MINNEAPOLIS — Dez Bryant caught four passes for 84 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, helping the Dallas Cowboys win their 11th straight game with a 17-15 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night.
Bryant’s 56-yard catch in the first half set up Ezekiel Elliott’s one-yard plunge. The receiver caught an eight-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter after a fumbled punt by Minnesota’s Adam Thielen.
Elliott rushed for 86 yards on 20 carries for the Cowboys (11-1). They have the longest single-season winning streak in franchise history.
Sam Bradford threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Jerick McKinnon with 25 seconds to play, but the two-point conversion failed for the Vikings (6-6), who found out earlier on Thursday that coach Mike Zimmer would not be able to attend the game after having emergency eye surgery on Wednesday night.
Dak Prescott was 12 for 18 for 139 yards passing for Dallas.
Bradford completed 32 of 45 passes for 247 yards, Danielle Hunter had two sacks and Kai Forbath kicked three field goals for Minnesota, which has last six of the last seven games after a 5-0 start.
Vikings special teams co-ordinator Mike Priefer was elevated to head coach for the game and it remains unclear how long Zimmer will be out. Minnesota’s third-ranked defence did their fiery leader proud, holding the explosive Cowboys offence to season lows in points, yards (264) and first downs (13).
The Vikings forced two turnovers from a team that had not coughed one up in the previous four games, including a strip sack by Brian Robison that set up Forbath’s 33-yard field goal for a 9-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.
KEY PLAY
With Dallas’ offence doing nothing, Kyle Wilber made the play of the game when he punched the ball out of Thielen’s hand, then pulled the ball away as the two rolled to the turf. Officials initially did not catch the fumble, but a heads-up challenge by Jason Garrett got the call overturned and Prescott found Bryant on the next play.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY
On a night when offence was hard to come by, Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph let a big-time opportunity slip through his fingers in the third quarter. Bradford squeezed a throw to Rudolph between two defenders, but the big tight end dropped what would have been a go-ahead 18-yard touchdown.
The Vikings settled for a field goal, cutting the Cowboys’ lead to 7-6.
A TD TO TIE TD
Elliott’s one-yard plunge in the second quarter gave Dallas a 7-3 lead. It was his 12th touchdown rushing this season, tying him with Tony Dorsett for most by a rookie in Cowboys history.
Associated Press