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Packers v Cowboys - Sept. 2025
The Packers play the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sept. 28, 2025
On Sunday night, the Packers and Cowboys set a post-merger NFL record for the highest scoring tie ever. Ties are rare in the NFL, but when they do occur, they are almost always the result of both teams struggling on offense, and as a result, they tend to be low-scoring affairs. That was not the case in this game, as the Packers’ offense repeatedly torched an undermanned Dallas defense, while the Cowboys were able to block (and in many instances hold) Micah Parsons well enough to expose the Packers’ secondary.
Jordan Love threw for 337 yards and three scores without throwing an interception and completed every single pass attempt within 18 yards of the line of scrimmage. Running back Josh Jacobs finally broke out with 86 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and another 71 through the air, while Romeo Doubs caught all three of Love’s touchdown passes. It was a nice return to form after the offense struggled against Cleveland last week, especially on the offensive line, which only allowed a single sack.
The defense, on the other hand, completely collapsed in spite of the fact that the Cowboys were missing their best receiver, CeeDee Lamb. It was a bizarre performance from a unit that has dominated all opponents to date, including the high-powered Detroit and Washington offenses. While Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense should be praised for executing at a high level, there were two major factors that highlighted some major weaknesses for Green Bay.
No Push Whatsoever
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The first was a knee injury to defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt, who is having a breakout season. Wyatt has been one of the best interior pass rushers and run defenders in the league, and while he was in this game, the Packers’ defense was its usual dominant self. Once he left, the unit never forced a punt or turnover. His replacement, Nazir Stackhouse, was completely unable to occupy offensive linemen, and generated no push whatsoever. The Cowboys had great success attacking Stackhouse in the running game, and when the defensive line shifted to give him help, it drained all efficiency from the front seven.
The second big factor was Ron Torbert’s officiating crew. Refereeing an NFL game is more art than science, and teams need to be able to adjust to different environments based on how tight the rules are being enforced. Torbert’s crew has a reputation for calling a lot of penalties, and they did, but they importantly did not enforce offensive holding after the first quarter, and both teams reacted by holding to protect their quarterbacks. The problem for Green Bay is that their pass rush covers many deficiencies in the secondary, where Nate Hobbs is clearly still recovering from his preseason injury, and Carrington Valentine struggles with more physical receivers like Dallas’ George Pickens.
Torbert’s crew didn’t expressly favor the Cowboys over the Packers, but it’s clear that if the Packers are unable to generate pressure, for whatever reason, they’re going to struggle. Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley needs to do a better job of reverting to his creative blitz schemes from the 2024 season if Parsons and company cannot get home.
Rash of Blunders
Green Bay still should have and would have won this game if not for another rash of special teams’ blunders, including a blocked extra point that was returned by Dallas for a two-point conversion. Poor tackling from Green Bay’s unit gave Dallas a distinct field position advantage, while the Cowboy’s kicker Brandon Aubrey routinely forced the Packers to start from their own twenty-yard line with precision kickoffs inside the drop zone. Aubrey is a former soccer player and almost certainly the best kicker in the league, and his ability to place the ball, limit returns, and hit all of his field goals was a crucial differentiator.
Finally, time management is still a major problem for this team, and Matt LaFleur needs to go back to the drawing board on how they handle end-of-game situations. After holding the Cowboys to a 22-yard field goal in overtime, the Packers could have won with a touchdown, and started their next drive in impressive fashion, moving to the Dallas 25-yard line with 1:16 to play, and a timeout. The Packers then took two more plays to move to the Dallas twelve-yard line, but in doing so, they wasted 42 seconds, leaving them with just 34 seconds in the game. This still should have been time enough for three solid end zone shots, with the option of picking up another first down at the Dallas two in a pinch, but Jordan Love threw screen passes on his next two plays. Those passes cost the Packers four yards, their last timeout, and 28 of those 34 seconds. Love’s only throw into the end zone was an ill-advised play with just six seconds left that almost left them with no time for a game-tying field goal.
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Once they were set up inside the opposing 20 with under a minute to go, it was criminal to not throw into, or at least near the end zone. Screens become extremely high risk closer to the end zone because defenders aren’t lined up as far back, and Dallas easily crashed down on them each time, costing precious yards and precious seconds. It almost seemed as if Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love were less concerned with winning than with missing out on the tie, which they almost did anyway. LaFleur often lacks a killer instinct close and late, and it often costs the Packers in the end.
