Packers’ defense dominates Cowboys in 23-13 victory

The Dallas Cowboys came into Lambeau Field on Sunday Night Football with a high-powered offense. Dak Prescott and company led the offense in many drive-based statistics, including the percentage of offensive drives ending in a score, plays per drive, and yards per drive.

Against Jonathan Gannon’s aggressive Green Bay Packers defense, the Cowboys managed just seven points on nine offensive drives as the green and gold expanded their league-leading interception numbers. Evan Williams and rookie Brandon Cisse each picked off Dak Prescott, who was under pressure all night long, as the defense led the way in a 23-13 win that improved the Packers’ record to 4-2.

Prescott’s counterpart, Jordan Love, shook off an early interception of his own to put up a high-quality performance. That pick could have been a truly game-changing play, as it was originally returned for a touchdown that would have tied the game at 7 early on. Instead, the scoring return was nullified on review and the Packers’ defense ended up getting a stop to keep Dallas off the scoreboard. The Packers’ offense went on to convert each of their first seven third-down opportunities and finished 11-of-18 for the game as Love delivered under pressure time and time again.

Ultimately, Love failed to record multiple touchdown passes for the first time in a game all season, but it wasn’t for lack of trying; he saw three potential touchdown passes get dropped by his receivers, but still managed to throw for 276 yards. Matthew Golden was the biggest offender, with two of those dropped scores and a third drop later in the game, but he did end the game with an excellent stat line: six catches for 104 yards and the only receiving touchdown of the game. Additionally, Love did end up being responsible for a second touchdown, getting the Packers’ other score on a quarterback sneak just before halftime as the team led 17-0 heading into the break.

The Green Bay defense kept up its excellent play in the second half. After giving up a single touchdown early in the third quarter, they forced turnovers on downs twice in the fourth before allowing a touchdown in garbage time while holding a 16-point lead — though they came up with a big stop on the two-point conversion to largely put an end to the game.

A year after combining for 80 points in a 40-40 tie, Green Bay’s new-look defense was the story. For the first time since 2016, the Packers now have a three-game streak of holding opponents to 14 points or fewer. And they have done this without Micah Parsons available yet this season.

The Packers deferred after winning the opening kickoff and the decision paid off; the defense forced a punt on Dallas’ opening possession, allowing one first down before getting off the field. With the offense starting at the 10-yard line, Jordan Love amassed 109 passing yards on the Packers’ first series, thanks to a combination of penalties and lost yardage on run plays. The drive ended in the end zone as Love found Matthew Golden for a 9-yard touchdown, giving the Packers an early lead.

Green Bay’s defense forced a 3-and-out on the next Cowboys possession, aided by a pair of first-down penalties, and practice squad call-up Coleman Owen picked up 16 yards on a punt return to set up the Packers at the 41-yard line. However, on second down, linebacker Dee Winters jumped Love’s pass for Golden and picked it off, returning the interception all the way into the end zone. Upon review, the officials determined that Golden touched Winters down as he made the catch, taking away the points and leaving Dallas with the ball at the Packers’ 42-yard line.

Once those points came off the board, the Cowboys failed to put them back on. Prescott connected with CeeDee Lamb for a 16-yard gain on the Cowboys first third down attempt of the drive, reaching the Packers’ red zone for the first time, but his next two passes hit yellow gloves. He took a big hit from Zaire Franklin and lofted a pass to the end zone that was nearly intercepted by Brandon Cisse, then didn’t see Evan Williams dropping in coverage as the Packers’ safety stepped in front of a pass and returned the turnover favor with an interception of his own, his second in three games.

Love got the offense moving, first with a check-down to Pierre Strong for a third-down conversion and then a 28-yard gain to Christian Watson over the middle. The Packers later ran a read-option at Rashan Gary, who bit hard on the running back and allowed Love to run for 13 and a first down. Green Bay couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone on a few opportunities near the goal line, eventually settling for a short field goal to extend their lead to 10-0. Matthew Golden dropped a walk-in touchdown earlier on the drive, however, seemingly losing the ball in the Lambeau Field lights and costing the Packers four points as a result.

