It felt like the Vikings had been playing with fire over the course of their seven-game winning streak, needing multiple fourth quarter rallies to win one-score game after one-score game.On Sunday, they got burned and badly.The Cowboys the now 8-2 Vikings in all three phases, winning 40-3 in a game that was functionally over early in the third quarter. After seven consecutive wins by a combined 36 points, the Vikings saw their streak end in stunning fashion with a 37-point lo s. Only once, way back in 1963, have the Vikings ever lost by a wider margin at home."We got our butts kicked," Adam Thielen said.The Vikings don't have much time to reflect on this one, as they have to
Jahlil Okafor Jersey another team with a loaded defense with just three full days of preparation. Minnesota's ability to respond to adversity will be put to the test on Thanksgiving night.Before moving
Robert Covington Jersey on to New England and the challenges Bill Belichick's team will pose, let's take our weekly look at the Vikings' snap counts to see what we can learn.Vikings offensive snap counts vs. Dallas (out of 57)RT Brian O'Neill: 57RG Ed Ingram: 57C Garrett Bradbury: 57LG Ezra Cleveland: 56WR Justin Jefferson: 45QB Kirk Cousins: 45WR Adam Thielen: 44TE T.J. Hockenson: 44WR K.J. Osborn: 42LT Blake Brandel: 39RB Dalvin Cook: 34TE Johnny Mundt: 27LT Christian Darrisaw: 18RB Alexander Mattison: 16WR Jalen Reagor: 12WR Jalen Nailor: 12QB Nick Mullens: 12RB Kene Nwangwu: 7FB C.J. Ham: 2G Austin Schlottmann: 1Coming off an 33-point, 83-snap outing in Buffalo, the Vikings' offense was nowhere to be found on Sunday. A strip sack on the game's third play set the tone for an evening where the offensive line was completely outcla sed, giving Cousins no chance to mount any sort of comeback. The Vikings finished with 183 yards of offense, went 1 for 11 on third down, and punted seven times. Every offensive lineman except Cleveland gave up multiple pre sures. The lone
Jerryd Bayless Jersey bright spot was Cook averaging 6.5 yards per carry.Things got so ugly that Kevin O'Connell pulled most of his starters in the fourth quarter.Scroll to Continue"With four days away being what it is, we wanted to make sure we'll always try to continue to fight, we'll never give up on any game, but we've got to be smart about our team," O'Connell said, "understanding where we're at with eight wins and a tight turnaround here."That led to Mullens, Reagor, Nailor, and Nwangwu getting some run in garbage time.Darrisaw left the game for the second week in a row with a concu sion and , putting Brandel in line to make his first career start.
Allen Iverson Jersey Schlottmann came in for Cleveland for one play.Vikings defensive snap counts vs. Dallas (out of 72)S Camryn Bynum: 72CB Andrew Booth Jr: 68LB Eric Kendricks: 64S Harrison Smith: 64CB Patrick Peterson: 60LB Jordan Hicks: 56OLB Danielle Hunter: 50OLB D.J. Wonnum: 49DT Harrison Phillips: 46DT James Lynch: 39SCB Chandon Sullivan: 38DT Jonathan Bullard: 37DT Khyiris Tonga: 32OLB Patrick Jones II: 32OLB Za'Darius Smith: 25DT Ro s Blacklock: 17LB Brian Asamoah: 15S Josh Metellus: 12CB Duke Shelley: 8LB Troy Dye: 8The Vikings' offense wasn't the only unit that didn't show up in this game. Ed Donatell's defense allowed the Cowboys to score on each of their first seven po se sions, offering almost zero pre sure or resistance as Dallas opened up a 37-3 lead midway through the third. The final score could've been even worse had Mike McCarthy's team not let up on the gas at that point.Booth made his first career start and struggled, allowing seven catches on eight targets and committing a penalty. The Vikings are hoping to get Akayleb Evans (concu sion protocol) back for Thursday's game.After averaging 8.25 pre sures per game over the last four, Za'Darius Smith was limited to 25 snaps and one pre sure on Sunday. He continues to deal with a knee injury, which is something to keep an eye on moving forward. In total, Dak Prescott was pre sured on just 6 of 28 dropbacks, compared to 18 of 30 for Cousins.With no Dalvin Tomlinson for the third consecutive game, the Vikings once again leaned on Phillips, Lynch, Bullard, and Tonga at DT.Players like Blacklock, Asamoah, Metellus, Shelley, and Dye got some action after starters had
Nik Stauskas Jersey been pulled.