more solid performances by McCarthy would give Minnesota good vibes going into the offseason.

As mentioned, here's a deeper look at some other numbers associated with Sunday's game.

9: The number of victories the Vikings have against the Cowboys in Dallas and on SNF all-time as the road team in franchise history. Sunday's victory moved Minnesota to 9-6 in Dallas and 9-14 on SNF as the visiting team (the Vikings had lost four consecutive games in the prime-time slot as the road team dating back to the 2019 season, when Minnesota defeated Dallas 28-24).

250: Passing yards for McCarthy on Sunday, a career high by two yards (he had 248 against the Ravens in Week 10).

25: Although the Vikings only sacked Cowboys QB Dak Prescott twice on Sunday, Minnesota pushed its streak of recording at least one sack to 25 consecutive games going back to last season (including the playoff game). That is the longest sacks streak by Minnesota since January 1999-November 2000.

200: For Dallas, Sunday's game marked its 200th in prime time (since 1970). For the Vikings, the contest was Harrison Smith's 200th career start (only his second at Dallas, though). Smith totaled six tackles, two passes defensed and a quarterback hit, and was oh-so-close to coming away with his 39th career interception.

150: Speaking of milestone games, long snapper and three-time Pro Bowler Andrew DePaola appeared in his 150th regular-season game on Sunday.

40: Number of regular-season victories for Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell. O'Connell reached the number in just 65 games, tying Mike Zimmer for the second-fastest number of games coached to achieve 40 wins in franchise history. The late Bud Grant reached 40 regular-season victories in 62 games.

5: According to NFL Media Research, the Vikings are the first team since the 2019 Patriots to have five consecutive games without allowing a touchdown pass. The last team to achieve the feat in six-plus consecutive games within the same season was the 1988 Browns (seven consecutive games). Additionally, Vikings fullback and Minnesota's Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee for 2025 C.J. Ham scored his fifth career rushing touchdown with a 1-yard plunge with 1:12 left in third quarter.

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