On a mid-December night in the heart of Texas, the Minnesota Vikings played in a game that could have meaningful to them if they were in the playoff chase. Unfortunately, by the time the day reached the afternoon hours, their playoff hopes were dead as the Chicago Bears got their tenth win of the season and having five wins with four games left to play meant that Minnesota could not catch up to the final Wild Card spot in the NFC. But they still had a game to play against the Dallas Cowboys, who have had themselves a roller coaster season with a lot of ups and downs. At 6-6-1, Dallas was looking to keep pace for the NFC East lead held by the Philadelphia Eagles, who won earlier in the day against the Las Vegas Raiders to improve their record to 9-5 after a few consecutive losses. This was another chance for J.J McCarthy to play in a primetime window, with his first two career games occurring with evening start-times being a mixed bag between an epic comeback in his first career regular season start in Chicago and an awful showing in the home opener against the Atlanta Falcons that had him suffer an ankle sprain. An efficient performance in the Week 14 game against the Washington Commanders allowed McCarthy to have a good game to go off of in facing one of the more intense defenses in all of the league.

As for Dallas, they would have their star receiver CeeDee Lamb available after he suffered a concussion in a Week 14 Thursday night game against the Detroit Lions. Also available were tight end Jake Ferguson and linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, who were both questionable heading into this game. The Vikings would be without Christian Darrisaw, who was out with a knee injury, meaning Justin Skule would start at left tackle in this game. Going up against Dak Prescott(who had the most passing yards per game this season entering this game) and the Cowboys would be a hard task for the Brian Flores defense to face. The Vikings’ offense would have to contend with a Dallas defense that has been notorious for giving up a lot of points on their home field at AT&T Stadium in these past couple of seasons. The main mission of this game was J.J McCarthy seeking to have back-to-back great offensive outputs for the first time in his young professional career on Sunday night football.

In this high-stakes game for the Cowboys, the Vikings’ offense would see the field right away. After the opening kickoff was returned by Myles Price, the Minnesota offense came onto the field and the first play of the game was a run by Aaron Jones for six yards. On second down, McCarthy looked to throw a pass and the ball was deflected by safety Donovan Wilson. While the ball was in the air, McCarthy sought to bat the ball down to the field, but instead the ball went off his hand upwards and was intercepted by Quinnen Williams, who went down with the ball. Another awful mistake by McCarthy, who had a turnover-free game in Week 14 and now gave the Cowboys offense great field position for their first drive of the night.

A short two-yard run by Javonte Williams opened up the drive for Dallas and Prescott threw an incomplete pass on second down and on third down he completed a pass to Lamb that only went for four yards. On fourth down, the field goal unit came onto the field for Dallas to have Brandon Aubrey kick a 47-yard attempt. But instead of kicking the ball, Aubrey received it on a backwards over-the-shoulder pass thrown by Bryan Anger and he ended up running with the ball past the Vikings’ field goal defense team for a first down run of six yards, as he slid down past the marker. An insane trick play that kept the drive alive for the Cowboys, who were looking to score seven points off the tip interception by McCarthy. Another two-yard run by Williams led to a Prescott completion to receiver Ryan Flournoy for a gain of ten and another first down. A couple of short runs by Williams got Dallas close to the goal line and on third down Prescott was tackled a little short of the line to gain at the one-yard line. On fourth and short, the Cowboys went for it and Williams had a handoff that he nearly botched but he was able to control the ball and grind for a short gain that was enough for a first down. On the next play, Williams punched in the ball for a touchdown and the PAT by Aubrey was good. A 7-0 lead for Dallas and an early hole for the Minnesota offense to dig out of following McCarthy’s boneheaded turnover.

After a bad kickoff return by Price, the Vikings’ offense came back onto the field and McCarthy completed his first pass of the game on a short throw to T.J Hockenson for a gain of 13 yards for a first down. A one-yard run by Jones was followed by another McCarthy completion to Jordan Addison for eight yards. On third and short, a poor play call by Kevin O’Connell occurred as Jones was stuffed for a loss of a yard. The punting unit came on and Ryan Wright had an excellent punt that had the ball travel all the way down to the three-yard line of the Cowboys.

On the ensuing drive, a three-and-out occurred as the Vikings’ defense took advantage of the poor field position for Dallas, which had to punt and the ensuing boot by Anger was fair caught by Price at the 47-yard line. On the first play of the next drive, McCarthy threw a short pass to Jones, who ran for a good gain of 18 yards but was tackled by the horsecollar of his jersey and a flag was thrown for an unnecessary roughness foul on Reddy Steward, who started out the preseason period on the Vikings and was cut in late August. The ball was moved to the Cowboys’ 20-yard line and the next play was a McCarthy play action snap that had him throw a deep ball to Jalen Nailor into the end zone for a touchdown. A big TD pass there by J.J to Nailor, who was banged up when he made the catch, and the PAT by Will Reichard was good. An amazing short two-play drive that had the score tied at 7.

