It’s very easy to look at the score of the Cowboys-Vikings game and say that the game was totally one-sided from start to finish. However, as I watched the game, I saw something different.
The Cowboys came out looking sharp on offense, as they were able to advance the ball into Vikings’ territory on their first 3 drives of the game. Romo was completing passes, Felix Jones was running with a spark, and the offense seemed poised for a big game. The only problem was that they came away from those 3 drives with only 3 points to show for it. Had the Cowboys capitalized on their fast start, by putting up points on the scoreboard, the outcome of the game could have been drastically altered. Because the Cowboys squandered prime opportunities to get off to an early lead and to take the crowd out of the game, the Vikings only needed one 47-yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre to Sidney Rice to completely shift the momentum in favor of Minnesota for the rest of the game.
If I had to determine the difference in this game I would have to say that the Vikings took advantage of the openings that the Cowboys gave them. Conversely, the Cowboys wasted the openings that the Vikings gave them. And even when momentum seemed to be tilting back towards Dallas, they would have a negative play here and there that swung things back to the Vikings. Basically, the Cowboys found ways to fold under pressure; something I had thought they overcame because of the way they performed in the weeks leading up to this game.
So yes, the Vikings did win 34-3. And yes, Brett Favre threw for 4 TDs and no interceptions. And yes, Tony Romo was on his backside a ton while turning the ball over more times than he had in the previous 7 games. But just remember, all of that could have been avoided had the Cowboys taken the cheese that the Vikings so kindly handed to them in the beginning of the game.
I guess they weren’t ready mentally to take that next step as an elite football team. It’s just a shame to see such a talented team throw it all away when they appeared to be so close.
