MINNEAPOLIS _ With their fiery leader, Mike Zimmer, sidelined after emergency eye surgery and their season in danger of slipping away, the Vikings put up a fight Thursday night at U.S. Bank Stadium in a nationally televised game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The head coach, who had a detached retina in his right eye, underwent his third surgery in a month late Wednesday night. Thursday morning, after a follow-up appointment with doctors and a heart-to-heart chat with general manager Rick Spielman, the decision was made that Zimmer needed to sit this one out.
In his absence, special teams coordinator Mike Priefer coached the Vikings in a critical game against a Cowboys team that had reeled off 10 consecutive victories.
Dallas, behind a 1-yard TD run by Ezekiel Elliot in the first half and an 8-yard scoring pass from Dak Prescott to Dez Bryant in the second, held off the Vikings, 17-15. Minnesota got close on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Sam Bradford to Jerick McKinnon with 30 seconds left, but Bradford's two-point conversion pass _ in which he was hit in the helmet but no penalty was called _ sailed out of the end zone.
Spielman said Zimmer planned to monitor the game from home while "resting." He wasn't able to watch the game on television and had to listen on the radio, per doctors orders.
With defensive coordinator George Edwards directing Zimmer's defense, the Vikings through three quarters kept under wraps the Cowboys' dynamic rookie duo of Prescott, who entered the game ranked fourth in the NFL in passer rating, and Elliott, the league's leading rusher.
The Vikings took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter with a 48-yard field goal, the first of three by kicker Kai Forbath. That came after they appeared to convert on third-and-1, only to have a first-down run called back on a holding penalty on left guard Alex Boone.
Quarterback Sam Bradford, who this week said the Minnesota offense needed to produce some "explosive" plays, was 7-for-9 for 79 yards in the first quarter, with the Vikings gaining more than 15 yards on three of those early pass plays.
In the hopes of sparking the NFL's worst offense in terms of yardage, the Vikings also unveiled a new look with four wideouts and no running backs on the field and finally let McKinnon attempt a pass. The former college QB had tight end Kyle Rudolph open downfield but badly underthrew him.
Early in the second quarter, the Cowboys crossed midfield but defensive end Everson Griffen forced Cowboys wideout Lucky Whitehead to fumble. Middle linebacker Eric Kendricks pounced on the fumble to put an end to the threat.
The Cowboys claimed the lead in the second quarter with an 84-yard scoring drive. After Prescott escaped the pocket on third-and-13 and scrambled for a first down, he completed a 56-yard bomb to Dez Bryant, his star wide receiver, after safety Harrison Smith got spun out of position by Bryant's up-and-in route.
Elliott dove into the end zone from one yard out to put the Cowboys up, 7-3.
On the ensuing drive, Bradford, whose late-minute interception doomed the Vikings in Detroit, threw another bad pick. But a penalty for illegal hands to the face called on Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick bailed out Bradford, who cooled off in the second quarter, throwing for only 23 yards in that quarter.
Bradford also got banged just before halftime, getting sandwiched by Dallas defensive linemen DeMarcus Lawrence and Maliek Collins, with Collins ramming his helmet into the quarterback's rib cage. Shaun Hill subbed in for the rest of the half and soon was sacked. Bradford returned to the huddle after halftime.
In the third quarter, Bradford drove the Vikings into field-goal range and Forbath remained perfect in purple, a blocked kick in his debut aside, to pull them within a point of the Cowboys at 7-6.
The Vikings took a 9-7 lead after another Forbath field goal hit the upright and bounced between the goalposts. The score was set up after Brian Robison forced Prescott to fumble near the end of the third quarter and the Vikings recovered.
