Stats That Stood Out: Vikings at Cowboys

[Viktor]

Here are three stats that stood out:


1. Improbable to say the least


Land and stadium video boards are quite expansive in Texas. Dallas’ execution on sideline plays — keeping feet in bounds while stretching from the green across the white out of bounds line — made a tough task even harder for Vikings defenders.


According to Next Gen Stats, the Cowboys completed four of the 17 least-likely completions among all teams in Week 12.


Dak Prescott’s 20-yard pass in the second quarter to Amari Cooper, who secured the football and fell backwards out of bounds, was the least-likely pass to be completed across the league (18.9 percent likely).


The quarterback’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb had a completion likelihood of 23.7 percent, which ranked fifth.


Prescott also ranked 11th (likelihood of 26.2 percent) on a 25-yard reception over the middle to Michael Gallup and 17th on a 12-yard touchdown to Cooper (likelihood of 29.9 percent).


2. Safe and sound


Prescott ranked third in the NFL this week with an aggressiveness percentage of 23.9.


Cousins’ percentage of 6.3, however, ranked 24th and was the lowest among qualifying passers in Week 10 (minimum of 15 attempts).


Cousins thrived on passes that were 10 or fewer yards past — including those thrown behind — the line of scrimmage. He was 5-of-5 passing for 57 yards when passes were thrown behind the line of scrimmage and 15-of-17 passing for 120 yards on passes thrown between the line of scrimmage and 10 yards past it.


Prescott didn’t attempt a pass behind the line of scrimmage. He did considerable damage on throws between the line of scrimmage and 20 yards down the field, going 26-of-39 for 357 yards.