Cowboys hold off Vikings for 11th win in a row

Dez Bryant caught four passes for 84 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, helping the Dallas Cowboys win their 11th straight game with a 17-15 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night.

Bryant’s 56-yard catch in the first half set up Ezekiel Elliott’s oneyard plunge. The receiver caught an eight-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter after a fumbled punt by Minnesota’s Adam Thielen.

Elliott rushed for 86 yards on 20 carries for the Cowboys (11-1). They have the longest single-season winning streak in franchise history.

Sam Bradford threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Jerick McKinnon with 25 seconds to play, but the two-point conversion failed for the Vikings (6-6), who found out earlier on Thursday that coach Mike Zimmer would not be able to attend the game after having emergency eye surgery on Wednesday night.

Dak Prescott was 12 for 18 for 139 yards passing for Dallas.

Bradford completed 32 of 45 passes for 247 yards, Danielle Hunter had two sacks and Kai Forbath kicked three field goals for Minnesota, which has lost six of the last seven games after a 5-0 start.

Vikings special teams co-ordinator Mike Priefer was elevated to head coach for the game and it remains unclear how long Zimmer will be out.

Minnesota’s third-ranked defence did their fiery leader proud, holding the Cowboys offence to season lows in points, yards (264) and first downs (13).

The Vikings forced two turnovers from a team that had not coughed one up in the previous four games, including a strip sack by Brian Robison that set up Forbath’s 33-yard field goal for a 9-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.