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Cowboys-Vikings Review and Preview PDF Print E-mail
Fantasy Football Blog
Written by Brian Joura   
Monday, 11 January 2010 02:01
A look at the history of the Cowboys-Vikings playoff series and a review of Sunday's matchup.
Disclaimer: I have been a die-hard Vikings fans since the early 1970s.

The Cowboys will travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings in an NFC Divisional playoff game next Sunday.  Throughout the years, both teams have been good more often than bad.  The Cowboys entered the NFL as an expansion team in 1960 and the Vikings joined a year later.  Dallas has been to the playoffs 30 times while this is the 25th year of postseason play for Minnesota.

Yet despite both franchises consistent excellence over the years, there haven’t been very many head-to-head matchups, either in the regular season or the playoffs.  The two teams have played during the regular season 20 times, with each team winning 10 games.  As a contrast, the Vikings have played the Falcons, who did not join the league until 1966, 24 times; the Colts, who were moved to the AFC, 22 times; the Saints, who did not join the league until 1967, 25 times; the 49ers 39 times and the Rams 34 times.

And despite both teams making the playoffs in the same season 19 times, this will be only the seventh time the two have met in the postseason.  Here is a review of their previous playoff tilts.

1971: Dallas 20, Minnesota 12

Both teams tied during the regular season with 11-3 records but succeeded in different ways.  The Vikings got there behind a terrific defense, which allowed an NFL-low 139 points.  They had three shutouts during the year and six other times they held their opponent to 10 points or fewer.  Meanwhile, Dallas scored 406 points, the most in the league.  They scored over 40 points five times and only three times all season were they held under 20 points.

The NFL in its early stages had rotating sites for home playoff games.  This caused the two best teams in the NFC to meet in the opening round, although the Vikings had home field advantage.  Minnesota’s defense shut down the high-powered Dallas attack and the Vikings outgained the Cowboys, 311-183.  But Minnesota could not recover from turning the ball over five times (two interceptions each against QBs Bob Lee and Gary Cuozzo and a fumble by Dave Osborn).

Vikings coach Bud Grant made a curious decision, starting third-year quarterback Lee in the game.  Lee had started only four of the team’s 14 regular-season games.  While Lee had been the primary starter down the stretch (he was the starter four of the last five games), he had just six career starts under his belt while Cuozzo had 74 NFL starts.  Lee completed just 7 of 16 passes before being replaced by Cuozzo, who directed the team’s only touchdown drive.

1973: Minnesota 27, Dallas 10

Much like two years previously, the Vikings tied for the best record thanks to their defense.  They finished the year 12-2, knotted with the Rams, and they allowed an NFL-low 168 points.  The Cowboys led the NFL with 382 points scored, but finished with a 10-4 record, tied with the Redskins for best in the NFC East.  The Vikings handled the Redskins in the opening round, 27-20, while the Cowboys beat the Rams, 27-16, setting up the NFC Championship game in Dallas.

Once again, the Vikings dominated the game statistically, outgaining the Cowboys, 306-153.  And while they again had four turnovers, this time Dallas joined the party, as it committed six miscues, compared to none in the 1971 game.  The Vikings jumped on top early, never trailed and advanced to the Super Bowl with the 17-point win.

The big difference with Minnesota was a settled quarterback situation, as Fran Tarkenton was brought back to the fold following the 1971 season.  Dallas was short-handed in the game, as it played without star RB Calvin Hill and DL Bob Lilly, who both suffered injuries during the playoff game against the Rams.  For Lilly, it was the only game in his NFL career that he missed.

1975: Dallas 17, Minnesota 14

While previous Vikings teams had been dominated by defense, the 1975 team featured two outstanding units.  Minnesota led the NFC with 377 points scored and finished second in the conference in points allowed with 180.  The Vikings won their first 10 games of the season and suffered their first loss with a one-point road setback in Washington.  They finished the year at 12-2.  Dallas was the Wild Card team with a 10-4 record.  The Cowboys made the playoffs by winning five of their last six games, losing only to NFC East champion St. Louis in the stretch.

