The Dallas Cowboys own the best record in the league and could be the first team to clinch a playoff spot this season when they travel to U.S. Bank Stadium to take on the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football. The game will be televised on both NBC and NFL Network, and can be streamed online on Twitter.
Cowboys vs. Vikings live stream: How to watch ‘Thursday Night Football’ online
The Cowboys are the first team that can clinch a playoff spot.
The Cowboys improved to 10-1 after a thrilling victory over Washington on Thanksgiving. Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott continued their sensational rookie campaigns, with Prescott throwing for one touchdown and rushing for another, while Elliott put up 97 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the 31-26 victory. Dallas can now clinch a playoff berth with a win and a loss by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Elliott has essentially blown past the Offensive Rookie of the Year pool to find himself in the MVP conversation. He leads the league with 1,199 rushing yards and has a legitimate shot to break Eric Dickerson’s record for most rushing yards by a rookie. Elliott also has 12 total touchdowns, tied with LeGarrette Blount for second-most in the league.
Of course, Prescott has been no slouch himself. The fourth-round rookie from Mississippi State is fourth in the league with a 108.6 QB rating, throwing 18 touchdowns to just two interceptions on the season. Supported by the best offensive line in football, Prescott and Elliott have carried the Cowboys to new heights this year.
The Vikings’ season is, well, not going so great. They dropped to 6-5 after a Thanksgiving loss to the Detroit Lions, their fifth defeat in six games. The offense once again failed to find a pulse. Sam Bradford completed 31 of 37 passes in the game, but he was a checkdown machine all day, finishing with just 224 yards while averaging 6.1 yards per attempt.
Bradford’s game relies on playing mistake-free football, but his biggest mistake ultimately cost the Vikings the game. With just 38 seconds left and overtime looming, he threw an ugly interception to Darius Slay, which set up the Lions for a last-second field goal to escape with the 16-13 victory.
That loss could be a season-killer for Minnesota, which has now been swept by Detroit and still has to deal with a resurgent Green Bay Packers team in Week 16. The NFC North could be out of reach by then, and the wild card picture is a logjam with the New York Giants and Washington holding sizable leads over the field.
The Vikings once looked like one of the most dominant teams in the league, and they still have a great defense, but injuries on the offensive side eventually caught up to them. They have the worst offensive line in football, and the running game has been a disaster since Adrian Peterson went down in Week 2. If there’s any consolation, it’s that Peterson is running again and has a shot at returning this year, possibly in Week 15 or 16. But by then, it might be too little, too late. Mike Zimmer and his team will be spending the entire offseason wondering what could have been.
How to watch
Time: 8:25 p.m. ET
Place: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
TV: NBC, NFL Network
Announcers: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Heather Cox
Online: Twitter, NBC Sports Live
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