GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NFL: MINNESOTA (2-3) at DALLAS (5-1)

NFL: MINNESOTA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
MINNESOTA 7 7 0 0 14
DALLAS 7 0 14 3 24 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER:

8:24 DAL - TD, TERRELL OWENS 5 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
Drive: 14 plays, 80 yards in 8:24.
Key plays: Romo 12-yard pass to Crayton on 3rd-and-4 to Dallas 38;
Romo 4-yard pass to Jones on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 49; Romo 24-yard pass to
Owens on 3rd-and-2 to Minnesota 19. DALLAS 7-0.
14:17 MIN - TD, ADRIAN PETERSON 20 YD RUN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK).
Drive: 11 plays, 69 yards in 5:53.
Key plays: Taylor 12-yard run to Minnesota 43; Jackson 12-yard pass
to Peterson to Dallas 45; Peterson 1-yard run on 4th-and-1 to Dallas 35;
Peterson 6-yard run on 3rd-and-1 to Dallas 20. MINNESOTA 7-7.

2ND QUARTER:

13:21 MIN - TD, CEDRIC GRIFFIN 50 YD FUMBLE RETURN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK).
MINNESOTA 14-7.

3RD QUARTER:

8:05 DAL - TD, MARION BARBER III 1 YD RUN (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
Drive: 5 plays, 36 yards in 2:41.
Key plays: Crayton 9-yard punt return plus 15-yard unsportsmanlike
conduct penalty on Vikings' Whitaker to Minnesota 36; Romo 22-yard pass
to Owens to Minnesota 3. MINNESOTA 14-14.
12:08 DAL - TD, PAT WATKINS 68 YD RETURN OF BLOCKED FIELD GOAL (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
DALLAS 21-14.

4TH QUARTER:

4:26 DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 45 YD.
Drive: 4 plays, -5 yards in 1:17.
Key plays: James recovery of Peterson fumble at Minnesota 22. DALLAS
24-14.

MINNESOTA - DALLAS Final Statistics

TEAM STATISTICS MINNESOTA DALLAS

FIRST DOWNS 11 22
Rushing 8 6
Passing 3 16
Penalty 0 0
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-12-17% 7-15-47%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-1-100% 0-1-0%
TOTAL NET YARDS 196 381
Total offensive plays 49 71
Average gain per play 4.0 5.4
NET YARDS RUSHING 131 128
Rushing attempts 27 29
Average gain per rush 4.9 4.4
Tackles for loss-yards 1-1 1-1
NET YARDS PASSING 65 253
Times sacked: Number-Yards 3-7 3-24
Gross passing yards 72 277
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 19-6-0 39-31-0
Avg gain per pass play 3.0 6.0
KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 3-2-2 5-1-1
PUNTS: Number and Average 7-46.0 4-53.3
Had blocked 0 0
Net punting average 44.4 48.5
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 11 19
Number-Yards: Punt Returns 1-11 3-19
Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 4-78 1-17
Number-Yards: Interception Returns 0-0 0-0
PENALTIES: Number-Yards 4-36 4-22
FUMBLES: Number-Lost 2-1 3-2
TOUCHDOWNS 2 3
Rushing 1 1
Passing 0 1
Interceptions 0 0
Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 1 1
EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 2-2 3-3
Kicking: Made-Attempts 2-2 3-3
Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 0-1 1-2
FGs - PATs had blocked 1-0 0-0
RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 2-4-50%
GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 2-3-67%
SAFETIES 0 0
TIME OF POSSESSION 23:21 36:35


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

MINNESOTA DALLAS

RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
A PETERSON 12 63 5.3 20 1 M BARBER I 19 96 5.1 24 1
C TAYLOR 10 47 4.7 16 0 J JONES 9 28 3.1 8 0
T JACKSON 4 20 5.0 12 0 T ROMO 1 4 4.0 4 0
T RICHARDS 1 1 1.0 1 0

PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
T JACKSON 6-19- 72 0 0 21 T ROMO 31-39-277 0 1 24

Sacked-Yards Lost: T JACKSON 3-7. Sacked-Yards Lost: T ROMO 3-24.

