The Minnesota Vikings (1-7) knocked on the door of their second win on Sunday, but came away with a loss to the Cowboys. They were competitive at least, and did many positive things, but it wasn’t enough.

Here are the numbers that help tell the story of a back-and-forth contest in Dallas.

124

Receiving yards for Vikings wide receivers Sunday against Dallas. That is the highest mark for the wideout group since Matt Cassel led Minnesota to their only win of the year in September, and still falls 205 yards short of what the Lions’ Calvin Johnson (329) did to the Dallas secondary last week.

1

Number of tackles by Vikings defensive end Jared Allen. He was shutout in the tackle department last week against Green Bay, and is on pace for just nine sacks this year, after putting up 22 two years ago.

57

Consecutive extra points Blair Walsh made to start his career before missing in the fourth quarter Sunday. It made Minnesota’s lead three rather than four, a seemingly big difference since the Cowboys only needed a field goal to tie. Instead, they got a touchdown, and the extra point miss did not come back to haunt Walsh and the Vikings. Their shoddy defense, on the other hand, did.

52

The number of seasons it has been since Minnesota started a season this poorly. It was their inaugural year of 1961 that the team also started 1-7.