The following drive for Dallas started with a couple of deep passes by Prescott to Flournoy and Lamb for first downs. A run by Lamb for a loss of a few yards was negated by an apparent face mask penalty called on Levi Drake Rodriguez, who grabbed the face mask of a Cowboys offensive lineman while being blocked downfield. The penalty was applied half the distance to the goal line and Dallas was back in the red zone. A five-yard run by backup running back Malik Davis was followed by a six-yard carry for a first down by Davis. The first quarter ended and the second quarter began with an incomplete pass into the end zone by Prescott. On second & goal, Davis ran the ball into the end zone for another one-yard running TD for the Cowboys. The extra point by Aubrey was good and Dallas had a 14-7 lead over the Vikings.

After another weak kickoff return by Price, the Vikings’ offense came out to start their next drive at the 25-yard line. Three straight runs by Jordan Mason gained a first down and then McCarthy threw a deep pass to Justin Jefferson that was defended by DaRon Bland for an incomplete pass. After a short two-yard run by Mason, on third down McCarthy stepped back to pass and launched a deep ball to Addison, who caught the ball and was tackled at the Cowboys’ four-yard line by cornerback Caelen Carson for a massive gain of 58 yards. A big play that nearly resulted in a touchdown, but had the offense in position to score one in the red zone. Following a timeout called by O’Connell, on first & goal Mason ran up the middle and only gained one yard. On 2nd & goal, McCarthy threw a pass into the back of the end zone that was caught by Jefferson for a touchdown. However, the third TD connection between the two JJs was negated due to an illegal formation penalty by the Vikings at the line of scrimmage. The five-yard penalty backed up the offense and on the redo of second & goal, McCarthy threw an incomplete pass that went way wide of Jefferson. On third and goal, McCarthy had a good scramble that nearly had him score a touchdown with his legs, but he was tackled down by Malik Hooker short of the goal line. On fourth and goal, the Minnesota offense stayed on the field and McCarthy faked a handoff to Mason, a move that fooled the entire Dallas defense. McCarthy scampered easily into the end zone and even did a little “Griddy” dance with the ball while crossing the goal line. The Vikings got a massive score and the extra point by Reichard was good. With the game tied at 14, Minnesota was clearly looking to remain at pace with the Cowboys offensively.

A good kickoff return by Kavonte Turpin had Dallas start from their 43-yard line and the first couple of plays of the drive were inefficient. A third down pass by Prescott to Jake Ferguson went for seven yards and on fourth down, the Cowboys offense went for it and Prescott completed a pass to Lamb for a big gain of 17 yards. A five-yard run by Davis was followed by an incomplete pass by Prescott and after the second timeout in the first half by Dallas was called, on third down Prescott scrambled in the pocket but he got split sacked by Jonathan Greenard and Javon Hargrave. The field goal unit for the Cowboys came out and Aubrey would actually attempt a kick this time. The 51-yard kick by Aubrey went up but it sailed wide right of the goalpost and was no good. The Vikings now would have great field position to commence their next drive that sought to put them ahead for the first time tonight.

The drive started with a McCarthy completion to Jones for eight yards and then Jones ran for a good gain of 13 for a first down. McCarthy completed another pass to Jones for five yards and then finally found Jefferson, who is probably in the roughest stretch in his career when it comes to catching receptions, for a gain of a dozen yards and a first down. The ensuing play was a seven-yard run by Jones that had a couple of flags on the field. There was one at the line of scrimmage for an illegal shift by Nailor, but that foul was superseded by a dead ball personal foul on Caelen Carson for jawing with Jefferson physically. The foul put the ball barely outside the Dallas 10-yard line for the Vikings and the new set of downs was not executed out well. A run by Jones for no gain led to the two-minute warning and McCarthy threw two consecutive incomplete passes. The field goal unit came out and Reichard made an easy money 29-yard kick to give Minnesota its first lead of the game.

Up 17-14, the Vikings might have had a missed opportunity to have a third touchdown in the red zone and the second half would begin with the Cowboys receiving possession. This meant that the Prescott-led offense had a chance for a double whammy, with the ensuing kickoff by Reichard going out of bounds. The penalty had Dallas start from its 40-yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Prescott threw a short pass up the middle to Ferguson for a nine-yard gain and on a fast third down snap Prescott handed the ball off to fullback Hunter Luepke for a five-yard run for a first down. However, the Cowboys were charged with their last timeout of the half due to an injury sustained by their right guard Tyler Smith. With no timeouts remaining, Dallas had to be wise with its play calls and a couple of plays involving Luepke resulted in a first down. Prescott then found George Pickens on a short 10-yard reception that had the receiver go out of bounds for a first down. Prescott threw a short pass to Luepke that ended in bounds with a tackle by Harrison Smith and on second down Prescott threw an incomplete pass. With only 11 seconds left, Prescott threw a pass out of bounds on third down and the field goal unit for the Cowboys came out to have Aubrey drill a 37-yard field goal that tied the game at 17. The half ended with a useless kickoff return by Price that did lead to Luepke getting concussed and being knocked out of the game.

