The most important 10 takeaways from Cowboys’ Blood Eagle of Vikings

On a short week, it’s almost time to turn the page away from the Cowboys’ most impressive win in years. Whether or not one believes the Minnesota Vikings were one of the two best teams in the NFL because of their record, 8-1 entering Week 11, or just a good team based on their advanced statistics, one simple fact remains.

Beating any good team by 37 points on the road is about as good as a performance as anyone could ask of any team. If the true measure of a contender is how they dominate bad teams (it is), then dominating a good team in such a thorough fashion deserves its flowers. Unfortunately because it came the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Dallas’ 40-3 win has to be moved on from in quick fashion. Not before we run through the takeaways from the contest though. These are the things everyone should leave their performance knowing.

84 net points - tops in NFC

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The Cowboys now own the NFC’s best point differential (total points scored vs total points allowed) on the season. Their +37 in Week 11 allowed them to catch and surpass the Eagles after their one-point escape in Indianpolis.

This isn’t a small feat. The Eagles have two more victories over the Cowboys, and it’s not like Philadelphia hasn’t been highly impressive in their wins. Sure the Eagles have played the three horrible AFC South teams. Sure their AFC cross-conference matchup was the Steelers while Dallas faced (and won) against the Cincinnati Bengals with a backup quarterback. A backup who had to start five games and is being thoroughly outplayed by Dak Prescott since his return.

Wait, what were we saying?

Yeah, Dallas is really good and the reason the Eagles fans are all in Cowboys’ fans mentions on social media is because they’re scared.

Tony Pollard's last 3 games

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What Pollard has done in the last three games has been incredible. Dallas entered this season with a clear plan to involve Pollard more, but when Ezekiel Elliott missed two games completely, Pollard has certainly handled the responsibility. He’s not taking on true No. 1 running back snaps or touches, but it’s close enough and he is coming through like a man who has a payday waiting at the end of the season.

In his last three games Pollard has run for 328 yards and four touchdowns while catching 10 passes for 138 yards and another two scores. He’s averaging 6.4 yards a carry to boost his league-leading average (among RBs) to a career-high 5.9 a tote.

He’s already set career highs in rushing and total TDs with 6 and 8, respectively. He’s 13 carries and 19 yards away from setting those career highs as well.

He is clearly the Cowboys’ top offensive weapon at the moment.

Charts

Offensive line getting better

While all of the hoopla surrounds the Cowboys’ pass rush, which is well deserved as they continue to separate themselves from the pack in terms of pressure numbers, fans shouldn’t overlook the performance of the offensive line. Remember, Tyler Smith spent all offseason preparing to play guard until Tyron Smith got hurt.

People didn’t want Connor McGovern on the team, much less starting after how he played at left guard in 2021.

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Dallas is currently the No. 1 ranked team in power rushing (percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown), according to Football Outsiders, with an 84% success rate. They are sixth in adjusted sack rate (percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown) at 5.1%.

At the end of the blowout, fans saw a glimpse of the future. Dallas moved Tyler Smith inside, getting Jason Peters reps as the next swing tackle ahead of Tyron Smith’s return in December.

This line is going to get better, a lot better.

Trevon Diggs locks down Justin Jefferson

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Justin Jefferson is the best wide receiver in the NFL. He’s going to shatter the league record for most receiving yards in a WRs first three seasons by the end of the year. Averaging 97 receiving yards per game, he was on pace to set that record in this game, trailing the incomparable Randy Moss by 87 yards.

Welp, he’s still trailing him because once again Trevon Diggs locked him down.

Since catching his stride as a rookie around Week 8 in 2020, Jefferson has only been held to 35-or-less receiving yards in three of 36 contests.

Two of them are against Diggs.

When looking at Diggs’ ability to shut down opposing top receivers, Jefferson is now in the company of Washington’s Terry McLaurin (5 receptions, 55 yards over three games) of great WRs who get no love when Diggs is in the vicinity.