Dallas got its first long drive of the game going on the next series, reaching Packers territory just before the two-minute warning, but on their first play out of the timeout, Brandon Cisse got his first interception as a pro. CeeDee Lamb slipped on the Lambeau Field turf and Prescott’s throw went straight to Cisse.

The Packers’ offense looked like it would go without a score late, but they got the benefit of a huge pass interference penalty on Joey Porter, Jr., who pushed Bo Melton out of bounds with the ball in the air. That 37-yard flag set up the Packers well inside field goal range. After dropping another potential touchdown, Golden hauled in a brilliant catch on 3rd down, setting up goal-to-go with a 21-yard gain at just under 30 seconds to go. After another DPI in the end zone, Love took a quarterback sneak into the end zone behind right guard Travis Glover, expanding the lead to 17-0 just before halftime.

Sean Rhyan committed a holding penalty on the first play of the second half, setting the Packers back behind the sticks and leading to a three-and-out. Jonathan Mingo returned Daniel Whelan’s first punt of the game to just across midfield, where Dallas got their offense underway for the second half. After Prescott scrambled for a few yards on 3rd-and-long, Lamb picked up 18 yards over the middle on 4th-and-2 with Cisse trailing. A few plays later, Javonte Williams pushed into the end zone from a yard out, getting the Cowboys on the board.

Green Bay avoided a negative play on first down on the next drive, getting a short run from Strong, then got another first down on third-and-short from Love to Watson. The team faced a 4th-and-3 from Dallas’ 44 a few plays later, but Love found Kraft up the left sideline for a run-and-catch of 14 yards. That got the Packers into Trey Smack’s range, and after yet another drop in the end zone — Watson couldn’t come up with a touchdown off the slightest of deflections by a Cowboys defender — he drilled a 44-yard field goal to make the score 20-7.

Jonathan Gannon dialed up pressure on Prescott on the next drive, forcing a punt as Evan Williams came unblocked and led to an incomplete pass on third down. Former Packer Kenny Clark sacked Love on third down on the next series, however, bringing on Daniel Whelan to punt out of his own end zone. He got a good one off and the Cowboys were flagged for holding on the kick, setting them up back at their own 30.

The Packers seemed poised to get a quick three-and-out, but rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton was flagged for taunting, offsetting a penalty on Dallas, and the C0wboys converted their second try on 3rd-and-6. Gannon brought pressure again on 3rd-and-2 a few plays later, bringing up yet another 4th down, this time from midfield. This time, Javon Bullard broke up Prescott’s pass for Lamb, and the Packers’ offense took over.

After a loss of yardage by Kaleb Johnson on first down, Love hit Matthew Golden underneath on the next play and he scampered for a 21-yard gain. Golden converted a 3rd down with Love hanging in the pocket against a 7-man pressure a few plays later, pushing the second-year wideout over 100 yards for the day, but the two couldn’t convert again, leading to a 29-yard Smack field goal and a 16-point lead.

Facing a 3rd-and-20 on their next series, the Cowboys got two bailout calls to keep the drive alive. First, Ty’Ron Hopper was called for illegal contact, and later, Lukas Van Ness was called for a roughing the passer penalty that erased an interception by Carrington Valentine, which should have put the game on ice. The teams then traded personal fouls, with Tyler Booker hitting Javon Bullard in the back after the play and then Karl Brooks getting a roughing the passer call. Lukas Van Ness finally got the Packers’ first sack of the game, and two plays later Dallas faced a 4th-and-11 with five minutes remaining.

The refs couldn’t save them a third time, as Prescott heaved a throw out the back of the end zone under heavy pressure once again. Dallas wasn’t completely done, as they got the ball back quickly and put together a long touchdown drive, but it was too late. Following Ryan Flournoy’s score with 44 seconds left, the Cowboys failed to convert on their two-point conversion attempt, keeping the Packers’ lead at 10 points. Brandon Aubrey’s onside kick spun out of bounds, and the Packers kneeled out the clock on a 23-13 victory.

The 4-2 Packers remain right in the thick of the playoff race in the NFC as a result, keeping pace with the Chicago Bears, who won earlier in the day. Dallas drops to 2-4 on the season, 1.5 games behind the NFC East-leading New York Giants (3-2-1).