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
C TAYLOR 3 19 6.3 9 0 J WITTEN 10 86 8.6 13 0
T WILLIAMS 1 25 25.0 21 0 T OWENS 7 103 14.7 24 1
B WADE 1 16 16.0 16 0 J JONES 4 30 7.5 11 0
A PETERSON 1 12 12.0 12 0 M BARBER I 4 9 2.3 6 0
P CRAYTON 2 19 9.5 12 0
D ANDERSON 2 16 8.0 11 0
A FASANO 2 14 7.0 10 0

INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Interceptions: None

PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
C KLUWE 7 322 46.0 0 3 59 M MCBRIAR 4 213 53.3 0 3 60

T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20

PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
B WADE 1 11 11.0 11 0 P CRAYTON 2 19 9.5 10 0
T NEWMAN 1 0 0.0 0 0

KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
A PETERSON 3 65 21.7 27 0 T THOMPSON 1 17 17.0 17 0
T WILLIAMSON 1 13 13.0 13 0

KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
R LONGWELL 2/2 0/0 N FOLK 3/3 1/2
Dist.: (50) 45

O-D O-D
FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
A PETERSON 1 1 0 0-0 T ROMO 2 1 0 1-0
C GRIFFIN 1 0 0 1-1 P CRAYTON 1 1 0 0-0
K UDEZE 0 0 1 0-0 J HATCHER 0 0 1 0-0
A WINFIELD 0 0 1 0-0 B JAMES 0 0 0 0-1
B LEBER 0 0 0 0-1
K WILLIAMS 0 0 0 0-1

DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
E HENDERSON 11 8 3 0-0 B JAMES 9 6 3 1-0
A WINFIELD 8 6 2 0-0 G ELLIS 4 3 1 2-7
C GREENWAY 8 5 3 0-0 R WILLIAMS 4 2 2 0-0
B LEBER 6 4 2 0-0 C CANTY 3 3 0 0-0
D SHARPER 6 3 3 0-0 A AYODELE 3 3 0 0-0
P WILLIAMS 5 4 1 0-0 D WARE 3 2 1 0-0
T WILLIAMS 5 3 2 0-0 J RATLIFF 3 0 3 0-0
M MCCAULEY 5 3 2 0-0 J HATCHER 2 2 0 0-0
C GRIFFIN 5 3 2 0-0 K HAMLIN 2 1 1 0-0
K UDEZE 2 2 0 1-7 E OGLESBY 2 1 1 0-0
B ROBISON 2 2 0 1-7 K BURNETT 2 0 2 0-0
S JOHNSON 2 1 1 0-0 T NEWMAN 1 1 0 0-0
K WILLIAMS 1 1 0 1-10 R AYODELE 1 1 0 0-0
M DOSS 1 1 0 0-0 N JONES 1 1 0 0-0
C LOEFFLER 1 0 1 0-0 P WATKINS 1 1 0 0-0

Att: 63,432</div>

 

By John Tranchina
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


IRVING, Texas (Ticker) - The Dallas Cowboys seem to be fullyrecovered from their only loss of the season last week againstthe New England Patriots.


Chris Canty blocked a 49-yard field goal attempt and safety PatWatkins returned it 68 yards for the decisive score as theCowboys held off the Minnesota Vikings, 24-14, on Sunday.

Tony Romo completed a career-high 31-of-39 passes for 277 yardsand a touchdown as the Cowboys won for just the first time intheir last six games against Minnesota.


Terrell Owens hauled in seven passes for 103 yards and atouchdown, while tight end Jason Witten had 10 receptions for 86yards.


Meanwhile, the defense held Vikings rookie running back AdrianPeterson in check.


One week after gaining 224 yards against the Chicago Bears,Peterson returned to his home state of Texas and rushed for 63yards and one touchdown on just 11 carries.


With the game tied at 14-14, the Vikings' Ryan Longwell launchedthe 48-yard field goal attempt, but Canty broke through theline and swatted the ball to the turf. It bounced up intoWatkins' arms and he raced down the left side line for a 68-yardscore with 2:51 left in the third.


