Packers waste great offensive performance

Defense Falters in 40-40 Tie to Dallas

One week after an abysmal offensive performance prevented a Green Bay Packer victory, the defense took its turn in ineptitude at Dallas Sunday night. In a game in which seemingly one stop would seal a win, the defense whiffed on tackle attempt after tackle attempt, drive after drive. Jordan Love and the offense answered in the clutch each time, culminating in a 40-40 tie.

“We missed a lot of tackles,” coach Matt LaFleur said after the game. “And we got to find somehow, some way, to generate some takeaways.” The Cowboys scored on their final four drives, including three straight touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters. Dak Prescott picked his way to 319 yards on 31-of-40 passing and three touchdowns. The Packer secondary had no answer for George Pickens – even with CeeDee Lamb sidelined due to injury – as Pickens torched it for eight catches, 134 yards, and two scores. Javonte Williams added 88 yards of balance on the ground along with a touchdown.

Despite the 40 points on five touchdowns and two field goals – a 53-yard bomb to force overtime, and a 34-yard kick for the tie – the offense and field-goal units committed crucial errors. The offense’s first back breaker occurred with 21 seconds remaining in the first half and the ball on Green Bay’s 27 while leading 13-9. Love, climbing the pocket, did not feel James Houston’s blindside rush around left tackle Rasheed Walker. Houston stuck his hand out on a run-by and knocked the ball free. He recovered, and Dallas immediately scored for a 16-13 halftime lead.

In the game’s final half minute, the Packer offense again reverted to a lack of situational proficiency. Love marched the team to the Cowboy 15-yard line with 28 seconds remaining and no timeouts. Love dumped off to Emmanuel Wilson on a covered check down for a one-yard loss in bounds. The offense then took a befuddling 15 seconds to snap the ball on the next play. A pass to the end zone almost handed Green Bay the loss as the ball fell incomplete with one second remaining.

“I don’t know if our guys didn’t know if we were in two-minute or what,” LaFleur said. “Ultimately the communication has to get better from myself, to Jordan, to the huddle. That’s the bottom line.”

Brandon McManus followed through on a 34-yard chip shot to tie the game as time expired. However, the kicking operation failed to execute a second-quarter PAT attempt which turned the game against Green Bay.

Don’t miss our full game recap from the Packers wild game in Dallas.

Gut Reactions to the Packers 40-40 tie with Dallas

CHTV co-founder Aaron Nagler chats with Packers fans worldwide after the team's 40-40 tie with the Dallas Cowboys.

Packers 40 Cowboys 40 Game Balls and Lame Calls

Coach Paul Bryant once said that a tie football game is like kissing your sister... it just doesn't feel right. I wouldn't know anything about kissing sisters, but I do feel comfortable saying that after watching a supremely contested, back and forth, roller coaster of a shootout for a little under four hours end in a tie, I just don't feel right.

The Packers end the first quarter of their schedule with a record of 2-1-1, with wins over the powerhouse Lions and Commanders, a loss to the lowly Browns, and a tie with the Dallas Cowboys. Just like we all thought it would shakeout, right?

If you're a fan of offensive showcase and high-flying offenses, this was probably a great game to watch. Well, except for the ending. The Packers had tons of opportunities to put this game out of reach, but so did the Cowboys. At the end of the day, the stakes of this game were obvious to anyone, but football fans everywhere were treated to a potential game of the year. Historic rivals (honestly, it's possible the win was out of reach the second Brett Favre walked into the building), with fresh, new stakes and a twinge of desperation on both sides.

Check out this week’s Game Balls and Lame Calls.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Packers vs Cowboys

Aaron Nagler hands out the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the Green Bay Packers Week 4 40-40 tie with Dallas Cowboys.

Packers Snap Counts Vs. The Cowboys: Week 4, 2025

The Packers signed OT Brant Banks to the 53-man roster. The signed OC Lecitus Smith to the practice squad and then elevated Smith to the game-day roster. The Packers also released WR Mecole Hardman from the practice squad and signed a different WR, Jakobie Keeney-James to the practice squad. Replacing Hardman with a different wide receiver is a little surprising.

Zach Tom, Aaron Banks, and Anthony Belton were inactive due to injury. Warren Brinson and Kamal Hadden were healthy scratches. Malik Willis and Lecitus Smith wre active but did not play.

See who played and how much in this week’s Packers Snap Counts.

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The Lass Word: THE BIG PICTURE 

It may not feel like it, but a tie for the Green Bay Packers Sunday night was much better than a loss.  It enables them to remain ahead of a logjam of six teams in the NFC with 2-2 records.  It also keeps them ahead of the Vikings and Bears in the division by half a game.  The Lions take over the NFC North lead. The Packers currently have the seventh best record in the conference.  They trail five teams who have 3-1 marks, and the Eagles, who lead the conference at 4-0.  It will be most interesting to see how this tie affects the tiebreaker scenarios when the season comes down the home stretch. 

Green Bay heads into its bye week with major issues.  They can’t run the ball with any consistency, which results in too many third and long situations.  Jordan Love is being required to come up with one big conversion after another, and that’s a tough ask behind that beaten-up offensive line.  And now the defense, upon which the team has hung its hat in the first three games, appears to have completely lost its mojo.   

The team desperately needs Zach Tom and Aaron Banks to heal over the next two weeks.  The offensive line needs to shore up its pass protection and start blowing open holes for the run game.  Reinforcements should be coming down the road, as Christian Watson and Jayden Reed get closer to being ready.  The defense needs to recover the juice they had on defense early on.  They must start coming up with turnovers. 

Give the Packers credit for not giving up.  They could have folded numerous times in this game.  They fought hard to save the tie.  It may feel like a loss at the moment, but it could be huge three months from now….

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