The Vikings had a solid offensive game plan executed well in the first half by McCarthy, who completed a couple of deep passes including the play-action touchdown pass to Nailor. The slow start by McCarthy had morphed into an impressive first half showing on a big stage. Meanwhile, the Brian Flores defense was holding Prescott in check as best as they could with only a couple of touchdowns given up in short-yardage situations. Overall, this was a very encouraging showing so far for a Vikings team that had been eliminated from playoff contention. But they still had a lot to play for, including J.J McCarthy’s own development on the field. Let’s see how the second half determined the result of this game.

The second half started with Dallas getting good field position following a kickoff return by Turpin. The first play from scrimmage was a solid 15-yard run by Javonte Williams, who was back from being checked on for a shoulder injury, for a first down. After a short run of three yards by Williams, Prescott threw an impressive pass to tight end Luke Schoonmaker, who gained 29 yards into the red zone. The Vikings’ defense held its ground as three straight ineffective plays occurred for the Cowboys. Aubrey came out and made a 26-yard kick to give Dallas the lead back, but another missed chance to score a touchdown in the red zone proved to loom large in this game.

The first drive in the second half for Minnesota had good field position after a good kickoff return by Price, but McCarthy threw two consecutive incomplete passes and the drive ended in a three-and-out. Ryan Wright booted a good punt that went out of bounds at the 10-yard line. But on the first play of the next Dallas drive, Prescott threw a deep pass to Lamb that gained 30 yards and then Williams had a strong run for 21 yards into Minnesota territory. Another first down was picked up at the 25-yard line, but an incomplete pass and a short run along with a false start made third down a bit harder. Prescott completed a short pass up the middle to Davis, who gained ten yards and was tackled short of the line to gain. The Cowboys’ offense stayed on the field initially on fourth down, but it was just to have Prescott try to draw any of the Vikings’ defenders offsides. That tactic did not work as Dallas was called for a delay of game penalty and the ensuing field goal attempt by Aubrey was good from 41 yards out. Another missed red zone chance for the Cowboys, who were up by six points but were leaving an avenue for the McCarthy-led offense to get back into this game.

Starting their next drive from the 27-yard line, the first play from scrimmage for Minnesota was a McCarthy deep pass to the right to T.J Hockenson, who made a spectacular catch and came down with the ball for a gain of 29 yards. The next play was another missed chance for Jefferson to make a big catch, as a McCarthy pass went right off his hands and was thrown too high. McCarthy then handed the ball off to Mason, who had a good solid run for nine yards. On third and short, McCarthy handed the ball off to Nailor, who tried to pick up the first down on a slant run but he was stood up by Donovan Wilson and lost two yards on the play. On fourth and short, O’Connell kept the offense on the field and being three yards away, the Vikings opted to go for it. McCarthy got the snap and then dropped back to pass, with him looking downfield and launching the ball to Nailor, who caught the pass for an outstanding gain of 23 yards into the red zone for a first down. Attacking this Dallas pass defense that continued to be without Tre’Von Diggs, who has yet to return from injured reserve, was a great move by McCarthy, who found Jefferson on a slant route that picked up ten yards for another first down. On first and goal, McCarthy threw an incomplete pass but there was a flag in the back of the end zone for illegal contact on cornerback Shavon Revel. The ball was placed at the one-yard line and the redo of first & goal was another McCarthy incomplete pass to Jefferson, who missed another chance to get his third TD reception of the season. On second & goal, McCarthy handed the ball off to C.J Ham, who ran into the end zone to get his first touchdown of the season. Using a fullback run play at the goal line was a great decision by O’Connell and the extra point by Reichard was good, giving the Vikings the lead back at 24-23.

After Reichard kicked a ball into the end zone that was a kneel down for a touchback, Williams started the next drive for the Cowboys for a gain of 11 yards. Williams had another run for a gain of eight to end the third quarter. The fourth quarter was certainly going to be a tight one between both of these teams. A couple of short runs by Williams picked up a first down and then Prescott threw another incomplete pass towards Pickens, who caught the next pass thrown his way for a gain of six yards. On third down, Prescott got pressured and was split sacked by Andrew Van Ginkel and Greenard. The field goal unit for Dallas came on to have Aubrey attempt a rather-long 59-yard field goal. But Aubrey is known for making long kicks in the clutch, so faith was put into him to get the job done. In this case, though, things went sideways as the kick by Aubrey went wide right again and was no good. The Vikings’ offense would once again have stellar field position and looked to take advantage of another kicking mishap by the home team.

