The Green Bay Packers didn’t just beat the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. They controlled the game from the opening stretch and walked away with a 23-13 win that felt even more lopsided than the final score suggested.
That result gave Green Bay a third straight victory and pushed the Packers to 4-2. The performance wasn’t flawless - drops and penalties were part of the picture - but the Packers still handled a Cowboys team that may not be all that strong this season. With back-to-back wins over the Chicago Bears and Cowboys, Green Bay suddenly has some real momentum.
A few players drove the night for the Packers, and the list starts with rookie kicker Trey Smack. After a rough Week 5 against the Bears, when he missed two field goals and an extra point, Smack answered with a clean showing on national TV.
He drilled field goals from 25, 44 and 29 yards, then added two successful extra points. In a game decided by 10 points, those 11 points mattered.
Matthew Golden kept building his case as one of the league’s rising wideouts. The second-year receiver posted his second straight 100-yard game and has now caught a touchdown in three of the last four contests.
Against Dallas, he finished with six catches for 104 yards and a score. He also had a few drops, including two touchdowns, so the line could have been even bigger.
Even so, the trajectory is hard to miss.
Green Bay’s defensive backs took on the challenge of slowing George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb, and they won that matchup. Lamb finished with 70 yards on nine catches, while Pickens had 73 yards on six receptions.
Rookie Brandon Cisse picked off the first pass of his career when Lamb slipped and Dak Prescott’s slant landed right in his hands. Keisean Nixon, though, was the one who really stood out in coverage, staying tight and playing with plenty of physicality against Dallas’s top targets.
Jordan Love has been rolling lately, and Sunday night was another step in that run. With a little more protection up front, he’s looked increasingly in command of Green Bay’s offense.
Chris Collinsworth said Love seems in control of everything around him, and that matched the eye test. Love went 23-of-41 for 276 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but he also had three more touchdown throws dropped.
By the end of the night, it looked like he should have finished with four touchdown passes.
The biggest standout on defense was Evan Williams. He looked like the Packers’ most impactful defender against Dallas and is making a strong case as one of the league’s premier safeties.
With Micah Parsons and Edgerrin Cooper both out, Williams showed up everywhere, and defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is clearly comfortable using him as a “Swiss Army knife” in the Green Bay defense. There’s even a real argument that Williams has been more impactful than Xavier McKinney this season.
Honorable mentions from the win included Javon Bullard, Brandon Cisse, Daniel Whelan and Isaiah McDuffie.
In Other News...
Packers Suddenly Have A Backfield Question Fans Didn't Expect
Green Bays 23-13 win over Dallas brought plenty of encouraging signs, from Matthew Goldens impact in the passing game to a secondary that helped keep the Cowboys in check. Jordan Loves offense moved efficiently enough despite a few drops, and Matt LaFleurs plan drew positive notice as the Packers continued to show a more balanced feel on that side of the ball.
The one unexpected wrinkle came in the backfield, where MarShawn Lloyd never found much rhythm and Pierre Strong Jr. ended up handling the bulk of the work early. For a team that left Week 6 feeling good about several key pieces, the running game suddenly looks like the place where Green Bay has to sort out who it wants carrying the load going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Offense Still Looks Broken After Another Brutal Loss
Dallas looked stuck in neutral again at Lambeau Field, where the Packers turned a promising afternoon into another rough result for a Cowboys offense still searching for answers. Green Bays defense bothered Dak Prescott throughout the day, and the game tilted quickly as the Packers built a lead that put Dallas in chase mode before halftime. Jordan Love did enough to keep Green Bay in control, throwing for 276 yards and accounting for two touchdowns as the Packers moved to 4-2.
The bigger concern for Dallas was how familiar the script felt, with the offense failing to find rhythm and the defense unable to keep the game within reach. Green Bays interceptions of Prescott were part of the damage, and the Packers never really let the Cowboys settle into anything comfortable on either side of the ball. For a team that came into the day at 2-3, the loss leaves another lingering question about how much better this offense can get before the standings start to harden around it. [Read more 🡒]
Jonathan Gannon Is Already Changing The Feel Of This Packers Defense
Six weeks into the season, Jonathan Gannon has already given Green Bays defense a noticeably different edge. The former Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator has helped steady a unit that looks much more disruptive and organized than it did a year ago, with several players stepping up around him and making the group more competitive on a weekly basis.
The results have shown up even with key names missing from the lineup, which makes the early turnaround stand out even more. Green Bay has found a way to stay productive and force mistakes while waiting for pieces to get healthy, and the question now is how much higher this defense can climb once the full group is available again. [Read more 🡒]