With seven games left in the season and the bye week in the rear-view mirror, the Cowboys (2-7) head north to face the surging Minnesota Vikings (4-5). Believe it or not, Dallas still sits in a position to make a move for the NFC East divisional title despite being five games under .500.
However, should they want to make a legitimate push, there is little room for error as they prepare to face a team who is also desperately clawing their way back into a divisional race after a slow start. Here are a dozen interesting facts to know ahead of Sunday's matchup with Minnesota at 3:25pm CT on CBS.
Here are a dozen interesting facts to know ahead of Sunday's matchup with Minnesota at 3:25pm CT on CBS.
Cowboys hold a 21-10 all-time record in games following the bye week
Sunday marks the 32nd matchup following the bye week in Cowboys history and the franchise has traditionally fared quite well. Since the bye was installed league wide in 1990, Dallas' 21 wins after the off week ranks third among NFL teams behind Denver (22) and Philadelphia (22). The Cowboys have won five of their last seven such games including a Week 9 win over the New York Giants after the bye last season.
Minnesota looks to become fourth team to make playoffs after starting 1-5
Minnesota tallied just one win before their bye week (Week 7) but have since won three straight games to improve to 4-5. Despite their win over the Bears on Monday, they still sit third in the NFC North behind Green Bay and Chicago. Should the Vikings continue to have success on their push for the postseason, it would only be the fourth time in NFL history a team has started 1-5 and found their way to the playoffs. The 1970 Bengals, 2015 Chiefs, 2018 Colts are the only teams to ever achieve the feat.
Andy Dalton has the worst passer rating out of 39 quarterbacks with 2-plus starts in 2020
It's no secret that Dalton's first two starts as a Cowboy, against Arizona and Washington, have not gone according to plan. As he enters his third start on Sunday, the ten-year veteran holds a 2020 passer rating of 64.4 which is by far the worst in the league out of any quarterback that has started two or more games. Just for reference, some of the names above him on the list are Mitchell Trubisky (87.4), Cam Newton (80.6), Dwayne Haskins (80.3), Jake Luton (77.0), and Sam Darnold (65.9).
Mike Zimmer stifled Andy Dalton in their only regular season matchup
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer spent a total of six seasons as the defensive coordinator in Cincinnati, three of which were with Andy Dalton as the Bengals' starting quarterback. Zimmer showed off his knowledge of how to slow down his former QB by holding Dalton to just 113 yards on 11-22 passing and two interceptions in their only meeting outside the practice field. Zimmer's Vikings scored 34-unanswered points to start the game en route to a 34-7 victory in 2017.
Vikings have fielded the worst defense in the Zimmer era
Zimmer has always been known for a relentless pass rush and a sound linebacking core in each of his defenses dating back to his time with the Cowboys. And while the 2020 Vikings defense still isn't one of the worst in the league, it is the worst that Minnesota has seen since Zimmer took over in 2014. The 27.4 points, and 383.6 yards per game allowed are each the worst since 2013 when the Vikings had a bottom-five defense in the NFL. Additionally, opponents are having the most success throwing against a Minnesota defense since 2011, completing nearly 67-percent of their passes and putting together an average passer rating of 99.7.
Cowboys defense is on pace to be the worst since the winless 2008 Detroit Lions
Dallas has now strung together three straight games of allowing 25 points or fewer after a stunning streak of five games over 34 points prior. Despite the recent successes of the defense, the Cowboys are still allowing a total of 32.2 points per game this season which would be good enough for the fourth worst in the Super Bowl era should the season end today. That amount of points allowed has not been seen since the 2008 Detroit Lions (32.3 ppg) that were the first 0-16 team in NFL history.
D-Law sacks Cousins the most
DeMarcus Lawrence has 42 career sacks but no quarterback has been brought down by "Tank" more than Kirk Cousins. Lawrence has five full sacks on Cousins, mostly occurring when the quarterbacks played for Washington.
Elliott is the only player in the top 15 in rushing without a 100-plus yard game
Ezekiel Elliott is in the midst of a career-worst nine game stretch without a 100-plus yard game as he continues to seek his first century mark of 2020. Elliott has remained productive in his snaps this season as he remains in the top 15 of rushing leaders in the NFL but is the only one in that category that has yet to reach 100 yards. An outlook of breaking the streak this week is bleak as Minnesota has allowed a 100-yard rusher just twice this season, to Derrick Henry of the Titans and the Colts' Jonathan Taylor.
Dalvin Cook is on a Hall of Fame level pace in 2020
Contrary to the numbers that Elliott has struggled to find, Minnesota's Dalvin Cook has been on a historic pace in his first eight games of the season. Cook is just the 5th player since 1948 to have over 950 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns at this point in the season. The other four players that achieved each of those marks in their first 8 games were the Hall of Famers Jim Brown (1958), Terrell Davis (1998), Eric Dickerson (1983), and Dallas' own Emmitt Smith (1995).
Adam Thielen can tie a Randy Moss record with one touchdown grab this week
Thielen has steadily become one of the more dangerous receiving targets in the NFL and is currently tied for the league lead with 9 touchdown grabs. That tally also ties his career-high for an entire season which he set back in a breakout 2018 season. If he can continue his blistering pace with one more scoring grab this week, he would join Hall of Famer Randy Moss as the only Viking's to have double-digit touchdown catches in the first ten games of the season. Dallas and Minnesota have each surrendered 16 receiving touchdowns this season which are tied for the most in the NFL.
L.P. Ladouceur is the only player remaining from Zimmer's time with Dallas
Last season when Dallas met with Minnesota on Sunday Night Football, one of the big storylines was Mike Zimmer's return to Dallas as a head coach. Zimmer began his career with the Cowboys in 1994 and climbed the ladder to the defensive coordinator gig in 2000, holding that role until 2006. During last year's matchup, both Jason Witten and L.P. Ladouceur were remaining players from the Zimmer era in Dallas. But with Witten's departure this offseason, Ladouceur is the lone man left this time around.
CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson combined for 346 receiving yards in the 2020 College Football Playoff
Sunday marks the first professional meeting between two of the league's most exciting young receivers, but not their first meeting ever. Their paths first met as Lamb's Oklahoma Sooners and Jefferson's LSU Tigers met in the 2019 Peach Bowl as a part of the 2020 College Football Playoff. In the game, Lamb had 4 receptions for 119 yards and Jefferson broke all sorts of records with 227 yards and four touchdowns in his team's 63-28 win. Each were selected in the top-22 of this year's NFL Draft after each of their record-breaking collegiate tenures and Jefferson leads all rookie receivers with 762 yards this season while Lamb sits in third with 595.
