The Dallas Cowboys came out of their 23-13 Week 6 loss to the Green Bay Packers with the same ugly problem they’ve carried all season: too many mistakes, too little execution, and no real sign of it changing.
Dallas had 10 days to reset after the Week 5 loss. That was supposed to matter.
It didn’t. The Cowboys were flat again on Sunday night, and if the Packers had finished a handful of easy touchdowns they left on the field, the score could have looked even worse.
Now the Cowboys sit at 2-4 and head into a Week 7 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, another team that’s struggling. For Dallas, that’s about the only comfort right now: the NFC East is a mess and still wide open.
The broader issue is hard to miss. This team has enough talent to look better than it does, particularly on offense, but the results keep telling a different story. Players are underperforming on both sides of the ball, the execution is poor, and the discipline is shaky.
The coaching hasn’t provided much help either. Brian Schottenheimer and Christian Parker have not found answers as play-callers, and the source material is blunt about their future. The Cowboys can keep shuffling personnel around, but that doesn’t fix the deeper problem.
One of the clearest numbers from the loss tells the story. Green Bay entered the game with the worst third-down offense in the NFL, converting just 27.59% of the time. Against Dallas, the Packers suddenly looked comfortable, converting 61.1% of their third-down chances.
Even more alarming was Dallas’ trouble getting off the field on third-and-long. Bobby Belt of 105.3 The Fan noted that teams are converting 50% of third-down attempts of nine-plus yards against the Cowboys this season, compared with a league average of 21.8%.
There was at least one positive note for Dallas: Joey Porter Jr. delivered the kind of performance the Cowboys hoped for when they traded with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He blanketed every Packers receiver he lined up against, finishing with three tackles, one for a loss, and two passes defensed.
Schottenheimer’s promised personnel changes also showed up. Brevyn Spann-Ford started and played ahead of Jake Ferguson, while Malachi Lawrence got the start over Donovan Ezeiruaku.
None of it changed the result, though. The Cowboys still looked like a team stuck in place.
Injuries added another layer to the frustration. KaVontae Turpin left on the opening kickoff with a ribs injury and did not return. Dee Winters also went out in the first half with an ankle injury and never came back.
That Winters setback matters because Dallas is already thin at linebacker. The next question is whether DeMarvion Overshown can finally return from his hamstring injury in Week 7.
In Other News...
Cowboys Lose Another Key Piece In A Night They Couldnt Afford It
The Cowboys entered Sunday night already needing things to break their way, and losing KaVontae Turpin in the first half only made the margin for error even thinner. Turpin, who usually handles kick return duties, went out with a rib injury against the Packers and did not return, leaving Dallas to patch together yet another important spot on a night when it could ill afford another setback.
Jerry Jones still sounded encouraged by where the team is headed, pointing to the progress he sees despite Dallas sitting at 2-3. But a game like this serves as a reminder of how fragile that optimism can be when key pieces keep disappearing, especially on special teams, where Turpins speed and field-flipping ability are part of what makes this roster harder to defend. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Turn To Rookie As Pressure Builds On Struggling Defense
Pressure is rising on a Cowboys defense that has struggled to find its footing, and the next answer is coming from a rookie. Dallas is turning to Malachi Lawrence to start at outside linebacker against the Green Bay Packers, giving the first-round pick his first career start after taking him 23rd overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Brian Schottenheimer has seen enough from Lawrence recently to make the move, and the coach signaled that more opportunities should follow. For a defense trying to steady itself, the decision gives Dallas a new look up front and a chance to see whether its young edge rusher can bring some needed energy into a difficult spot. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Sit Atop An NFC East Mess That Just Got Worse
The NFC East has spent the last few weeks looking like a division stuck in reverse, and the Cowboys loss to the Packers only added to the mess. With the Commanders set to enter Sunday as underdogs against the 49ers, the leagues most unpredictable division is suddenly staring at a stat line nobody wants attached to it: a chance to go winless in back-to-back weeks when every team played, something that has not happened since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger.
For the Cowboys, the bigger frustration is that the standings are still wide open even as the losses pile up. The Giants are sitting atop the division for now, but the upcoming slate could reshuffle everything again, leaving Dallas, Washington and the rest of the East to sort out whether this is a temporary rough patch or a much deeper slide. [Read more 🡒]