Before their bye week, the Dallas Cowboys had won their previous two games. They
were up against the Green Bay Packers, who had lost their previous five games.
However, Aaron Rodgers always seems to come up with something more while
playing Dallas. That would be the case, as Dallas would suffer a discouraging loss of
31–28.
It ultimately came down to overtime. Tossing the coin, the Cowboys chose to
receive. They had unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that were offset, so they began
on their own 25. Despite a rare offensive offsides call on Jalen Tolbert, CeeDee Lamb
and Tony Pollard would work together to immediately advance the ball into Green
Bay territory as Lamb played by far his best game of the season. An excellent draw
play to backup running back Malik Davis was then nullified by a holding call. When
Dalton Schultz makes a catch, they are put in third and 4. Lamb received an
incomplete pass, so Mike McCarthy decided to go for it. It turned out to be a really
poor choice because Dak Prescott was under pressure, which led to an incomplete
pass. With a chance to win with any number of points, the Packers possessed the
ball at their own 35-yard line.
Allen Lazard made a huge catch and run to put the Packers into field goal range at
the Dallas 20 after Aaron Rodgers scorched the defence on third and two in
overtime. The defence had previously had trouble stopping the Packers at times.
When using a facemask, it was lowered all the way to 8. Mason Crosby had been
having trouble, but he made the winning chip shot.
The game’s backstory ought to have been known to all. Mike McCarthy was making a
comeback to face the team that let him go and the quarterback who was said to
have contributed to that decision. The Cowboys have been plagued by the same
quarterback for years, so this game will serve as both a little measure of retaliation
for the head coach and an opportunity to aid in the exorcism of some ghosts from
previous contests.
However, Dallas has also been hurt by another trend: coming out of the bye week
flat. This appeared to be the case when the Cowboys wasted a promising kickoff
return by Kavontae Turpin to their own 39 to start the game, then soon went three
and out and forced to punt.
The Packers’ run offence vs the Cowboys’ defence was one aspect of this game that
deserved a lot of attention. Dallas had trouble stopping the run all season, and it
showed in this game as well. The Cowboys had no response as Green Bay ran the ball
for the first seven plays of their first possession, giving up at least four yards each
carry. In the end, it was their choice to hand the ball to Rodgers rather than their
defence that would make things halt. He would throw two incomplete passes,
setting up Crosby for a failed 54-yard field goal try.
Dallas was in great field position once more, but they were once again unable to
even get a first down. The defence was able to firm up against the run after the punt
and recover the ball.
The squad finally found its footing after a 14-yard run by Pollard. Prescott struck
Lamb for 21 yards on another, which was a free play because of an offsides flag.
Although the drive required two fourth-down conversions to remain in the game, it
ended with another reception by Lamb, who had to start in the backfield and overcome would-be tacklers in order to score the touchdown and give his team the lead.
Early in the second quarter, after DeMarcus Lawrence got past Aaron Rodgers and
batted the ball loose for Jayron Kearse to recover at the Green Bay 10-yard line, it
appeared as though the Cowboys may actually seize control of the game. When
Prescott was intercepted in the end zone by Rudy Ford, who returned the
interception 33 yards, it was a missed chance. When watching the replays, it seems
as though either Lamb or Schultz took a poor route that led to the pick.
The Cowboys had 1:42 remaining before halftime, thus the score might have been
achieved a little too quickly. They took advantage of the opportunity to advance
swiftly down the field, finishing with a five-yard touchdown pass to Schultz to tie the
score. It took just 1:34 to complete the eight-play, 66-yard drive.
When Amari Rodgers mishandled the ball on a punt return in the third quarter,
Dallas received a gift. Prescott swiftly ate up the short field with a 30-yard pass to
Lamb, and Tony Pollard took the kick-off from the 13 yard line to extend the
Cowboys’ lead to seven points once more. On the Cowboys’ subsequent possession,
that would increase to fourteen points, with a 35-yard touchdown reception by
Lamb putting him far over the 100-yard barrier. Davis also made a few excellent runs
during it.
However, Aaron Rodgers would once more make a play suggesting that he is not
entirely washed, suggesting that those terrifying demons from previous seasons had
not been driven away. On a play involving a fourth and seven, he once more
connected with Watson for a score. After Dallas had to return the kick, the game was
back to a one touchdown lead with just under nine minutes remaining.
The Green Bay offence, which had struggled in the most of games prior to this one,
did not appear to be experiencing any problems. Watson appeared to be
establishing himself as a true go-to player as he personally covered more than 100
yards. And during the entire game, Aaron Jones took advantage of the run defence,
going over 100 yards. They would march tirelessly down the field for more than six
minutes, tying the score with 2:29 to go when Watson caught his third touchdown
pass. The Aaron Rodgers who frequently plunged a dagger into Dallas had returned,
as so many had dreaded.
Prescott had time to move down the field, but a few incomplete passes forced them
to punt, giving Rodgers 1:38 to destroy it for the Cowboys once more. However, the
Packers used play-action on third and one, and everything was covered. After the
play call, Rodgers did not appear to be pleased with his head coach, Matt LaFleur.
With sixteen seconds remaining, Dallas was powerless, and overtime ensued.
The Cowboys suffered a loss there, slipping to 6-3 on the year.