Cowboys news: Vikings get more disrespect by not being favored at home

8-1 Vikings are home underdogs against the Cowboys- Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk

Does Vegas know something the rest of us don’t?

Many believe in the Vikings. Many still don’t.

The Vikings, despite an 8-1 record and a thrilling road win over the Bills, return to Minneapolis as underdogs to the Cowboys.

Dallas, at both the Draftkings and FanDuel sports books, are 1.5-point favorites over the Vikings.

As noted by Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com, if the Vikings remain on the wrong side of the betting line, they’ll be only the fourth team since 1970 to be a regular-season home underdog with a record of 8-1 or better.

Twice, the team in question had a backup quarterback on the field.

Jerry Jones rebuts latest Stephen A. Smith Dak Prescott criticism - Lauren Barash, The Landry Hat

More Cowboys criticism from Stephen A. Smith? No way...

Well-known Dallas Cowboys hater Stephen A. Smith is back to talk more trash about America’s Team after their third loss of the season.

The Cowboys lost in frustrating and ugly fashion to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Blowing a 14-point lead and losing in overtime is certainly worth criticism, but you never know what you’re going to get from Smith on “First Take.”

It wasn’t penalties. It wasn’t the run defense — in fact, he made sure to say he felt Micah Parsons was the best player on the team. It wasn’t playcalling. It was quarterback Dak Prescott.

On Monday’s episode of “First Take,” Smith went on about how Dallas has not gotten their money’s worth out of the 29-year-old franchise QB. Smith also called Prescott the “weak link” of the team.

So is Prescott the weak link on this team?

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would argue otherwise. When he did his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan, the radio hosts asked Jones if he agreed with Smith’s take and the answer was an adamant no.

How the Packers game affected the Cowboys season - Tony Stahl, Inside The Star

After the stumbling block at Lambeau occurred, where does Dallas go from here?

With 8 more games remaining, and a division that is playing at its absolute best, it’s going to be hard for the Cowboys to come back from a loss like this. For one, their chance of getting the #1 seed just decreased greatly. In my post about how the Cowboys can steal the #1 playoff seed, I pointed out that they would need to only lose one or two games at most.

Now with already one loss, that would mean the Cowboys need to win out (pretty much). That isn’t going to happen, so perhaps the Cowboys just need to focus on getting into that wildcard.

So we can already see the effect the Packers game had on them, it decreased the chance of becoming number one significantly. What other things have been rattled after the game?

Another problem that occurred due to that game was the team’s trust in Quarterback Dak Prescott. While Dak had a good game, yard and touchdown-wise, his two interceptions and lack of leadership to finish out the game is going to get fans and staff wondering.

A scary subject indeed, when on a football team, you need to feel like you can trust your QB to finish close games and overcome challenging defense and atmospheres. None of this occurred when Prescott was on the field, and that is why a lot of trust has been lost after this game.

Cowboys know Achilles heel is run defense, so how do they fix it? - Todd Archer, ESPN

If this problem isn’t fixed in short order, this could pose an issue regarding a potential deep playoff run.

For all of the good the Cowboys’ defense has done, it is ranked 29th in rushing yards allowed per game (143.1) and 26th in yards per carry (4.75).

In their past two games, the Cowboys have allowed 240 yards (Chicago Bears) and 207 yards (Green Bay Packers) on the ground. It is just the third time in the past 20 seasons the Cowboys have allowed at least 200 yards rushing in consecutive games (Weeks 6-7 in 2020 and Weeks 10 and 12 around their Week 11 bye in 2013).

This week against the Minnesota Vikings (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS), they will look to avoid a third straight game allowing at least 200 yards rushing for the first time since 1960, the franchise’s inaugural season.

In their past two games, the Cowboys have held a double-digit lead in the second half and, yet, the opponent has continued to run. With mobile Justin Fields at quarterback for the Bears, that is more understandable. But with 38-year-old Aaron Rodgers? The Packers ran by design on 62% of their plays, which was the highest rate ever in a game started by Rodgers, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Cowboys at Vikings: Can Trevon Diggs Silence Justin Jefferson Again? - Zach Dimmitt, SI.com

In order for the Cowboys to have a good shot this week, Diggs will need to keep Jefferson under wraps.

The Dallas Cowboys (6-3) and Minnesota Vikings (8-1) will meet for the fourth straight season when they clash on Sunday at U.S Bank Stadium.

It also marks the third consecutive season that Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson will face Dallas, and it’s safe to say that last year’s matchup wasn’t a kind for one of the NFL’s best.

Jefferson posted what was undoubtedly his worst performance of 2021 in the 20-16 loss to the Cowboys last season. He posted just two catches on four targets for 21 yards, all of which were season-low marks.

His lack of production was a major reason that Dallas was able to pull out the win, and the Cowboys have cornerback Trevon Diggs to thank. The league’s interception king last season didn’t get one against the Vikings — a game that ended his streak of six straight contests with a pick — but Diggs allowed just one catch for three yards when guarding Jefferson.

While it might be near impossible to hold Jefferson to just two catches this time around, Diggs will need to at least limit the potential Offensive Player of the Year from doing what he did against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

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