Vikings-Cowboys game balls
The Cooper-to-Cooper connection thrives, and a rookie linebacker thwarts the Vikings run game.
![Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush (10) threw the ball in the third quarter, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minn. The Minnesota Vikings hosted the Dallas Cowboys at U.S. Bank Stadium. Q ] liz.flores • @startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/HY3GKWQIFLEMFBGSJFHNARGI44.jpg?&w=712)
Cowboys quarterback
The 27-year-old had completed one NFL pass for 2 yards before Sunday. He threw the ball 40 times in his first NFL start, completing 24 passes for 325 yards and leading a game-winning, last-minute TD drive. According to NFL research, Rush became the first player to pass for 300-plus yards and win in his first career start on the road in a night game since Gary Hogeboom did it for Dallas in the 1984 season opener. Both Rush and Hogeboom hail from Central Michigan.
AMARI COOPER
Cowboys receiver
He caught eight of his 13 targets for 122 yards and the winning touchdown, which was his third reception on Dallas' final drive. According to the NFL, it was the first touchdown in which the passer's first name and the receiver's last name were the same.
MICAH PARSONS
Cowboys linebacker
The rookie from Penn State had 10 solo tackles and four tackles for a loss, a one-man stop sign for the Vikings' running game.



Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.