It was the first time the Cowboys (6-1) returned a blocked fieldgoal for a touchdown since Ron Fellows brought back a blockedkick by Ed "Too Tall" Jones in 1983.


While Romo had an outstanding first half, completing 28-of-32passes for 231 yards and one touchdown, the Cowboys managed toput just seven points on the board entered the break trailing,14-7.


With the game tied at 7-7 and the Cowboys marching downfieldagain, Romo connected with Patrick Crayton for a seven-yard gainto midfield. However, Crayton was hit and fumbled the ball.

Vikings linebacker Ben Leber picked up the loose ball andlateraled to cornerback Cedric Griffin. Griffin had control ofthe ball, fumbled it again, then corralled it and raced down thesideline 27 yards for his first career touchdown with 1:39 leftin half.


Romo also appeared to injure his right hamstring on the play,but he did return and continued to make plays.


Despite outgaining Minnesota, 250-76, Dallas still trailed byseven at halftime after rookie kicker Nick Folk missed his firstfield goal of the season, a 50-yard attempt, with two secondsleft in the second quarter.


Dallas tied it at 14-14 midway through the third on MarionBarber's 1-yard plunge, a play that survived a Minnesotachallenge. But the call stood, giving Dallas the first rushingtouchdown against Minnesota this season.


Dallas extended the lead by three when Dallas linebacker BradieJames recovered Peterson's fumble, giving the Cowboys the ballon the Viking 22-yard line. Three plays later, Folk connectedon a 45-yard field goal that essentially sealed the game.

Dallas, which improved to 6-1 for the first time since 1996, was7-of-15 on third down conversions and outgained Minnesota,381-196.

 

By John Tranchina
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


IRVING, Texas (Ticker) - The Dallas Cowboys seem to be fullyrecovered from their only loss of the season last week againstthe New England Patriots.


Chris Canty blocked a 49-yard field goal attempt and safety PatWatkins returned it 68 yards for the decisive score as theCowboys held off the Minnesota Vikings, 24-14, on Sunday.

Tony Romo completed a career-high 31-of-39 passes for 277 yardsand a touchdown as the Cowboys won for just the first time intheir last six games against Minnesota.


Terrell Owens hauled in seven passes for 103 yards and atouchdown, while tight end Jason Witten had 10 receptions for 86yards.


Meanwhile, the defense held Vikings rookie running back AdrianPeterson in check.


One week after gaining 224 yards against the Chicago Bears,Peterson returned to his home state of Texas and rushed for 63yards and one touchdown on just 11 carries.


With the game tied at 14-14, the Vikings' Ryan Longwell launchedthe 48-yard field goal attempt, but Canty broke through theline and swatted the ball to the turf. It bounced up intoWatkins' arms and he raced down the left side line for a 68-yardscore with 2:51 left in the third.


It was the first time the Cowboys (6-1) returned a blocked fieldgoal for a touchdown since Ron Fellows brought back a blockedkick by Ed "Too Tall" Jones in 1983.


While Romo had an outstanding first half, completing 28-of-32passes for 231 yards and one touchdown, the Cowboys managed toput just seven points on the board entered the break trailing,14-7.


With the game tied at 7-7 and the Cowboys marching downfieldagain, Romo connected with Patrick Crayton for a seven-yard gainto midfield. However, Crayton was hit and fumbled the ball.

Vikings linebacker Ben Leber picked up the loose ball andlateraled to cornerback Cedric Griffin. Griffin had control ofthe ball, fumbled it again, then corralled it and raced down thesideline 27 yards for his first career touchdown with 1:39 leftin half.


Romo also appeared to injure his right hamstring on the play,but he did return and continued to make plays.


Despite outgaining Minnesota, 250-76, Dallas still trailed byseven at halftime after rookie kicker Nick Folk missed his firstfield goal of the season, a 50-yard attempt, with two secondsleft in the second quarter.


Dallas tied it at 14-14 midway through the third on MarionBarber's 1-yard plunge, a play that survived a Minnesotachallenge. But the call stood, giving Dallas the first rushingtouchdown against Minnesota this season.


