Vikes @ Cowboys

[Vin+ 3,121]

 

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(AP) -- Vulnerable defenses have plagued the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings, with especially poor showings leading to losses for both clubs last week.

 

Sunday's meeting in Dallas appears to favor the Cowboys, who have compensated with one of the league's highest-scoring offenses. In contrast, Minnesota didn't even decide until Friday that Christian Ponder would be under center trying to improve an ineffective attack.

 

Neither team has had much success stopping opponents, with Dallas' 422.5 yards allowed per game ranking last and Minnesota 30th at 401.6. Both teams failed to provide reason for encouragement with their worst defensive performances of the season last Sunday.

 

Dallas (4-4) surrendered 623 yards in a 31-30 loss at Detroit - the 11th-highest total in NFL history - including the second-highest single-game receiving yardage total to Calvin Johnson (329). The Cowboys gave up a six-play, 80-yard drive in 50 seconds, capped by Matthew Stafford's winning one-yard touchdown run with 12 seconds left.

 

A number of injures in the secondary didn't help. Starting safeties Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox were out, though Church is expected to play Sunday while Wilcox remains out. Cornerback Morris Claiborne, however, will miss this game and possibly one more due to a hamstring injury suffered against the Lions.

 

The Cowboys have some fine-tuning to do on offense, too, with Tony Romo completing less than 50 percent of his passes for the first time since 2009 last week. However, he threw for three touchdowns as Dallas scored at least 30 for the fifth time this season.

 

Frustration from the defense's late collapse seemed to spill over to the rest of the team, with receiver Dez Bryant finding himself in a shouting match with various teammates and coaches on the sideline shortly after Stafford's decisive score. Coach Jason Garrett and owner Jerry Jones have since downplayed the significance of Bryant's outburst.

 

"When you put your guts out there for three hours, collectively, sometimes it's hard to swallow those kinds of defeats," Garrett said. "What we need to do as a football team is learn from what just happened and find a way, in all three phases, to win this kind of game, and do what we need to do to win the game."

 

The Vikings (1-6) are in considerably more dire straits, matching their loss total of last year with a 44-31 defeat to Green Bay last week. Minnesota gave up a season-high 182 rushing yards and every Packers possession ended with points except for their last drive, which concluded in the victory formation.

 

Opponents are converting a league-high 51.0 percent of the time on third downs against the Vikings after Green Bay went 13 for 18.

 

"You've got to look at how we're doing it, what we're doing schematically, and also the people that you're asking to do certain things," coach Leslie Frazier said. "Can they get it done? Do we need to be doing something different based on the people that we're asking to execute the defense?"

 

Frazier will at least have the services of one of the league's best defensive ends with Jared Allen staying put after speculation that he would be moved prior to the trade deadline Tuesday.

 

Frazier announced Friday that he would go with Ponder over Josh Freeman as his starting quarterback. Ponder was 14 of 21 for 145 yards against Green Bay with Freeman sidelined due to a concussion, though it appears Freeman would be able to play Sunday.

 

"I don't know if there's any one thing I can point to and say why it's Christian and Josh in this determination," Frazier said earlier in the week. He now says Ponder gives the team the best chance to win.

 

Ponder may want to target Greg Jennings, who has caught 24 passes for 327 yards and two TDs in four career games against Dallas.

 

An abysmal passing game that ranks 30th with a 69.6 rating has limited opportunities for Adrian Peterson, who has 150 yards on just 36 carries over his last three games. Opponents have been able to key on the star running back with little fear of being beaten deep.

 

The Cowboys hope to get their own running game going with the expected return of DeMarco Murray, who has missed two contests with a sprained left knee. Murray, who had run for scores in three of his last four games, faces a Vikings team that has allowed nine rushing TDs - second most in the NFC.

 

Dallas is 11-0 all-time when Murray gets 18 or more carries.

 

Minnesota holds an 11-10 series edge while winning five of six, the most recent of which was a 24-21 home victory Oct. 17, 2010.

 

Romo is 1-1 in two starts against the Vikings, completing 77.5 percent of his passes for 497 yards, four TDs and two picks.

 

[KempBolt 498]

23

20

 

This will be my upset for the week. Perhaps Ponder will give Minnesota some semblance of competence on offense.

[Thanatos 2,847]

The bigger question here: Who is Bware going to root for?

 

10

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[OSUViking 505]

Should be a thorough rout. Our defense as a whole is trash, and Romo will shit all over it. Their defense is kinda trash too, but we have Ponder and we won't give AP the carries he deserves.

[Vin+ 3,121]

 

Miles Austin (hamstring) and RE DeMarcus Ware (thigh) are inactive for Week 9 against the Vikings.