A solid run for three yards by Mason started out the drive and on second down, McCarthy had a solid scramble for eight yards that picked up a first down. McCarthy then threw back-to-back passes to tight ends, as he found both Josh Oliver and Hockenson for gains of 18 yards on both instances. It was now first & goal for the Vikings and McCarthy continued his solid execution offensively as he passed the ball to the right into the end zone, where Nailor was to catch his second touchdown of the night. The Vikings now had a more comfortable lead and the PAT by Reichard was good. Up by eight points with a little over nine minutes left, Minnesota was shocking every Cowboys fan watching on TV and at the gigantic stadium this game was occurring at.

The ensuing kickoff return by Turpin was negated due to a holding penalty at the 20-yard line by C.J Goodwin that backed Dallas up big time. On the first play from the 10-yard line, Prescott completed a solid pass to Pickens that gained 17 yards and on the next play Williams ran for a good gain of 15 for another first down. After a good tackle by Rodriguez on Williams, Prescott completed a short pass to Flournoy for eight yards and was good enough for a first down. On the next play, Prescott completed a pass to Davis that was negated due to an offensive holding foul on backup left tackle Hakeem Adeniji. On the redo of first down, Prescott threw an incomplete pass to Lamb but then completed his next pass to Lamb for a gain of 13. On third down, Prescott threw another incomplete pass to Davis. On fourth down, Brian Schottenheimer kept his offense on the field with five and a half minutes left and Prescott threw a short pass to Davis that was caught one yard short of the line to gain as Eric Wilson and a couple of other Vikings defenders converged around Davis, who was tackled well short of the line to gain. A big stop there by the Brian Flores defense against the Cowboys, who were now standing on thin ice in this game.

The Minnesota offense had good execution on their next drive with a third down pass by McCarthy to Hockenson leading to a fourth down decision where O’Connell kept the offense on the field and Jones ran for a good four-yard gain for a first down. Schottenheimer took the first timeout of the half for Dallas and then a short run by Jones forced another timeout. On second down, Jones had a solid run to the 30-yard line for a first down, but the ball came out after he came down onto the turf. Schottenheimer was convinced otherwise and he challenged the call on the field in hoping for a fumble by Jones. But after replay review, the ruling on the field was upheld and the Cowboys lost their final timeout. A few inefficient runs in a row led to the two-minute warning and after the one on third down, the Vikings field goal unit came on to have Reichard kick a game-sealing 53-yard field goal. Reichard made the kick and the Vikings had an 11-point lead.

The Dallas offense gave one last effort to stay in the game as they got into position to have Aubrey kick a garbage time field goal. Their only hope was on an onside kick, but the kick was recovered by Oliver and McCarthy came onto the field to take a game-ending kneeldown. The Vikings had defeated the Cowboys on Sunday night football 34-26. An incredible performance by McCarthy, who had a career-high 250 passing yards and a total of 265 scrimmage yards for the night. With three total touchdowns again to win his fourth game as an NFL QB, McCarthy tried his best to spread the wealth in this game and that meant missed opportunities for Justin Jefferson, who came close to getting a touchdown on primetime but was a little unlucky. However, the defense had itself a good night in containing Prescott, who threw for nearly 300 yards but had no passing or rushing touchdowns. Great defensive and offensive execution in the red zone was what won this game for an eliminated Vikings team. The Cowboys, meanwhile, were pushed to the edge of elimination themselves as they no longer can contend for a Wild Card spot in the jam-packed NFC playoff picture. Dallas could be eliminated from playoff contention as soon as this next Saturday if the Eagles defeat the Washington Commanders to clinch the NFC East division title for a second straight season. Looking ahead, the Vikings still have a chance to finish with a record above .500 if they win out and also have an opportunity to not finish in last place in the NFC North, as the Detroit Lions are in their sights in only being two games back of them.

The next game for Minnesota will be the final road game of the season as they will make a “yearly” visit to MetLife Stadium to take on the New York Giants, who are a bad record of 2-12 in having a roster that does not reflect that record well. A lot of road chokejob losses doomed the season for New York, which fired head coach Brian Daboll in early November and Mike Kafka has been the interim head coach since. With rookie QB Jaxson Dart having a mixed bag of results and some reckless running, the Vikings will face off against a more mobile QB. Looking for their seventh win of the season, Minnesota will hope to have as much fortune as they have had in recent years in north Jersey, with an active three-game winning streak against both the Giants and Jets at MetLife Stadium. For now, they are 6-8 and looking to close out the 2025 season strong, with two home games coming up. May luck continue to be on the side of the Vikings as they maintain their position as the best last-place team in football.