Dallas extended the lead by three when Dallas linebacker BradieJames recovered Peterson's fumble, giving the Cowboys the ballon the Viking 22-yard line. Three plays later, Folk connectedon a 45-yard field goal that essentially sealed the game.

Dallas, which improved to 6-1 for the first time since 1996, was7-of-15 on third down conversions and outgained Minnesota (2-4),381-196.

 

NFL: MINNESOTA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
MINNESOTA 7 7 0 0 14
DALLAS 7 0 14 3 24 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER:

8:24 DAL - TD, TERRELL OWENS 5 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
Drive: 14 plays, 80 yards in 8:24.
Key plays: Romo 12-yard pass to Crayton on 3rd-and-4 to Dallas 38;
Romo 4-yard pass to Jones on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 49; Romo 24-yard pass to
Owens on 3rd-and-2 to Minnesota 19. DALLAS 7-0.
14:17 MIN - TD, ADRIAN PETERSON 20 YD RUN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK).
Drive: 11 plays, 69 yards in 5:53.
Key plays: Taylor 12-yard run to Minnesota 43; Jackson 12-yard pass
to Peterson to Dallas 45; Peterson 1-yard run on 4th-and-1 to Dallas 35;
Peterson 6-yard run on 3rd-and-1 to Dallas 20. MINNESOTA 7-7.

2ND QUARTER:

13:21 MIN - TD, CEDRIC GRIFFIN 28 YD FUMBLE RETURN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK).
MINNESOTA 14-7.

3RD QUARTER:

8:05 DAL - TD, MARION BARBER III 1 YD RUN (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
Drive: 5 plays, 36 yards in 2:41.
Key plays: Crayton 9-yard punt return plus 15-yard unsportsmanlike
conduct penalty on Vikings' Whitaker to Minnesota 36; Romo 22-yard pass
to Owens to Minnesota 3. MINNESOTA 14-14.
12:08 DAL - TD, PAT WATKINS 68 YD RETURN OF BLOCKED FIELD GOAL (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
DALLAS 21-14.

4TH QUARTER:

4:26 DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 45 YD.
Drive: 4 plays, -5 yards in 1:17.
Key plays: James recovery of Vikings' Peterson fumble at Minnesota
22. DALLAS 24-14.

MINNESOTA - DALLAS Final Statistics

TEAM STATISTICS MINNESOTA DALLAS

FIRST DOWNS 11 22
Rushing 8 6
Passing 3 16
Penalty 0 0
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-12-17% 7-15-47%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-1-100% 0-1-0%
TOTAL NET YARDS 196 381
Total offensive plays 49 71
Average gain per play 4.0 5.4
NET YARDS RUSHING 131 128
Rushing attempts 27 29
Average gain per rush 4.9 4.4
Tackles for loss-yards 1-1 1-1
NET YARDS PASSING 65 253
Times sacked: Number-Yards 3-7 3-24
Gross passing yards 72 277
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 19-6-0 39-31-0
Avg gain per pass play 3.0 6.0
KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 3-2-2 5-1-1
PUNTS: Number and Average 7-46.0 4-53.3
Had blocked 0 0
Net punting average 44.4 48.5
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 11 19
Number-Yards: Punt Returns 1-11 3-19
Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 4-78 1-17
Number-Yards: Interception Returns 0-0 0-0
PENALTIES: Number-Yards 4-36 4-22
FUMBLES: Number-Lost 2-1 3-2
TOUCHDOWNS 2 3
Rushing 1 1
Passing 0 1
Interceptions 0 0
Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 1 1
EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 2-2 3-3
Kicking: Made-Attempts 2-2 3-3
Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 0-1 1-2
FGs - PATs had blocked 1-0 0-0
RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 2-4-50%
GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 2-3-67%
SAFETIES 0 0
TIME OF POSSESSION 23:25 36:35


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

MINNESOTA DALLAS

RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
A PETERSON 12 63 5.3 20 1 M BARBER I 19 96 5.1 24 1
C TAYLOR 10 47 4.7 16 0 J JONES 9 28 3.1 8 0
T JACKSON 4 20 5.0 12 0 T ROMO 1 4 4.0 4 0
T RICHARDS 1 1 1.0 1 0

PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
T JACKSON 6-19- 72 0 0 21 T ROMO 31-39-277 0 1 24

Sacked-Yards Lost: T JACKSON 3-7. Sacked-Yards Lost: T ROMO 3-24.

