FINAL: Minnesota 23, Dallas 14 (Yay, the preseason’s over!)

Given most of the starters played little, or none at all, a lot of tonight, including the final score, could be considered pretty insignificant for the long run.

But, there are a few things to ponder now that the preseason is done. Some questions have been answered, and some may not be for a few days, when cuts are made, and some not until the Cowboys hit the field against the Giants in just over a week.

Will Wade Phillips keep three QBs on the roster? If he was going to, it’d be Matt Moore, who’s gotten most of the reps behind Tony Romo and Brad Johnson. He finished out a pretty good preseason by going 14 of 19 with a touchdown, but he did have two fumbles. If giving him a spot isn’t going to take away one from a position of need, then it’d be good to have him on the sidelines, to give him an opportunity to learn the ropes.

Will the Cowboys keep six or seven receivers? We know there are at least five that are definites (T.O., Glenn, Crayton, Hurd, and Stanback). But, are there spots for both Miles Austin and Jerheme Urban, or just one for both? Austin was invisible for most of the preseason until tonight, when he made three catches for 37 yards, and had two more negated on penalties. Urban, meanwhile, may have answered the “Who will return punts?” question, with his 95-yard punt return for a TD in the first quarter. Urban is a more experienced and dependable receiver (minus the fumble), and that may work to his benefit, but Austin definitely made a case for himself too tonight, so we’ll find out who wins, who loses, and if anyone loses, when the cuts are made this weekend.

Also, tight end Tony Curtis rounded out an impressive preseason with five catches for 44 yards and a touchdown, and probably cemented his roster spot as the team’s third tight end. Matt Moore may have done more to help Curtis secure a roster spot than he did for himself.

Do we really have anything to worry about in the secondary? The jury’s still out there. Pat Watkins and Joey Thomas got burned on a 38-yard catch and run by Robert Ferguson, and the Vikings did have a couple of nice passing plays, but it was nothing like last week, when the Texans made the Cowboys’ secondary look pretty bad. The Vikings’ four QBs combined to complete only 17 of 32 passes, and limited them to only two plays of over 20 yards, so at best, our worries weren’t increased.

Do we have anyone who can step up in Newman’s place, besides Aaron Glenn? Thomas did get burned on that one play, but he had five tackles, and overall had a great preseason.

Do we really read anything into the five turnovers tonight? Not really, since none of the starters made them. The fumble by Urban was just the result of a defender doing a great job of jarring the ball loose from behind.

Did Nick Folk win the kicking job? Well, he made both of his extra points, so he certainly didn’t do anything to lose it.

What needs to improve between now and the 9th? Well, Terence Newman, for one. If anything, the next week-plus should be spent working hard to shore up potential weaknesses, from the secondary, to the special teams coverage.

I’ll have a more in-depth look at what to consider and look for going into the season within the next few days, when I’ll kickoff the regular season previews and start getting ready for the start of the regular season, which is finally, finally almost here.