3 reasons why the Cowboys went blow for blow with the Packers

Well, it’s not a loss, but it feels far from winning. The Dallas Cowboys, despite being largely picked to lose versus the Green Bay Packers, stood toe-to-toe with their longtime NFC rivals and played them to a draw in a wild last-second finish. Listening to the team’s starting quarterbacks, Jordan Love and Dak Prescott, following the game, you could tell they were clearly dissatisfied with the outcome and the fact that there was no clear winner. Frankly, Cowboys fans should feel the same. Dallas had Green Bay trailing in overtime and had the Packers facing 4th & 6. Dallas only needed to make one play to put a much-needed W in the column and return to .500.

Unfortunately, Green Bay converted and persisted on a methodical drive that gave the Packers an extra second for a game-tying field goal to even the game as time expired. However, Dallas needed their stars to deliver to avoid a dreadful 1-3 start, and they did just that. Dallas will have another chance to even their record next Sunday against the New York Jets. But first, here are the reasons Dallas was able to hang with the Packers for a tie.

Limiting Micah Parsons

Although officially Parsons was credited with a sack, it came more in the form of a technicality than anything. While the statistic will look pretty in the box score for Parsons, he never got a chance to wreck the game as some analysts projected. Even when Parsons played for the Cowboys, teams would find ways to limit his impact on games. The Cowboys followed that blueprint and gave the Packers a taste of what Dallas defensive coordinators experienced with opposing teams neutralizing Parsons.

The Cowboys utilized max protections to make sure that they had multiple bodies assigned to Parsons. They also had the running backs and tight ends chip him at the line of scrimmage on their way out into their passing patterns. Also, if Parsons wanted to rush from the interior, the Cowboys were ready for that, too.

It’s even more impressive because, due to injury or performance, Nate Thomas saw significant snaps at right and left tackle, and never afforded the opportunity for Parsons to make a game-altering play. Dallas also kept fellow edge rusher Rashaan Gary away from Prescott, allowing Prescott the time to find his receivers throughout the game. While it is hard to justify a team trading away their best pass rusher, you may start to see some of the reasoning behind it if teams are able to mitigate Parsons in this fashion. Dallas keeping Parsons off Prescott in his homecoming allowed the offense to come alive.

Winning the turnover battle

Dallas only got one turnover against Green Bay, but man, was it a big one. After Jordan Love connected with Romeo Doubs for a one-yard touchdown pass to put the Packers up 13-0, you thought Dallas might be in for a long night. Yet, the tide suddenly turned after a blocked extra point by Juanyeh Thomas that was returned for two points, and Prescott orchestrated a 95-yard touchdown drive. On the ensuing drive, James Houston burst through the backfield to strip the ball from Jordan Love and recover it to set the Cowboys deep in Packers territory. On the next play, Prescott found George Pickens for the go-ahead touchdown.

On the other side, knowing how good the Packers defense has been, not giving the ball away was paramount. With all the pressure that Dallas was under to keep pace with the Packers’ offense, things could have spiraled out of control quickly. Instead, Dallas avoided the big mistake and sustained drives to avoid giving Green Bay short fields. If the defense is going to be as challenged as it is for the Cowboys, then Dallas has to play near-perfect football offensively, and this was as good as it could’ve been. If the defense can limit the big plays and costly penalties in the future, things should only improve moving forward and alter the turnover differential all the same.

Pickens and Prescott pick apart the Packers

Without CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys needed Pickens to emerge as the top weapon in the passing game. The reason why Dallas was such an underdog entering the contest was because of concerns about who the Cowboys would turn to without Lamb. After the mistakes last week in Chicago, could Pickens and Prescott get on the same page to carry the offense? The answer was a resounding yes as Pickens atoned for last week’s mistakes and answered the call. He and Prescott were terrific together. Time after time, Prescott put the ball in perfect spots, and Pickens came through with one highlight play after another.

This throw and catch might be the play of the game. The coverage by Green Bay is very tight along the sideline. Prescott puts the ball where only Pickens can get it and drops it in right before the oncoming safety can make a play on the ball. Pickens also displays his rare body control to not only make the catch but also get both feet in bounds to complete the play.

Pickens found the end zone twice, but his last touchdown was a prime example of the two being in perfect sync with one another from the timing of the pass and the catch and run afterwards for the score. When targeting Pickens, Prescott threw for 134 yards, two touchdowns, and a quarterback rating of 153. Putting Pickens aside for a moment, we should also know just how dialed in Prescott was.

Last night, he found eight different receivers, he threw for eight yards an attempt, and completed 77% of his passes and had a QBR of 94.4. Forget the Cowboys’ record for a second. Prescott is arguably playing the best football of his career, and it’s because of performances like last night and throws in crunch time, much like the one he made to Jalen Tolbert in overtime. Prescott currently leads the NFL with 1,119 passing yards. With all the injuries that are mounting up on the offensive line and a defense that has lost its way in discipline, surrendering points generously and penalties as well, Prescott has been a beacon of hope moving through the season.