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
C TAYLOR 3 19 6.3 9 0 J WITTEN 10 86 8.6 13 0
T WILLIAMS 1 25 25.0 21 0 T OWENS 7 103 14.7 24 1
B WADE 1 16 16.0 16 0 J JONES 4 30 7.5 11 0
A PETERSON 1 12 12.0 12 0 M BARBER I 4 9 2.3 6 0
P CRAYTON 2 19 9.5 12 0
D ANDERSON 2 16 8.0 11 0
A FASANO 2 14 7.0 10 0

INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Interceptions: None

PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
C KLUWE 7 322 46.0 0 3 59 M MCBRIAR 4 213 53.3 0 3 60

T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20

PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
B WADE 1 11 11.0 11 0 P CRAYTON 2 19 9.5 10 0
T NEWMAN 1 0 0.0 0 0

KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
A PETERSON 3 65 21.7 27 0 T THOMPSON 1 17 17.0 17 0
T WILLIAMSON 1 13 13.0 13 0

KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
R LONGWELL 2/2 0/0 N FOLK 3/3 1/2
Dist.: (50) 45

O-D O-D
FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
A PETERSON 1 1 0 0-0 T ROMO 2 1 0 1-0
C GRIFFIN 1 0 0 1-1 P CRAYTON 1 1 0 0-0
K UDEZE 0 0 1 0-0 J HATCHER 0 0 1 0-0
A WINFIELD 0 0 1 0-0 B JAMES 0 0 0 0-1
B LEBER 0 0 0 0-1
K WILLIAMS 0 0 0 0-1

DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
E HENDERSON 11 8 3 0-0 B JAMES 9 6 3 1-0
A WINFIELD 8 6 2 0-0 G ELLIS 4 3 1 2-7
C GREENWAY 8 5 3 0-0 R WILLIAMS 4 2 2 0-0
B LEBER 6 4 2 0-0 C CANTY 3 3 0 0-0
D SHARPER 6 3 3 0-0 A AYODELE 3 3 0 0-0
P WILLIAMS 5 4 1 0-0 D WARE 3 2 1 0-0
T WILLIAMS 5 3 2 0-0 J RATLIFF 3 0 3 0-0
M MCCAULEY 5 3 2 0-0 J HATCHER 2 2 0 0-0
C GRIFFIN 5 3 2 0-0 K HAMLIN 2 1 1 0-0
K UDEZE 2 2 0 1-7 E OGLESBY 2 1 1 0-0
B ROBISON 2 2 0 1-7 K BURNETT 2 0 2 0-0
S JOHNSON 2 1 1 0-0 T NEWMAN 1 1 0 0-0
K WILLIAMS 1 1 0 1-10 R AYODELE 1 1 0 0-0
M DOSS 1 1 0 0-0 N JONES 1 1 0 0-0
C LOEFFLER 1 0 1 0-0 P WATKINS 1 1 0 0-0

Officials: Referee-Walt Coleman, Umpire-Jeff Rice, Head Linesman-Wayne
Mackie, Line Judge-Ron Phares, Field Judge-Steve Zimmer, Side
Judge-David Wyant, Back Judge-Richard Reels.

Att: 63,432 Time of Game: 3:05</div>

 

NFL: MINNESOTA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NFL
MINNESOTA 14
DALLAS 24 FINAL</div>

 

By John Tranchina
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


IRVING, Texas (Ticker) - The Dallas Cowboys seem to be fullyrecovered from their only loss of the season last week againstthe New England Patriots.


Chris Canty blocked a 49-yard field goal attempt and safety PatWatkins returned it 68 yards for the decisive score as theCowboys held off the Minnesota Vikings, 24-14, on Sunday.

The Cowboys now head into their bye week on a high note afterCanty and Watkins came up with the game-changing play.

