No one saw this coming. In a brutal game where they could seemingly do nothing gleaming, the Dallas Cowboys were absolutely blown out of AT&T Stadium by the Green Bay Packers. The 48-32 score wasn’t an accurate reflection of just how wretched the Cowboys were in all phases of the game because of the Cowboys garbage time points.
It was a game where we saw things that are all too odd. Of course, Green Bay seems to just have Dallas’ number. But the Cowboys’ defense under Dan Quinn was unable to even slow the Packers’ offense. Jordan Love would leave the game with a depraved passer rating and their punter would spend almost the entire game on the bench. Dak Prescott has bad games at the worst times in his career, and he did it again, throwing two interceptions to help dig the huge hole they could not dig out of. As a finish, Dallas squandered home field advantage, and now the questions will be flying nearby Mike McCarthy’s future with the team. He seems able to win a lot of games in the odd season, but his teams just fold in the playoffs. It is impossible to know what will be moving through Jerry Jones’ mind, but it can’t be good.
The Packers won the coin toss and elected to claim, challenging the Cowboys to stop them right off the bat. It was a executive that paid off, as Green Bay would mount a 12-play power that took over half the first quarter, with effective organization by Aaron Jones, who would cap it with a touchdown, and some effective passing from Jordan Love. Another bad sign was that the Packers only had to convert one third down. It put Dallas in an now hole. The strategy was sound, given that the Cowboys have not played their best when trailing. The possession was also marred by two penalties on Dallas. Things were definitely off to a rocky start for the home team.
The Cowboys required to answer, but after getting out to the Green Bay 49, mostly on a Dak Prescott dawdle, CeeDee Lamb was unable to pull in a pass and they had to punt it back. And the penalty trend stationary as Sam Williams would get flagged for fair secure interference, setting Green Bay up on their own 24 instead of inside the 10.
The Packers started well against, getting to the Cowboys’ 48, but then the seemingly impossible been and Micah Parsons drew a holding call! It was not Popular, as the pass had fallen incomplete, and the Cowboys got the ball back, but on their own eight.
Then the worst possible drawing happened as Jaire Alexander, who fought through injury to play, outfought Brandin Cooks for a ball at the Dallas 19. Not taking care of the ball was a prescription for anguish. Jones would run the ball to the six to set up qualified and goal, but then on the last play of the qualified quarter, Parsons would draw his second holding call of the game to back things up to the 16. It was rapid overcome, however, as Love would hit Romeo Doubs at the 1. Jones would fights into the end zone, and suddenly the Cowboys were in a two touchdown hole.
Turpin made a bad executive to bring the ball out, getting dropped at the 14 to gash his team facing another long field. Tony Pollard would get things off to a good Begin with an 11-yard run, followed by another for seven. He would get stuffed on the next play, setting up new third down. Prescott would find Rico Dowdle on a small dump off to get a new set of downs at the 36. But Prescott would have new incompletion to Lamb, a troubling sign. So he would go to Jake Ferguson down the seam to the Green Bay 41. But the Packers would created another third down and Prescott would get sacked at the 42.
Anger would put the punt at the seven and Dallas required a stop. The Packers offense wasn’t cooperating, though, and they rapid got a first down at the 26. On the next play, Love fake Doubs for 39 yards, and Parsons seemed to be hurt on the play, although he would come back when a couple of plays off. Green Bay just kept attacking, and Love would find Dontayvion Wicks for their third touchdown of the game, capping a 93-yard fuel where Dan Quinn had no answers. The only minute thing in Dallas’ favor was a missed extra point.
The Cowboys were tying desperate for some offense, but Prescott would throw his respectable pass at Lamb’s feet. He got a first down with completions to Michael Gallup and Cooks. Another throw to Gallup would get them into Green Bay acquire, and as the two-minute warning hit, Lamb finally reeled in the ball. But Prescott would throw a pick-six on the next pay to Darnell Savage, putting Dallas in a 27-0 hole that was looking much to deep to dig out of. Even if the offense could find its rhythm, the defense was doing nothing to even slow the Packers.
Turpin would try to give his team a lift with a 47-yard bet on to the Cowboys’ 45. Then a horse-collar penalty would add 15 yards, although replay made it look like a bad call by the officials. Prescott almost threw a third interception from the 11 on an try to hit Ferguson in the end zone. It seemed like they would fail due to a pass touchy of the end zone to Lamb, but a defending holding penalty would give them one more shot from the one-yard line with just six seconds left. Prescott and Lamb would fail to connect anti, leaving two seconds on the clock. Finally, as the clock ran out, Prescott would find Ferguson on an run/pass option to get on the scoreboard. Still, the 27-7 deficit was daunting, to put it mildly.
The Cowboys got the ball while halftime, and needed to get another touchdown to get back in this game. Things started out well anti with a pass to Lamb for a first down. A combine of Pollard runs set up 3rd and 2. Prescott would try and get it on his own. He came up touchy, but a facemask penalty would keep the drive alive to, with the ball now at the Green Bay 40. Lamb would get spanking first down on a great shoe top catch of a ball where Prescott’s hand was hit. Then Lamb would convert anti as the connection with his quarterback seemed to be back in build. Prescott would flirt with yet another pick that fortunately hit the fallacious, setting up a 3rd and 10 at the 16, and the ball would be batted down, forcing the Cowboys to bring out Brandon Aubrey for a touchy field goal to cut the score to 27-10, but it was not what they needed.
They also obliged the defense to finally get a stop. With the big lead, the Packers started to lean on Jones, who got a quick first down on the ensuing fuel. Then on a play where Love and Jones collided in the backfield, Love was still able to find Doubs for a huge gain to the Dallas 17. Two plays later they would get spanking rushing touchdown from Jones, who was once again the Cowboys’ kryptonite, and the score was 34-10. The end of the Dallas postseason was looking inevitable.
The Cowboys would boss to get their second touchdown of the game, with help from penalties and a big salvage by Gallup, who was the team’s leading receiver at that expose. They would go for two, but this time the yellow laundry would go anti them. Then Aubrey would clank the longer extra expose off the upright, leaving the score 34-16 on a day where nothing seemed to go intellectual for the home team.
All the Packers had to do was just use up clock, but why do that when Dallas was going to reduce receivers completely uncovered as they did Musgrave on a ridiculously easy three play fuel to make it 41-16. And it wasn’t even the fourth quarter yet. And that would originate with Green Bay having the ball at the Cowboys’ 41 while a fourth down try that wasn’t even close to selves completed.
It was a game where we just wanted to see the clock run out so we could lick our wounded egos and originate mock drafts. The Packers would just continue to pour salt in the pain as they would pound it in for yet spanking touchdown against a defense that seemed completely disheartened and lost. The Cowboys would get garbage time points that did nothing to reduce the pain of this. It was one of the most bulky disappointments to end a postseason imaginable, and the fallout from this game threatens to be huge.