Oh look, run defense doesn't matter

The Cowboys allowed Dalvin Cook to run for 6.5 yards a carry.

It didn’t matter.

All of the talk all week was about how horrible the Cowboys’ run defense was and I stood in the hurricane to talk about the fact that the run defense wasn’t in fact horrible.

It’s not good, but it’s not impactful. Giving up 240 ground yards to the Chicago Bears? Dallas won by 20.

Giving up over 200 to the Packers wasn’t the reason they lost. Certainly, there were two drives when Dallas was dog walked on the ground, no argument there. The reason they lost, though, was because the pass rush was non-existent and they allowed Aaron Rodgers – who has objectively sucked this year – to have a top-3 QB performance in 2022.

Short turn around vs Giants

(AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Mentioned above, there’s no time for the coaching staff nor players to bask in the glory of victory. Head coach Mike McCarthy said he isn’t even breaking down the second half of the game, instead moving on to preparation for Thursday’s action.

Part of that is because the Vikings were non-competitive in the second half, but the fact remains that despite all of the injuries the Giants have, their biggest strength is Dallas’ biggest weakness. The Cowboys are going to have to contain Saquon Barkley the same way Detroit did, limiting him to 1.5 yards per carry.

The Cowboys’ worst rush-defense performance wasn’t against Chicago when they gave up 240 yards on the ground. Nor was it when they gave up over 200 to the Packers. According to DVOA, which grades each play based on opponent strength and expectations and game situation, the Cowboys’ worst run defense performance of the season was in Week 3 against the Giants.

Dallas has had three games this season where their run defense performed worse than the average team would have: Week 1 vs Tampa (15.5% worse), Week 4 vs Washington (1.0%) and Week 3 vs New York (20.2%).

Most impressive NFL performance of 2022?

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There have been six contests in the NFL this season decided by 25 or more points. Of those games, last night’s 49ers win, 38-10 over Arizona was one of them. The Cardinals were under .500 in the contest though, as were the Pittsburgh Steelers when they lost to Buffalo in early October. New England shut out Detroit 29-0 that same weekend, but despite the Lions’ three-game winning streak they were a lowly team at that point in the season.

Jacksonville’s stunning 38-10 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers was certainly an eye opener and a contender for best win of the season.

But the top two contenders for most impressive performances has to come down to Buffalo’s Week 2 win over Tennessee, in Tennessee, 41-7, and Dallas’ 40-3 smashing on Sunday in Minneapolis.

Cowboys own Kirk Cousins

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Kirk Cousins has very bad memories of playing the Cowboys while he was in Washington, and the horror story has followed him up north. Cousins was 1-6 with the team formerly known as the Redskins, losing the last four starts he had while manipulating that ownership group with franchise tag after tag. When he finally escaped to Minnesota he won his first game, but has now lost three in a row in the series.

His 105 passing yards was the least he’s thrown for in the series, and third-fewest as a starter in his entire career. The defense was in his head from the third snap, when Micah Parsons chased him down from behind and forced a strip sack. I’d say he was seeing ghosts, but those were actual defenders in his safe space every time he dropped back.

He won’t soon forget 13 QB hits.

Climbing in the NFC playoff race

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The Cowboys entered the weekend in the sixth of seven NFC playoff spots. They were unable to gain ground on the Eagles in the NFC East, as the Indianapolis Colts collapsed down the stretch in their bid for an upset.

They did however pull back into a tie with Thursday’s opponent the New York Giants. Both now sport 7-3 records, but by virtue of their Week 3 win, Dallas owns the head-to-head tiebreaker at this point. A win on Thursday would give Dallas essentially a 1.5 game lead on their rivals; the Giants would have to finish with a better record than the Cowboys in order to be seeded higher.

The current NFC standings:

1: Philadelphia 9-1
2: Minnesota 8-2
3: San Francisco 6-4
4: Tampa Bay 5-5
5: Dallas 7-3
6: NY Giants 7-3
7: Seattle 6-4

Story originally appeared on Cowboys Wire