The Dallas Cowboys arrived at Lambeau Field needing a response after an ugly loss to Tampa Bay, but another slow offensive performance and unprepared defense left Dallas chasing the game all evening.
Dallas went into halftime down 17-0, with turnovers and penalties repeatedly wasting opportunities leading to Dallas falling to Green Bay 23-13. Here are this week’s winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Dee Winters
Dallas has waited a long time for an interception, and Dee Winters finally delivered one.
Winters read Jordan Love perfectly late in the first quarter, stepped in front of the pass and appeared to return it for a touchdown before replay ruled him down at the Green Bay 42-yard line. Even without the score, it was exactly the type of momentum-changing defensive play Dallas has desperately needed.
The frustrating part was that the offense immediately wasted the opportunity with an interception of its own. That shouldn’t take anything away from Winters. On a defense that was searching for takeaways and impact plays, Winters provided one.
Winner: Quinnen Williams
The Cowboys needed considerably more from their defensive front after weeks of inconsistent pressure, and Quinnen Williams made his presence felt early.
Williams got to Jordan Love for a sack and helped Dallas produce a much more disruptive start up front. Green Bay found success through the air, but its conventional rushing attack has been much less effective. Williams’ sack was one of the Cowboys’ biggest early defensive plays and it was needed to try an inject some optimism in a defense that’s struggled this season.
This is the type of performance Dallas expected when it paid the price to bring Williams into the middle of the defense. The Cowboys need him affecting games rather than simply occupying blockers, the sack showed exactly that.
Loser: Brian Schottenheimer
For the second straight week, the Cowboys looked completely unprepared offensively for long stretches, and it’s the second straight week Schottenheimer finds his way on the loser list.
Dallas getting shut out at halftime trailing 17-0, producing no points despite the defense creating a turnover and giving the offense opportunities is a huge disappointment. The Cowboys turned it over twice, struggled to establish any rhythm and again waited until the second half before finally showing signs of life. That is especially disappointing against a Green Bay defense missing major pieces, including Micah Parsons, Javon Hargrave and Edgerrin Cooper.
Dallas spent the week admitting it was still searching for an offensive identity, with establishing Javonte Williams and the running game identified as part of the solution. Yet the same problems returned at Lambeau Field. Williams had only 11 carries, Dallas had just 48 total rush yards. Schottenheimer is the head coach, and at some point these repeated slow starts become his responsibility. Dallas cannot keep needing halftime adjustments before its offense looks ready to play.
Loser: Cowboys third-down defense
This isn’t just a problem tonight, it’s becoming one of the defining weaknesses of the Cowboys defense.
Dallas entered Week 6 allowing opponents to convert 30 of 57 third downs with a 52% conversion rate. That means opponents were moving the chains on more than half of their third-down opportunities before Jordan Love even stepped onto the field.
There were moments Sunday night when Dallas produced excellent first- and second-down defense, only to allow Green Bay to stay on the field when it mattered most. That’s particularly damaging because it wears down the defense, keeps Prescott and the offense on the sideline and allows the Packers to control the pace of the game.
The Cowboys did force an important three-and-out to begin the second half, which helped set up a touchdown drive. But one successful series doesn’t erase the larger problem. Getting teams into third down is supposed to be the hard part, Dallas kept doing that and then failing to finish the job. Green Bay had 18 third downs and converted on 11, that’s a success rate of 61% and that makes controlling a game impossible.
Until this changes, even good defensive possessions are going to keep turning into long drives and the time-of-possession war is never going to look good Dallas.
Loser: Dak Prescott
Dak Prescott needed a major bounce-back performance after struggling against Tampa Bay, instead, the turnovers continued.
Prescott threw two interceptions before the end of the third quarter, including one in Green Bay territory immediately after Winters had given Dallas excellent field position. That erased what should have been a major opportunity for Dallas to answer Green Bay’s opening touchdown.
The second interception came after CeeDee Lamb slipped, so that one carries no blame for Prescott. But Dallas entered halftime scoreless with its quarterback having two interceptions beside his name and the pressure was clearly getting to him.
The Cowboys needed Prescott to settle the offense after last week’s problems and he didn’t do enough of that. Dak was clearly rattled and facing a Packers defense that was allowing 22 points per game. What we saw was a quarterback having back-to-back games where he panicked, felt pressure, and failed to throw a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter, ending the game with a passer rating of just 65.2.
Loser: Caleb Downs
Caleb Downs had a difficult night trying to limit Matthew Golden and Green Bay’s passing game.
Golden produced six catches for 104 yards and a touchdown, including gains of 37 and 21 yards. Dallas has moved Downs around the defense, but whether playing deeper or closer to the line, the rookie wasn’t been able to help take away one of Jordan Love’s favorite targets. Golden consistently found space and produced explosive plays when Green Bay has needed them and the majority of the time he was lined up opposite Downs.
There will always be growing pains for a rookie safety, especially against an offense capable of moving receivers around to create favourable matchups. But Dallas drafted Downs to become exactly the type of defender who can erase explosive plays and help control dangerous receivers.
Tonight, Golden won that battle.