Dallas Cowboys Crush Minnesota Vikings

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys had some hard conversations with each other after their collapse last week at Green Bay.

They took out all that frustration and then some on the Minnesota Vikings, who might need a serious talk themselves after their seven-game winning streak came to a screeching halt.

Tony Pollard had two touchdown catches with a career-high 189 yards from scrimmage, and the Cowboys sacked Kirk Cousins a career-most seven times Sunday in a 40-3 victory over the Vikings.

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“We kind of found our formula, just running the ball, pounding the defense, dominating on all phases of the game,” Pollard said. Dak Prescott was flawless at quarterback, Ezekiel Elliott rushed for two scores in his return from injury and Brett Maher made four field goals — including a 60-yarder to end the first half.

The Cowboys (7-3) scored on their first seven possessions, and the defense was just as good.

The Vikings (8-2) have been the king of the comebacks in an NFL season featuring the smallest average winning margin in 90 years, none more remarkable than last week at Buffalo when they turned a 17-point deficit late in the third quarter into an overtime victory.

Although Minnesota still has the second-best record in the NFC, all but one of its wins have come in one-score games and its two losses have come by a combined 54 points. Overall, Minnesota has been outscored 231-229.

The Vikings host the New England Patriots on Thursday night, the first Thanksgiving Day home game in franchise history.