Austin has been shut down in an effort to get back to 100 percent. Terrance Williams will continue to start opposite Dez Bryant. Austin may never get his job back. Ware was listed as doubtful.

Also inactive for the Cowboys are CB Morris Claiborne (hamstring), S J.J. Wilcox (knee), TE Andre Smith, and T Darrion Weems.

 

 

 

The Vikings declared QB Josh Freeman, CB Chris Cook, S Jamarca Sanford, DT Fred Evans, G Jeff Baca, RB Matt Asiata, and TE Rhett Ellison inactive for Week 9 in Dallas.

Freeman has been cleared of his Week 7 concussion and is a healthy scratch. Matt Cassel will back up Christian Ponder. Cook has a hip injury, Evans is battling a knee issue, and Sanford has a balky groin.

[OSUViking 505]

From what I watched, Ponder played well today. His INT was stupid, but other than that his protection wasn't great and our defense just couldn't finish. Like Thanatos said in the Mad Box, that missed XP killed us.

[OSUViking 505]

Does Alan Williams make that much of a difference from Leslie Frazier, or is our defense bad regardless of who is coordinating it? If Frazier stays, I want him to take the reigns of the DC responsibilities as well. Does anyone think that would improve our defense, or would it still be the same?

[BwareDWare94 723]

Yeah, Ponder was fine, and even showed marked progress on standard NFL throws lol.

 

I thought the defense was pretty good until that final drive. Talk about addition by subtraction when Chris Cook is out of the fold.

It's time to cut Cook.

 

As I said in the shoutbox, Tony Romo's teammates need to play better. There's no excuse for the bullshit he had to overcome today.

[Thanatos 2,847]

You mean overcoming the INT he threw with under 5 minutes left, which then his teammates, the Cowboys defense, kept from meaning much as they forced the Vikes to punt?

 

Yeah, it's nice when a QB has help from his teammates to overcome his mistakes.

[BwareDWare94 723]

You mean overcoming the INT he threw with under 5 minutes left, which then his teammates, the Cowboys defense, kept from meaning much as they forced the Vikes to punt?

 

Yeah, it's nice when a QB has help from his teammates to overcome his mistakes.

 

All quarterbacks throw 4th quarter INTs, at times. You're blaming him for something ALL QBs do, from time to time. I'm talking about the absurd drops, the awful OL play, etc.

[Maverick 791]

This is why comebacks as a statistic is questionable. Sure, QB A has more comebacks than QB B, but is it because QB A played like shit earlier in the game? Why should we use that as an edge over QB B who played good enough throughout the whole game when comparing the two?

 

Stats are nice and especially attractive when used to support an argument, but sometimes nothing beats the human eye.

 

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

 

You mean overcoming the INT he threw with under 5 minutes left, which then his teammates, the Cowboys defense, kept from meaning much as they forced the Vikes to punt?

 

Yeah, it's nice when a QB has help from his teammates to overcome his mistakes.

 

All quarterbacks throw 4th quarter INTs, at times. You're blaming him for something ALL QBs do, from time to time. I'm talking about the absurd drops, the awful OL play, etc.

 

All those things happen from time to time, though. You don't want to see INTs or bad drops, or a lineman missing a block... But sometimes, that is what you get.

[Bay 2,003]

This is why comebacks as a statistic is questionable. Sure, QB A has more comebacks than QB B, but is it because QB A played like shit earlier in the game? Why should we use that as an edge over QB B who played good enough throughout the whole game when comparing the two?

 

Stats are nice and especially attractive when used to support an argument, but sometimes nothing beats the human eye.

 

Or it could be because the defense played like shit early on?

[Thanatos 2,847]

GW Drives are also questionable. Take, for example, Luck's GW drive last week against these Texans. Everyone was lauding Luck, saying he was awesome, record-breaking GW drive, etc.

 

And I was like, so no one is going to get off Luck's nuts for long enough to point out that if the defense doesn't absolutely shut down the Texans in the second half, all Luck's "heroics" would have meant nothing due to him sucking in the first half?

 

I love Luck as a player. I hate the fact that the media ALWAYS without fail makes up excuses for when he does bad and/or talks about "well he's still growing as a player" when several other young QBs don't get the same logic applied to them.

[seanbrock 1,684]

This is why comebacks as a statistic is questionable. Sure, QB A has more comebacks than QB B, but is it because QB A played like shit earlier in the game? Why should we use that as an edge over QB B who played good enough throughout the whole game when comparing the two?

 

Stats are nice and especially attractive when used to support an argument, but sometimes nothing beats the human eye.

 

Jake Plummer