Vikings' JJ McCarthy tallies 3 touchdowns, buries Cowboys' playoff chances

The Minnesota Vikings may be eliminated from the playoffs but the Dallas Cowboys technically weren t heading into their Sunday night matchup at AT T Stadium The Cowboys chances are now at rock bottom after falling to the Vikings - on Sunday night The Vikings are now - on the season while the Cowboys fell to - - And though they re not technically eliminated the Cowboys playoff chances are hanging by a thread now CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMIt was an inauspicious start for the Vikings in this contest as J J McCarthy very first pass attempt was an interception as it was tipped at the line by a blitzing Donovan Wilson and Quinnen Williams looked up and hauled it in Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense had tremendous field position for their opening drive and though it took plays to go yards Javonte Williams was able to nail it into the end zone for the - lead It also wouldn t have happened without a fake field goal as Brandon Aubrey one of the the majority trusted legs in the NFL ran for a first down on fourth-and- from the Minnesota -yard line However Aubrey would come up in a not so good way later in this tournament SUPER BOWL ODDS RAMS SEAHAWKS REMAIN ATOP BOARD BRONCOS RISEThe Vikings were at last able to get something going after the field was flipped on their third drive when Aaron Jones was pushed out of bounds on an -yard reception and the Cowboys were called for a horse collar tackle tacking on yards On the very next play McCarthy fired a touchdown pass to Jalen Nailor his first of two scores in this one to tie the competition at seven apiece The second quarter brought about a wave of offense on both sides as Dallas responded with Malik Davis rushing one in from a yard out while McCarthy capped a -yard drive with a perfectly executed fake handoff on Dallas one-yard line for a walk-in touchdown On the ensuing drive Aubrey who again has one of the most of reliable legs in the battle missed just his third field goal attempt of the year this one from yards out After Will Reichard nailed one Aubrey had a few redemption before halftime as both teams tallied points In the second half the Cowboys ended up with a - lead thanks to two more Aubrey field goals but seven points is what they were hoping for McCarthy helped make it happen with a big pass to Nailor to set up the Vikings in the red zone After Justin Jefferson who struggled in this one despite the targets not hauling in a touchdown pass C J Ham buried a one-yard touchdown to make it - after the extra point Prescott tried to match his second-year counterpart but the Cowboys stalled on Minnesota s -yard line At yards out it s well within Aubrey s range but he missed yet again All four of his field goal misses this season have been from yards and beyond Now with the ball near midfield the Vikings had a chance to further their lead and they got just what they needed On st-and-goal from the Dallas four-yard line McCarthy identified Nailor again and he celebrated as the Vikings went up - The Cowboys would turn the ball over on downs on the ensuing drive and the Vikings saw Aaron Jones pick up multiple first downs to not only keep the clock running but force Dallas to use all their timeouts In the box total McCarthy was -of- for yards with two touchdowns and one interception as Jordan Addison s -yard catch was among certain of his great throws For the Cowboys Prescott was -of- for yards though he never threw a touchdown pass CeeDee Lamb led all receivers in this challenge with yards on six catches but George Pickens was kept quiet for the second straight meeting He had just three catches for yards Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter