One week after an abysmal offensive performance prevented a Green Bay Packer victory, the defense took its turn in ineptitude at Dallas Sunday night. In a game in which seemingly one stop would seal a win, the defense whiffed on tackle attempt after tackle attempt, drive after drive. Jordan Love and the offense answered in the clutch each time, culminating in a 40-40 tie.

“We missed a lot of tackles,” coach Matt LaFleur said via packers.com. “And we got to find somehow, some way, to generate some takeaways.”

The Cowboys scored on their final four drives, including three straight touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters. Dak Prescott picked his way to 319 yards on 31-of-40 passing and three touchdowns. The Packer secondary had no answer for George Pickens – even with CeeDee Lamb sidelined due to injury – as Pickens torched it for eight catches, 134 yards, and two scores. Javonte Williams added 88 yards of balance on the ground along with a touchdown. 

Despite the 40 points on five touchdowns and two field goals – a 53-yard bomb to force overtime, and a 34-yard kick for the tie – the offense and field-goal units committed crucial errors. 

The offense’s first back breaker occurred with 21 seconds remaining in the first half and the ball on Green Bay’s 27 while leading 13-9. Love, climbing the pocket, did not feel James Houston’s blindside rush around left tackle Rasheed Walker. Houston stuck his hand out on a run-by and knocked the ball free. He recovered, and Dallas immediately scored for a 16-13 halftime lead. 

In the game’s final half minute, the Packer offense again reverted to a lack of situational proficiency. Love marched the team to the Cowboy 15-yard line with 28 seconds remaining and no timeouts. Love dumped off to Emmanuel Wilson on a covered check down for a one-yard loss in bounds. The offense then took a befuddling 15 seconds to snap the ball on the next play. A pass to the end zone almost handed Green Bay the loss as the ball fell incomplete with one second remaining. 

“I don’t know if our guys didn’t know if we were in two-minute or what,” LaFleur said.  “Ultimately the communication has to get better from myself, to Jordan, to the huddle. That’s the bottom line.” 

Brandon McManus followed through on a 34-yard chip shot to tie the game as time expired. However, the kicking operation failed to execute a second-quarter PAT attempt which turned the game against Green Bay. 

A one-yard Romeo Doubs slant had the Packers in position to take a comfortable 14-0 lead early in the second. Instead, Juanyeh Thomas hopped right inside of Luke Musgrave, busting through virtually untouched to block the McManus kick. Markquese Bell scooped and scored for the safety, and the three-point swing proved critical. It was the second blocked attempt in as many weeks. 

“There have been some critical errors that have obviously really hurt us,” LaFleur said. “I thought we did a lot of good things throughout the course of the week to try and correct the problem. Obviously it wasn’t enough.”

Micah Parsons, in his highly anticipated return to Dallas, dominated for the fourth time in as many games for the green and gold. Pro Football Focus credited the pass rusher with eight pressures, a sack, and a 34.5 percent pass-rush-win-rate. He was maybe the only bright spot in the 40-point outcome.

“I’m pissed off,” Parsons said. “I told Jordan ‘Thank you for having our back today.’ That’s why it’s so pivotal to play complementary football. We didn’t live up to the expectation on defense.” 

Parsons also shared additional details surrounding his trade. He stated Brian Gutekunst called him to break the news, and asked to keep it quiet until the Packers General Manager could inform Kenny Clark that he had been traded to Dallas. Parsons juxtaposed the call with Jerry Jones’ approach.

“I found out through my agent,” Parsons revealed. “To me, that emotional side (of returning) was pointless. He couldn’t tell me as a man. It was more about a respect factor at this point.” 

Green Bay jumped out to an early lead after taking the opening kickoff and driving 69 yards in eight plays. Doubs scored the first of three touchdowns to end the drive. 

A nine-play, 68-yard drive pushed the Packers further ahead before the fateful PAT kick, 13-2. Dallas found its groove on a 11-play, 95 yard touchdown drive immediately preceding the Love sack-fumble. The Green Bay defense gave up an immediate touchdown after the sudden change, 16-13. 

The Packers regained the lead 20-16 on a one-yard Josh Jacobs run and the teams seesawed for the remainder of the game. 

Love delivered Doubs his final touchdown on a clutch third-and-ten from the Cowboy 15. The quarterback feathered a post pass barely over the dropping linebacker, but with enough zip for the ball to beat the breaking safety to make it 34-30.

The defense blew another four-point lead with its most disappointing series of the evening as Dallas easily found paydirt on a four-play, 54-yard drive. Love stepped up in the clutch once more to lead the offense into field-goal range. 

Love finished 31-of-43 passing for 337 yards and three touchdowns. Josh Jacobs added 86 on the ground and found the end zone twice. 

Doubs hauled in all touchdown passes, but the Packers had four players with at least four catches, and another two with at least three. 

Other Notes

• Devonte Wyatt did not return after suffering a knee injury
• Jordan Morgan started at left guard while Darian Kinnard started at right tackle
• The game is the first tie in the NFL since 2022. The Packers hadn't had a tie since 2018.
• The Packers have their bye week next week, before playing at home on 10/12 versus the Bengals