Unlike the previous two games, Dallas outgained Minnesota, 356-215.  The Dallas defense played a great game.  But the Vikings defense came up big, too.  Three times in the first half, the Vikings stopped Cowboy drives on their half of the field and forced Dallas to come away with no points.  The Vikings drew first blood when they turned a muffed punt deep in Cowboys territory into a Chuck Foreman touchdown.

Dallas tied the game in the third quarter on a daring play.  Shut out in the first half, the Cowboys went for it on fourth-and-goal at the 4-yard line.  Little-used Doug Dennison scored on an inside handoff to tie the game.  The Cowboys went ahead on a field goal and took a 10-7 lead into the fourth quarter.  The Vikings finally put together a drive and took the lead on a Brent McClanahan run.

The Cowboys had one last chance but had the entire field and little time remaining.  Roger Staubach connected with Drew Pearson on a 25-yard pass to midfield on a fourth-and-17.  There was 36 seconds remaining when Staubach and Pearson again connected, this time on a desperate heave that ended up a completion after Pearson pushed Nate Wright out of the way to make the catch and notch the winning score.  After the game, Staubach coined the phrase “Hail Mary” to describe the play.

The Vikings were coming off back-to-back Super Bowl losses but this ranks as the worst defeat any of my teams in any sport have ever suffered.  Tarkenton was the league’s MVP, Chuck Foreman scored 22 touchdowns and the defense was still outstanding.  This was the best Vikings team yet (perhaps the best in franchise history) and to see them lose because the ref did not call pass interference was stunning.

The Dallas defense played great in this game and does not get the credit it deserves.  But the best team did not win this day.

1977: Dallas 23, Minnesota 6

The Cowboys had the best record at 12-2 and scored the most points in the league with 345.  Meanwhile, the Vikings were showing age on both sides of the ball and barely made the playoffs, needing to win three of their last four games to finish at 9-5 to win the Central.  The Vikings tied with the Bears, but won the division thanks to a tiebreaking procedure no longer in use.  Minnesota advanced to the payoffs thanks to “Fewer Losses By Common Opponents.”  The Cowboys dismantled the Bears in the first round while Minnesota continued its mastery over Los Angeles, upsetting the favored Rams, 14-7, to run its playoff record to 4-0 versus the NFC West power.

The Vikings and Cowboys had met during the regular season, with Dallas pulling out a 16-10 OT win.  A familiar refrain in the series reared its head, with the Vikings committing five turnovers in the game.  In the rematch, the Cowboys jumped on top early, 13-0, and emerged with an easy 23-6 win.  Dallas dominated on both sides of the ball and outgained Minnesota, 328-214.  And just for kicks, the Vikings turned the ball over four times.

The Cowboys were clearly the better team this time around.  But fate smiled upon Dallas, as they got to meet the Dan Reeves-coached Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl.  The Cowboys emerged with an easy 27-10 victory.  It’s hard not to see the Cowboys’ two Super Bowl wins in the 1970s as games the Vikings would have won, too.  Unlike 1971, at least this time Dallas deserved to be there.

1996: Dallas 40, Minnesota 15

The Cowboys were a few seasons removed from the dominating teams of the early 1990s, but still featured a potent offense with QB Troy Aikman, RB Emmitt Smith and WR Michael Irvin.  Dallas lost three of its first four games but rebounded to finish the year 10-6, even after losing the final week of the season in a game in which neither Aikman nor Smith played.  Minnesota recovered from a four-game losing streak during the middle of the season to make the Wild Card as a 9-7 team.  The Vikings actually scored more points during the season than the Cowboys, but a young defense led to a minus 17 point differential, making them the only NFC team in the playoffs to allow more points than it scored.

Dallas jumped out to a 30-0 lead and won in a laugher.  The only thing that made the score even this close was that the Cowboys had four field goals, the longest from 31 yards out.  Dallas outgained Minnesota, 438-268.  And not that it will come as any surprise, but the Vikings turned the ball over six times, including four fumbles.

1999: Minnesota 27, Dallas 10

Dallas opened the season 3-0 but needed a win the final week of the season to make the playoffs as an 8-8 Wild Card team.  The Vikings won their final three games of the season to finish the year at 10-6 and also advanced as a Wild Card.

