The Green Bay Packers headed to Jerry World to take on the Dallas Cowboys in what was hyped as the Micah Parsons revenge game, which ended in one of the most memorable ties of all time.
After the embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Browns last week, the Packers were looking to right the ship and head into the bye week on a winning note and take the lead in the NFC North.
The offense took the field first, and a massive Jordan Love completion to Matthew Golden, on a play where he nearly collided with Dontavion Wicks. The offense later scored on a two-yard Romeo Doubs reception.
The defense started equally as hot, getting a quick three-and-out and getting the offense the ball back early. Doubs found paydirt again, but Dallas blocked the extra point and returned it, making it a 13-2 game.
Despite dominating most of the half, the Cowboys scored a touchdown, and when they scored another seven points off Love’s fumble, Dallas took a 16-13 lead into halftime.
The offense dominated on their first drive of the second half, going up 20-16 on a Josh Jacobs touchdown. The Cowboys would respond on the ensuing drive, making it a 23-20 game going into the fourth quarter.
Jacobs and the offense responded with another touchdown, making it a 27-23 game. The Cowboys and Javonte Williams would make it a 30-27 game, forcing the Packers to respond with five minutes left.
Romeo Doubs caught his third touchdown, making it a four-point game with just 1:45 left. True to form, the Cowboys and George Pickens took the lead yet again, reclaiming a three-point lead with 45 seconds left.
However, Love and Co. responded by manufacturing a drive that allowed Brandon McManus to send the game to overtime with a 53-yard kick.
The Cowboys mustered 3 points on their first drive in overtime, thanks to Green Bay’s incredible red-zone stop. The Packers responded with three points to end the game in a tie after Love’s final, hurried pass fell to the turf with one second left on the clock, letting McManus tie the game.
Here are five numbers to break down this insane game.
32
Dallas’ offense put up two touchdowns in 32 seconds at the end of the first half. The Packers dominated most of the first two quarters, scoring two touchdowns and only allowing the Cowboys to score via a blocked extra point. The Packers had dominated every major statistic, yet this sequence just before the break fully changed the game.
It all started with Pickens making an incredible grab between two defenders to get the Cowboys’ offense into the red zone, where Dak Prescott called his own number and took the ball in himself to make it a one-score game. While Packers fans would be a little annoyed at the scoreboard going into half, they could still go into the locker room with the lead.
Unfortunately, James Houston IV knocked the ball out of Love’s hand as he wound up to throw the ball, and the Cowboys soon added seven more to take the lead. Last week the Packers learned the dangers of turnovers at the end of the half against struggling offenses, but they still managed to commit one here, negating their dominant performance through the start of the half.
1
Green Bay’s pass rush was unable to bring Prescott down, recording one sack in the game — that that took until overtime. Micah Parsons recorded the sack right at the line of scrimmage, getting Prescott down for no gain and potentially saving a touchdown. The Packers’ pass rush has been the calling card of this defense so far this season, with the addition of Parsons making them one of the most fearsome units in the NFL.
Dallas’ offense already came into the game short-staffed, missing Ceedee Lamb and Tyler Booker. To win this game, the Packers needed to move Dak off his spot and make him operate faster without his star wide receiver and first-round guard. Instead, Prescott was able to stay upright and dissect Green Bay’s secondary.
Brian Schottenheimer and Prescott executed an incredible game plan that utilized both the air and ground, giving the Packers defense their toughest challenge yet.
6
There were six lead changes in the second half.
The first half started incredibly slowly, with the Packers dominating until the final two minutes, when the Cowboys flipped the score. While the game may have started slowly, it turned into an old-fashioned Texas shootout in the second half.
Neither defense stopped the opposing offenses. Dallas and Green Bay kept trading punches with each other, like two heavyweight boxers landing body shots and going the distance with one another.
Ultimately, it figured to be a game where whoever had the ball last would win. Both offenses wore down opposing defenses and took the lead. Whenever it looked like one team was set to pull away, the other would make a play and bring the game right back.
0
The Packers have never lost a game in Jerry World. They have had some incredible memories in Dallas over the years, from a Super Bowl win to Aaron Rodgers‘ last-second comebacks in the playoffs to Jordan Love’s first-ever playoff win.
While this game may have been anti-climactic in the way it ended, a tie preserved Green Bay’s undefeated streak at Jerry World.
2
This week is the second consecutive week where a blocked kick has come back to haunt the Packers. Last week, the team had a chance to win the game with a chip shot that would have preserved their undefeated record. Instead, poor special teams play allowed the Browns to block the kick and set up their own game-winning drive.
It felt much the same this week. The Cowboys received the jolt that got them going after they were sleepwalking through the game up to that point. From here, the loud minority of Packers fans in Jerry World seemed to grow quieter with every passing play.
The tie might be a memorable result, and you can point to a whole host of times when either team could have won this game. Still, the most obvious one is proper execution on the extra point, which would not have allowed the Cowboys to even get into the game.