J.J. McCarthy passed for two touchdowns and ran for one to lead the Minnesota Vikings to a 34-26 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night at Arlington, Texas.
Jalen Nailor caught both scoring passes and C.J. Ham rushed for a touchdown as the Vikings (6-8) won their second straight game.
Dak Prescott completed 23 of 38 passes for 294 yards for the Cowboys (6-7-1), who lost their second straight game. Playoff hopes are slim as Dallas would need to win its final three regular-season contests and have the NFC East-rival Philadelphia Eagles lose all three of their games to land a postseason berth.
Javonte Williams (91 yards on 15 carries) and Malik Davis rushed for touchdowns for Dallas. CeeDee Lamb caught six passes on 10 targets for 111 yards for the Cowboys.
McCarthy completed 15 of 24 passes for 250 yards for the Vikings, who were eliminated from playoff consideration earlier Sunday.
Brandon Aubrey kicked field goals of 26 and 41 yards in the third quarter to give the Cowboys a 23-17 lead with 4:50 remaining.
Ham scored from the 1 with 1:12 left in the period to give the Vikings a 24-23 edge.
Aubrey was wide right from 59 yards with 12:20 left in the game and Minnesota responded by driving 51 yards on five plays. McCarthy hit Nailor on a 4-yard scoring pass to make it 31-23 with 9:12 remaining.
Will Reichard kicked a 53-yard field goal with 1:08 left to make it an 11-point margin.
Aubrey kicked a 41-yard field goal with 19 seconds left before Minnesota’s Josh Oliver recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal it.
Williams scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter to give Dallas the early lead. The Vikings tied it when McCarthy tossed a 20-yard scoring pass to Nailor with 2:35 left in the first quarter.
The Cowboys took a 14-7 lead when Davis scored from the 1 on the second play of the second quarter. Minnesota knotted the score on McCarthy’s 1-yard bootleg with 9:28 left in the half.
Reichard kicked a 29-yard field goal to put the Vikings ahead with 1:48 remaining before Aubrey booted a 37-yarder to tie it at 17 with 3 seconds left in the half.
