Streaking Dallas Cowboys Underdogs Against Minnesota Vikings

NFL News - January 11th, 2010 - Written by John

When Jerry Jones began construction on his massive football cathedral known as Cowboys Stadium, he envisioned a palace for his team to return to prominence in the NFL.

And in it's first season, the Cowboys won the division with a late December surge, then drilled the rivaled Philadelphia Eagles to win their first NFL Playoff game since 1996.

Tony Romo is vogue once again, Wade Phillips appears to be off the hot seat and Jones is happy.

All is well in Dallas for the time being as the Cowboys face the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional round on Sunday with a chance to make it to the NFC Championship for the first time in nearly two decades.

Minnesota is favored by 2 1/2, according to NFL Betting Lines, with a total of 45 1/2. Despite the powerful offenses, history indicates this one may be held under. The Vikings have hit the under in six of their last nine in January, and six of their last eight overall. Dallas has stayed under in six of it's last eight against NFC opponents and eight of it's last 10 overall.

With the elimination of the Green Bay Packers in the opening round, no team in the NFC is hotter than Dallas. It has won four-straight, while the Vikings, and no. 1 seed New Orleans Saints have both backed into the postseason.

Minnesota won big in the season finale, but has lost three of it's last six overall amid conflict between head coach Brad Childress and Brett Favre. Surely, winning heals all, and both parties were gleaming after a 44-7 win over the New York Giants two weeks ago, but there is a growing concern about the shift from a running team to a passing one and a lack of consistency since.

With a horse like Adrian Peterson in the backfield, there is no amount of carries high enough, but his workload has certainly diminished in recent weeks. He's averaged just under 17 touches since , and had a season-low nine carries in the finale. He's only reached the century mark once since Week 10, and three times over the course of the year.

But it's not like Favre has been a dud. In fact, he has basically made Sidney Rice into an All-Pro wideout in just the receiver's third year. Rice's season-high was 396 yards before this year, and he more than tripled that with 1,312 in '09. The Vikings rank eighth in the league in passing, and have scored the second-most points (29.4). Favre earned a spot on the NFC Pro Bowl roster with 33 touchdowns and threw for 4,000 yards for only the second time since 2004.

And things got a whole lot simpler when Favre's former team, Green Bay, was dispatched.

Minnesota won five-straight against the Cowboys from 1998 to 2004, but Dallas won the last meeting, 24-14, in 2007. It also won in the preseason finale, 35-31, but only a few starters played.

Romo finished the year as the league's eighth-rated passer with 4,483 yards and 26 touchdowns. His best ball has come at the end of the year when he threw for 300 yards or more in four of the last six games.

He threw two touchdowns against Philadelphia last week, and has only been picked off twice since Week 11.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

The outcome of this game could very well be paved by special teams play with two of the most exciting return men in the game. Minnesota's Percy Harvin won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after 1,156 return yards, 925 yards from scrimmage and eight total touchdowns.

But when Dallas has the ball, all eyes need to be on Felix Jones. As the team's secondary option for most of the year, Jones has exploded over the last two games to become the feature back in an offense that doesn't appear to have many flaws right now. He set a franchise record with 247 return yards the first time the Cowboys beat the Eagles, then went off for 148 rushing yards in the wild card meeting.

With two sharp quarterbacks that rarely turn the ball over, and very good receivers that rarely drop passes, field position becomes critical.

And it might benefit the Vikings that Ryan Longwell is kicking for them. He is 26-for-28 this year and has continually been one of the league's most reliable, while Dallas relies on newly acquired Shaun Suisham, who failed to impress in Washington earlier in the year.

STATS AND STREAKS

- Despite losing 49 carries from a year ago, Peterson led the league with 18 touchdowns, which is six more than his previous high.

- Favre has thrown for over 300 yards in his last two games, and has seven touchdowns to two interceptions in his last four.

- In Minnesota's last three losses, the defense has allowed over 30 points per game. In it's last three wins, that number falls to nine.

- Dallas allows an NFC-low 15.6 points per game, and has pitched a shutout in two of the last three.

- The Cowboys haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher all year, and only Tampa Bay's Cadillac Williams has run for more than 80. That came in Week One. No opposing runner has reached 30 yards in any of the last four games, and only one (LaDainian Tomlinson) in the last five has reached 50.