Dallas Cowboys Sunday Night Football Final…

Here is what Eric Smith, Lindsey Young and Craig Peters of Vikings.com will be watching in Week 8:

Win on 1st down | By @Eric_L_Smith

Death, taxes and a Mike Zimmer’s defense being great on third downs. Entering Week 8, the Vikings once again lead the league in third-down defense at 29.17 percent.

But the down to watch Sunday night is the first one, meaning first-and-10, and especially when the Vikings defense is up against the Cowboys offense.

Because not only does Dallas have the league’s No. 1 offense in points and yards per game, the Cowboys are also head and shoulders above every else in terms of success on first downs.

Dallas has run 170 plays on first-and-10 that have totaled 1,215 yards, a whopping average of 7.15 yards per play. No other team in the league is above 7.0 yards per play on first-and-10.

Zimmer stressed the importance of his defense finding ways to succeed early on a drive against Dallas.

“Yeah, it’s very crucial. They’re very explosive and the offensive line does a great job in the run blocking,” Zimmer said. “They’ve got a number of different plays they run where they’ll take some shots on first down. They’ll get in the shotgun. They’ll try to get the ball to CeeDee Lamb a little bit. He’s really good with the ball in his hands.

“[Amari] Cooper is in there. They’ve hit some boots to [tight end Dalton] Schultz,” Zimmer added. “It’s a combination of all those things that makes them difficult. Typically, when you get some big plays on first down, that really increases your average.”