Cowboys–Vikings rivalry
Seven playoff meetings, the 'Hail Mary', Tony Dorsett's 99-yard run and the Herschel Walker trade.
The Cowboys–Vikings rivalry is the NFL rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings. The teams have met seven times in the playoffs, more than the Vikings have met any other opponent, and Dallas leads those games 4-3 and the overall series 19-16. CBS Sports named it among the best rivalries of the 1970s.
Quick Facts
- Location
- Dallas, Minneapolis
- First meeting
- September 24
- 1961; Cowboys 21
- Vikings 7
- Latest meeting
- December 14
- 2025; Vikings 34
- Cowboys 26
- Stadiums
- Cowboys: AT&T Stadium; Vikings: U.S. Bank Stadium
- Total meetings
- 35
- Regular season
- Cowboys: 15–13
- Postseason
- Cowboys: 4–3
- Largest victory
- Cowboys: 40–3 (2022), Vikings: 54–13 (1970)
Facts from the source article.
Background
In the 1975 divisional playoffs in Minnesota, the Vikings led 14-10 late before Roger Staubach's 50-yard touchdown pass to Drew Pearson, the play that gave the 'Hail Mary' its name. In January 1983 Tony Dorsett ran 99 yards for a touchdown on Monday Night Football in Minnesota, an NFL record, even though Dallas had only ten men on the field; the Vikings won the game. In 1989 the clubs made the Herschel Walker trade, the largest in NFL history: Minnesota received Walker and three picks for eight picks, which helped Dallas build teams that won three Super Bowls in the 1990s. The Cowboys beat the Vikings 40-15 in the 1996 wild-card round, and in 1998 rookie Randy Moss caught three touchdown passes in a 46-36 Thanksgiving game against Dallas.
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