While the 1977 Vikings team was an older squad on the way down, this time it was the Cowboys with the team that was past its prime.  Also introduced to the rivalry was Randy Moss, who wanted to play for the Cowboys but whom Dallas passed on in the draft.  In two regular season games against the Cowboys, Moss had 254 yards receiving and 5 TDs.

The Cowboys jumped out to a 10-3 lead, but Jeff George tossed three touchdowns to lead the Vikings to 24 unanswered points.  Moss had 127 yards and a touchdown.  Dallas outgained Minnesota, 389-374, but this time it was the Cowboys who were done in by turnovers, as they had an interception and lost two fumbles.  The Vikings did not commit a turnover.

****

This season the Cowboys were having an up-and-down season until a hot streak at the end of the year marked them as a team to be feared in the playoffs.  It started with a win over the 13-0 Saints and finished with back-to-back shutouts.  The Dallas defense finished second in the league with 250 points allowed.  The offense was middle of the pack, but four times during the regular season topped the 30-point mark.

The Vikings started the season 10-1, but stumbled to the finish line gong 2-3 in their last five games.  Only a win by Dallas over Philadelphia on the final week of the season gave Minnesota the #2 seed in the playoffs.  The Vikings finished second in the league with 470 points.  Meanwhile, the defense finished 10th with 312 points allowed.

Dallas has a multi-dimensional attack.  Three running backs split carries, while QB Tony Romo completed passes to eight different receivers in the Cowboys’ Wild Card game win over the Eagles.  Four times this year (five counting playoffs) they have scored 30 or more points.  Meanwhile, the defense allowed 30 or more points twice this season, both in losses against the Giants.  Dallas allowed only seven rushing touchdowns all season.

The Vikings had lost faith in the running game but in the final two games of the season totaled 252 yards rushing and three scores on the ground.  But they now clearly establish the pass in order to run the ball.  Those last two games saw 621 yards passing and 6 TD passes.  Ten times this season the offense has scored 30 or more points, including 44 against a listless Giants squad the final game of the season.  The defense has battled key injuries yet has allowed 30 or more points just three times this year.

Minnesota is undefeated at home this season, while Dallas is 5-3 on the road and won its only game in a dome (New Orleans) this year.  In five of the previous playoff games between these two foes, the team with the fewest turnovers won (the 1975 game each team had one).  This year the Cowboys forced 21 turnovers and had a +2 differential.  The Vikings forced 24 turnovers and had a +6 differential.  Neither team was very good at creating turnovers but both were among the best in the league in fewest giveaways.  Minnesota had the third fewest turnovers in the league while Dallas finished fourth.

Five times this season, the Cowboys did not turn the ball over.  After giving up the ball on miscues three times to the Packers in a mid-November game, Dallas turned it over just five times in their final seven games.  The Vikings had four games without a turnover and six others were they had just one.  They were 10-0 in those games. 

Minnesota did not turn over the ball more than twice in a game all year, but were 2-4 when they had two turnovers.
Romo and the Cowboys cleared a big hurdle by finally winning a playoff game.  Now they have to go on the road in one of the most hostile environments in the NFL.  Ordinarily the home team is a pretty big favorite in the Division Round, but the early line shows the Vikings as only 2 ½ point favorites.

The big unknown in the game is the coaches.  Neither team has a coach who has thrived in the playoffs.  Cowboys coach Wade Phillips has a .600 winning percentage during the regular season but is 1-4 in the playoffs, cementing his reputation as a poor man’s Marty Schottenheimer.  Brad Childress lost his only playoff game, as the Vikings laid an egg last year in a home game against the Eagles.  His record in the regular season is nowhere good enough to compare to Schottenheimer.  He dreams of one day being compared to Mike Sherman.

Turnovers will obviously play a key role in who wins the game.  But just as important will be which team can slow down the other’s passing attack.  Dallas will have to handle playing in the Metrodome and avoid false starts, and get enough pressure on Brett Favre so that he does not become comfortable and pick apart the defense.  Minnesota will have to find a way to cover Jason Witten, as tight ends have given it fits all year.  And they have to devise a plan to keep DeMarcus Ware away from Favre.  There is no way Bryant McKinnie can block him one-on-one.

Prediction

The Vikings jump on top early as the Cowboys struggle getting anything done offensively in the first half. Minnesota wins, 34-24.
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