With the game tied at 14-14, the Vikings' Ryan Longwell launchedthe 48-yard field goal attempt, but Canty broke through theline and swatted the ball to the turf. It bounced up intoWatkins' arms and he raced down the left side line for a 68-yardscore with 2:51 left in the third.


"Bob Carpenter helped me split a double-team and I was able toget through there and make the block," Canty said. "Then Bobmade a good block and sprung Pat Watkins for the long touchdownrun. Bob made a big play."


It was the first time the Cowboys (6-1) returned a blocked fieldgoal for a touchdown since Ron Fellows brought back a blockedkick by Ed "Too Tall" Jones in 1983.


"I was looking for the ball, either I was going to block whoeverhad it or try to find it," Watkins said. "Luckily I was in thearea, and I grabbed it and ran. Right when I got it, that wasmy mind-frame, just get as many yards as I can before I gottackled, and luckily, I got a good block from Bobby and I justtook off. It was a great feeling."


Tony Romo completed a career-high 31-of-39 passes for 277 yardsand a touchdown as the Cowboys won for just the first time intheir last six games against Minnesota.


Terrell Owens hauled in seven passes for 103 yards and atouchdown, while tight end Jason Witten had 10 receptions for 86yards.


Meanwhile, the defense held Vikings rookie running back AdrianPeterson in check and forced him to cough up the ball late,which led to a game-clinching field goal.


One week after gaining 224 yards against the Chicago Bears,Peterson returned to his home state of Texas and rushed for 63yards and one touchdown on just 11 carries.


"I felt like I played all right, except when I put the ball onthe turf," said Peterson, who entered the day as the NFL'sleading rusher. "You definitely can't have that, especiallyagainst a team like this. They were definitely stacking thebox. It felt like we really couldn't get a drive going. Weleft some opportunities out there on the field."


The Vikings were unable to establish any rhythm becausequarterback Tarvaris Jackson completed just 6-of-19 passes for72 yards and was sacked three times.


"You're not going to win many games throwing 70 yards,"Minnesota coach Brad Childress said. "He just needs to hit theopen guys coming off the goal line. I am disappointed in that,but we will just have to get better at that."


Meanwhile, Romo had an outstanding first half, completing28-of-32 passes for 231 yards and one touchdown, but the Cowboysmanaged to put just seven points on the board entered the breaktrailing, 14-7.


"Our special teams played outstanding, along with the blockedfield goal that went for the touchdown," Dallas coach WadePhillips said. "That was obviously the turning point of thegame. We made some mistakes in the first half that really hurtus. We moved the ball well.


"We have over 200 yards in the first half and we were behind,and that can happen, especially with turnovers."


With the game tied at 7-7 and the Cowboys marching downfieldagain, Romo connected with Patrick Crayton for a seven-yard gainto midfield. However, Crayton was hit and fumbled the ball.

Vikings linebacker Ben Leber picked up the loose ball andlateraled to cornerback Cedric Griffin. Griffin had control ofthe ball, fumbled it again, then corralled it and raced down thesideline 27 yards for his first career touchdown with 1:39 leftin half.


Romo also appeared to injure his right hamstring on the play,but he did return and continued to make plays.


"It's fine, I'll be all right," Romo said.


"Tony's going to gut it out and do what he needs to do to fightthrough it and get back," Owens said. "So it made him a pocketpasser a little bit, as he looked a little gimpy out of thepocket, but I'm sure he'll take care of himself over the breakand get ready."


Despite outgaining Minnesota, 250-76, Dallas still trailed byseven at halftime after rookie kicker Nick Folk missed his firstfield goal of the season, a 50-yard attempt, with two secondsleft in the second quarter.


"In a game like this one, we're going to be able to move theball a little bit," Romo said. "But it's also going to take alittle bit of time with the way they drop back a lot of people alot of the time. With that said, you can't turn the ball over,and we did that a couple of times."


Dallas tied it at 14-14 midway through the third on MarionBarber's 1-yard plunge, a play that survived a Minnesotachallenge. But the call stood, giving Dallas the first rushingtouchdown against Minnesota this season.


