Dallas Cowboys @ Minnesota Vikings Score Prediction

Minneeota Vikings/Dallas Cowboys Score Prediction

A tradition around these parts is to predict the upcoming score of the next Minnesota Vikings game regardless of the scientifically proven (I’m guessing) potential for the dreaded jinx.

This Vikings team is on a roll, but still isn’t far removed from the disastrous 1-5 start to this season. The good news is that they’re playing at “home” against a team which, while still somehow in or near the driver’s seat to nab the NFC East title (and thus a playoff berth), is the 2020 Dallas Cowboys and thus not a gigantic threat to the Vikings’ win-streak.

There still is the perpetual feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop if you’re a Vikings fan, and it could be just me but I feel very iffy about Sunday’s action. This game screams:

As has been laid out on network here:

And more eloquently here:

Offensive line catalyst Ezra Cleveland will be out, which should send fear through the hearts of everyone in Minnesota, and the Dallas cowboys aren’t bereft of talent, as the above article by VikingsTerritory Vikings Insider (Vikings) explains after pointing out that Cowboys fill-in QB Andy Dalton is “not terrible”:

“We’ve established that Dalton is decent-to-good on most days. Other players on the Cowboys roster are flat-out fabulous. The receiving corps consists of Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, and Michael Gallup. This is arguably the best trio of pass-catchers in the world. Dak Prescott’s elephantine statistics before his leg snapped substantiate this claim.

Zack Martin is one of the NFL’s best guards. The other guard, Connor Williams, is pretty damn good, too. Defensively, the Vikings will face Jaylon Smith, Sean Lee, Demarcus Lawrence, Xavier Woods, Randy Gregory, and Aldon Smith. That’s not a flunky batch of defenders. And, we haven’t even mentioned Ezekiel Elliott, a top-three running back leaguewide.

This isn’t the New York Jets.”

Not the Jets, indeed.

However, the Vikings are coming off a huge win in Chicago in which quarterback Kirk Cousins lead the offense as the Bears D stifled MvP Dalvin Cook. Justin Jefferson had another amazing game, and outside of two quarters in which he channeled Troy Williamson, the team still has Adam Thielen.

I expect more of the same from the pass game with more support from Cook. The Cowboys’ pass defense is the only bright spot on their 32nd (aka worst in the league) defense (according to our friends at LineUps.com).

So, I wouldn’t add/start Cousins on any fantasy team, but I have a feeling we’ll get something in between his Packers/Lions and Bears output in terms of attempted passes. But it’s clear that if they can, the Vikings love to slow down the game with long/run-heavy and methodical drives.

With a defense like Dallas’, they should be successful. The thing with those long drives, though, is that the limit how many points you can score simply by virtue of how long each drive lasts.

While Dalton may not be “terrible”, and the Cowboys have a lot of receiver talent, we’ve seen Zimmer and company recently stifle QBs and WR corps like those on the Seahawks, or Packers (although for the Packers it’s more like corp).

Ezekiel Elliot is also not 100%, and has been downgraded to an RB2 in most fantasy leagues. As purplePTSD writer Jay Strack pointed out this week, the Vikings’ defensive line is coming together as well which should help them stifle the limited Elliot.

https://purpleptsd.com/young-defensive-line-starting-to-click/

Point being, I believe the Vikings will win their fourth-straight Sunday, and while the score may not be a blowout, it won’t be a close content.

Minnesota Vikings: 27
Dallas Cowboys: 13