Minnesota Vikings Win in Week 6, But Dallas Cowboys Uncover Weaknesses

On Sunday the Minnesota Vikings did just enough to beat the Dallas Cowboys.

The spread at kickoff had Minnesota favored, at home, by only 1.5 points.

A Ryan Longwell field goal with 3:30 left in the game was enough to cover. 

The loss dropped the Cowboys into last place in the NFC East, practically eliminating their chances of making it to the Super Bowl and hosting the the game that will be played at Cowboy Stadium.

The win keeps the Vikings in the hunt for the NFC North as every other division counterpart was defeated. At 2-3 the Vikings are a half game behind the Packers and a game and a half behind the Bears. 

The problem is the Vikings' offense still doesn't look ready to go on a roll and rattle off a string of victories.

Against the Cowboys Brett Favre looked confused, holding onto the ball too long, and taking too many hits.

Although he did not throw an interception in the game for the first time this season, he was credited for a fumble on an exchange with Adrian Peterson.

In total, the Vikings were only able to net 188 yards on offense, while Percy Harvin came 54 yards short of matching that with 134 yards on three kick off returns and a touchdown. 

The Cowboys ran 60 plays on offense compared to 50 for the Vikings, while winning the time of possession battle 32:10 to 27:50.

The defense again kept the Vikings in the game by winning the turnover battle.

E.J. Henderson had two interceptions in Dallas territory, setting up short scoring drives of 16 and 30 yards.

The Cowboys helped the Vikings with 11 penalties for 91 yards, one that nullified an 80-yard touchdown pass from Tony Romo to Miles Austin.

Still there are some concerns.

The number two scoring offense from 2009 at 29.4 points per game, has morphed into the plodding and ineffective offense of 2010.

Currently averaging 16 points per game, Favre and the offense doesn't resemble anything that will keep opposing defensive coordinators up at night.

The defense that led the NFL in sacks in 2009—averaging 2.88 per game—has only six sacks so far this season in five games, a 1.20 average.

Even more concerning may be the fact that Jared Allen has been limited to only a single sack in 2010, after leading the team with 14.5 in 2009.

As well, the defense that was ranked second against the run in 2009, yielding an average of 87.1 rushing yards per game, finds itself averaging 102.1 yards per game this season. This places them in the middle of the NFL against the rush.

Perhaps this is because the opposition is not finding itself trailing as often, or by as many points, and teams are able to continue to pound the Vikings' defense by running the ball. 

If the Vikings are truly to be contenders for the Super Bowl they need to regain their swagger.

The offense needs to start clicking with some time-consuming scoring drives, giving the defense a break and forcing the opposition to play catch up.

At the same time the defense needs to start putting some pressure on opposing quarterbacks and create more turnovers. 

With games at Green Bay and New England to close out October, anything short of this could make for a long, cold November and December for Minnesota football fans.