Dallas extended the lead by three when Dallas linebacker BradieJames recovered Peterson's fumble, giving the Cowboys the ballon the Viking 22-yard line. Three plays later, Folk connectedon a 45-yard field goal that essentially sealed the game.

Dallas, which improved to 6-1 for the first time since 1996, was7-of-15 on third down conversions and outgained Minnesota(2-4), 381-196.


"Our record could be better but we're not frustrated, believeme," Griffin said. "We've been in every game we've played sofar. We'll just have to make our plays when our chances comeup. We missed our opportunities. I don't think we came out toplay."

 

NFL: MINNESOTA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
MINNESOTA 7 7 0 0 14
DALLAS 7 0 14 3 24 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER:

8:24 DAL - TD, TERRELL OWENS 5 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
Drive: 14 plays, 80 yards in 8:24.
Key plays: Romo 12-yard pass to Crayton on 3rd-and-4 to Dallas 38;
Romo 4-yard pass to Jones on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 49; Romo 24-yard pass to
Owens on 3rd-and-2 to Minnesota 19. DALLAS 7-0.
14:17 MIN - TD, ADRIAN PETERSON 20 YD RUN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK).
Drive: 11 plays, 69 yards in 5:53.
Key plays: Taylor 12-yard run to Minnesota 43; Jackson 12-yard pass
to Peterson to Dallas 45; Peterson 1-yard run on 4th-and-1 to Dallas 35;
Peterson 6-yard run on 3rd-and-1 to Dallas 20. MINNESOTA 7-7.

2ND QUARTER:

13:21 MIN - TD, CEDRIC GRIFFIN 28 YD FUMBLE RETURN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK).
MINNESOTA 14-7.

3RD QUARTER:

8:05 DAL - TD, MARION BARBER III 1 YD RUN (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
Drive: 5 plays, 36 yards in 2:41.
Key plays: Crayton 9-yard punt return plus 15-yard unsportsmanlike
conduct penalty on Vikings' Whitaker to Minnesota 36; Romo 22-yard pass
to Owens to Minnesota 3. MINNESOTA 14-14.
12:08 DAL - TD, PAT WATKINS 68 YD RETURN OF BLOCKED FIELD GOAL (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
DALLAS 21-14.

4TH QUARTER:

4:26 DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 45 YD.
Drive: 4 plays, -5 yards in 1:17.
Key plays: James recovery of Vikings' Peterson fumble at Minnesota
22. DALLAS 24-14.

MINNESOTA - DALLAS Final Statistics

TEAM STATISTICS MINNESOTA DALLAS

FIRST DOWNS 11 22
Rushing 8 6
Passing 3 16
Penalty 0 0
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-12-17% 7-15-47%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-1-100% 0-1-0%
TOTAL NET YARDS 196 381
Total offensive plays 49 71
Average gain per play 4.0 5.4
NET YARDS RUSHING 131 128
Rushing attempts 27 29
Average gain per rush 4.9 4.4
Tackles for loss-yards 1-1 1-1
NET YARDS PASSING 65 253
Times sacked: Number-Yards 3-7 3-24
Gross passing yards 72 277
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 19-6-0 39-31-0
Avg gain per pass play 3.0 6.0
KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 3-2-2 5-1-1
PUNTS: Number and Average 7-46.0 4-53.3
Had blocked 0 0
Net punting average 44.4 48.5
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 11 19
Number-Yards: Punt Returns 1-11 3-19
Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 4-78 1-17
Number-Yards: Interception Returns 0-0 0-0
PENALTIES: Number-Yards 4-36 4-22
FUMBLES: Number-Lost 2-1 3-2
TOUCHDOWNS 2 3
Rushing 1 1
Passing 0 1
Interceptions 0 0
Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 1 1
EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 2-2 3-3
Kicking: Made-Attempts 2-2 3-3
Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 0-1 1-2
FGs - PATs had blocked 1-0 0-0
RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 2-4-50%
GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 2-3-67%
SAFETIES 0 0
TIME OF POSSESSION 23:25 36:35


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

MINNESOTA DALLAS

RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
A PETERSON 12 63 5.3 20 1 M BARBER III 19 96 5.1 24 1
C TAYLOR 10 47 4.7 16 0 J JONES 9 28 3.1 8 0
T JACKSON 4 20 5.0 12 0 T ROMO 1 4 4.0 4 0
T RICHARDSON 1 1 1.0 1 0

PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
T JACKSON 6-19- 72 0 0 21 T ROMO 31-39-277 0 1 24

Sacked-Yards Lost: T JACKSON 3-7. Sacked-Yards Lost: T ROMO 3-24.

