THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS suffered a crushing 40-3 defeat at home to a rampant Dallas Cowboys during Sunday’s late NFL action.
The Vikings went into the day tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for best record in the league at 8-1, the meeting with the Cowboys billed as a clash of two of the best teams in the NFC.
But it was an utterly one-sided encounter.
Dallas, quickly putting aside the disappointment of last week’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, scored points on each of their first seven drives.
“We just played a complete game, offense, defense. We knew we had to respond after last week and this was big for us,” said quarterback Dak Prescott, who threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns to the outstanding Tony Pollard.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott also rushed for two touchdowns while Pollard rushed for 80 yards on 15 carries and also gained 109 yards on six receptions, using his running power to burst from deep to great effect.
The combination of Elliott and Pollard proved too much for Minnesota.
“They are dynamic, when we have them both out there, the defense doesn’t know what is coming at them,” Prescott said.
The 37-point margin was the biggest the Cowboys have enjoyed in 54 years.
The loss also saw Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins snap a streak of 39 consecutive games with a touchdown — the fourth best record since the NFL-AFL merger.
Elsewhere, the Kansas City Chiefs improved to 8-2 with a 30-27 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Chargers led with 1:46 remaining, but Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes piloted a six-play, 75-yard drive capped by a four-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce that made it 30-27.
It was Kelce’s third TD catch of the night and the Chargers’ bid to claw back ended when Chiefs defender Nick Fulton intercepted a pass by Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert.
The Cincinnati Bengals kept themselves in contention in the AFC North moving to 6-4 with a 37-30 win over divisional rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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