Cooper Rush and the Dallas Cowboys left Minneapolis with a win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night. Rush lobbed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper in the back left corner of the end zone to give the Cowboys the lead with 51 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
The touchdown put the Cowboys up 20-16, capping a 75-yard drive that included a killer third-and-11 conversion on a play where Ezekiel Elliott broke multiple tackles to convert the first down and set up the game-winning touchdown on the next play.
Rush, who had attempted three passes in the NFL prior to starting in place of the injured Dak Prescott, threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings.
It was another prime-time dud for Kirk Cousins, who after going 3-for-3 with 54 yards and a touchdown to Adam Thielen on the opening drive, had just 108 yards passing from then until the final drive of the game, where he added 22 meaningless yards.
The ugliest stat of the night was the Vikings on third down, where they were a miserable 1-for-13. The Cowboys, meanwhile, converted 50% of their third downs, including the critical third-and-11 on the game-winning drive.
The Cowboys had 2 turnovers to Minnesota’s none, had 11 penalties for 96 yards compared to Minnesota’s 7 penalties for 56 yards, and they didn’t have their starting quarterback …. they still found a way to beat the Vikings in their home stadium.
Dallas’ big two wide receivers were superior to the Vikings. Amari Cooper and Cee Dee Lamb combined for 14 catches and 234 yards while Thielen and Justin Jefferson finished with 8 catches for 99 yards (just 2 catches and 21 yards for Jefferson).
Adding injury to insult, the Vikings played the majority of the game without defensive end Danielle Hunter, who didn’t return after suffering a shoulder injury in the first half.
The Vikings are now 3-4 with back-to-back road games against the Ravens and Charges to come, followed by a home game against the Packers. It could get really ugly really fast for Minnesota.