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
C TAYLOR 3 19 6.3 9 0 J WITTEN 10 86 8.6 13 0
T WILLIAMSON 1 25 25.0 21 0 T OWENS 7 103 14.7 24 1
B WADE 1 16 16.0 16 0 J JONES 4 30 7.5 11 0
A PETERSON 1 12 12.0 12 0 M BARBER III 4 9 2.3 6 0
P CRAYTON 2 19 9.5 12 0
D ANDERSON 2 16 8.0 11 0
A FASANO 2 14 7.0 10 0

INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Interceptions: None

PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
C KLUWE 7 322 46.0 0 3 59 M MCBRIAR 4 213 53.3 0 3 60

T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20

PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
B WADE 1 11 11.0 11 0 P CRAYTON 2 19 9.5 10 0
T NEWMAN 1 0 0.0 0 0

KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
A PETERSON 3 65 21.7 27 0 T THOMPSON 1 17 17.0 17 0
T WILLIAMSON 1 13 13.0 13 0

KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
R LONGWELL 2/2 0/1 N FOLK 3/3 1/2
Dist.: (48) Dist.: (50) 45

O-D O-D
FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
A PETERSON 1 1 0 0-0 T ROMO 2 1 0 1-0
C GRIFFIN 1 0 0 1-0 P CRAYTON 1 1 0 0-0
K UDEZE 0 0 1 0-0 J HATCHER 0 0 1 0-0
A WINFIELD 0 0 1 0-0 B JAMES 0 0 0 0-1
B LEBER 0 0 0 0-1
K WILLIAMS 0 0 0 0-1

DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
E HENDERSON 11 8 3 0-0 B JAMES 9 6 3 1-0
A WINFIELD 8 6 2 0-0 G ELLIS 4 3 1 2-7
C GREENWAY 8 5 3 0-0 R WILLIAMS 4 2 2 0-0
B LEBER 6 4 2 0-0 C CANTY 3 3 0 0-0
D SHARPER 6 3 3 0-0 A AYODELE 3 3 0 0-0
P WILLIAMS 5 4 1 0-0 D WARE 3 2 1 0-0
T WILLIAMS 5 3 2 0-0 J RATLIFF 3 0 3 0-0
M MCCAULEY 5 3 2 0-0 J HATCHER 2 2 0 0-0
C GRIFFIN 5 3 2 0-0 K HAMLIN 2 1 1 0-0
B ROBISON 3 2 1 .5-3.5 E OGLESBY 2 1 1 0-0
K UDEZE 2 2 0 1-7 K BURNETT 2 0 2 0-0
S JOHNSON 2 1 1 0-0 T NEWMAN 1 1 0 0-0
K WILLIAMS 1 1 0 1-10 R AYODELE 1 1 0 0-0
M DOSS 1 1 0 0-0 N JONES 1 1 0 0-0
R EDWARDS 1 0 1 .5-3.5 P WATKINS 1 1 0 0-0
C LOEFFLER 1 0 1 0-0

Officials: Referee-Walt Coleman, Umpire-Jeff Rice, Head Linesman-Wayne
Mackie, Line Judge-Ron Phares, Field Judge-Steve Zimmer, Side
Judge-David Wyant, Back Judge-Richard Reels.

Att: 63,432 Time of Game: 3:05</div>

 

NFL: MINNESOTA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">NFL MINNESOTA AT DALLAS
NOTE: RESENDING TO CORRECT FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS FOR
LONGWELL, SACKS FOR EDWARDS AND ROBISON AND FUMBLE
RECOVERIES FOR GRIFFIN.</div>