In a game fans around the league were waiting for, the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys gave us one to remember (derogatory). On Sunday Night Football, the Packers traveled to Dallas for a night of reunions. Micah Parsons, if you’ve heard of him, walked into AT&T Stadium for the first time since Dallas traded him to Green Bay about a month ago. Matthew Golden played his first game in his home state of Texas since being drafted in April. And…Brett Favre was there.
The game was an absolute shootout,
so it was at least eventful! By the end of it, both teams would leave the stadium having scored 40 points, in the league’s second-highest scoring tie ever. As the Packers head into what feels like a much-needed bye week with a 2-1-1 record, let’s take a look at last night’s winners and losers.
Winner: Jordan Love
The Packers QB looked exceptional, and if you disagree, you can talk to somebody else about it! After quite the interesting game against the Browns last week, Love looked like he was back to his normal self last night, and this was with an absolutely decimated offensive line. He threw the ball just about everywhere, to just about everyone (10 different receivers!), and was nearly perfect when he wasn’t forced to throw the ball away. He also continued what seems to be a trend this season with a 25-yard scramble when he wasn’t able to find an open receiver.
Every single drive of the second half was a scoring drive for the Packers. Plain and simple, Love did what needed to be done to win the game. Anytime the Cowboys took the lead, Love led the team down the field and got it back. The Packers QB finished the night 31/43 (72%) for one of the most accurate games of his career, with 3 TDs, 0 INTs, and 1 sack taken. There was a would-be interception on a free play, but that’s the best time to throw a pick, because it doesn’t count! Overall: gorgeous, gorgeous stuff from QB1 last night.
Winner: Romeo Doubs
You can’t get a hat trick and not be a winner. Romeo Doubs absolutely crushed it last night, and he’s ventured into “ol’ reliable” status for his quarterback. Doubs caught the ball 6 times on 8 targets, 3 of them for touchdowns. He had one of the best catches of the night on a key 3rd down conversion, and he reminded everybody who the Packers’ WR1 is. This was the first 3 TD game of Doubs’ career.
Winner: Josh Jacobs
Josh Jacobs looked fantastic last night, leading the team in both rushing and receiving yards, with 86 and 71, respectively. Jacobs averaged nearly 4 yards per carry, and a whopping 17.8 yards per reception. The broken tackles we saw so frequently last season made a reappearance last night, and almost all of his rushing yards this season have come after contact. Once (if) the offensive line gets it together this season, Jacobs is really going to start cooking. Jacobs finished the night with 157 total yards and 2 TDs. He spent some time with the medical team last night after sustaining a cut on his knee, but it seems like all is generally well and he should pick up where he left off after the bye week.
Winner: Emanuel Wilson
Speaking of running backs: Emanuel Wilson! When Josh Jacobs was on the sideline dealing with his knee (and maybe recovering after being absolutely gassed), Wilson stepped in without missing a beat. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry on 8 carries for 44 yards, and was given some love in the receiving game as well with 37 yards, catching all 3 of his targets. Overall, Jacobs and Wilson combined for 238 total yards. Not bad for a RB duo.
Loser: Special Teams
After 4 games, I think it’s safe to say the Packers once again have a special teams issue. We’ve seen horrible decision-making with punt and kick returns, bad tackling, missed and blocked kicks, and it all continued last night in Dallas. Most notably: the blocked extra point which was returned by the Cowboys for 2 points. As the play happened, I remember thinking “Those 2 points are going to come back to bite the Packers”, and boy did they.
There is also the continuing issue of Matthew Golden, who should not be returning kicks or punts for the Packers, in my opinion. Not only is he too valuable to risk an injury on a return, but he’s not good at it! The Packers have had an open roster spot for a couple of weeks now, and I cannot, for the life of me, understand why they don’t use that roster spot on a guy who can play special teams. For the love of all that is holy, look at this. This gave me the ICK.
The poor play on special teams ultimately boils down to the man running the unit: Rich Bisaccia. We’ve heard over the years how guys absolutely love playing for him, but that can only get you so far as a coach. The special teams play has absolutely got to get better, or, as we’ve seen this year and years past, they will lose games because of it.
Loser: Nate Hobbs
There’s still time for this to turn out to be a good free agent acquisition, but after 3 games (inactive against the Lions), Hobbs hasn’t looked so hot. Last night was an absolutely brutal game for the cornerback, who gave up 5 catches on 6 targets for 57 yards, 2 TDs, and a 145.8 passer rating. There would’ve been a third touchdown given up by Hobbs, who was getting torched by his receiver, if Dak Prescott had decided to throw that way.
Yes, Dak is having an outstanding year so far, but this just cannot happen against receivers who aren’t named CeeDee Lamb. Hobbs ultimately ended up being replaced by Carrington Valentine after leaving the game with an injury, but hopefully he’s able to use the next 2 weeks to get it together, because Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are next up on the docket.
Loser: Matt LaFleur
While I think everyone needs to RELAX with the “fire LaFleur” talk, it should still be acknowledged that an absolutely awful game was called last night, particularly on the team’s last two drives. It felt like LaFleur was playing for the tie as opposed to a win, and that’s exactly what he got. Jordan Love showed us all game that he was capable of getting the ball where it needed to go, but LaFleur’s calls were extremely conservative, and the offense left points on the field as a result.
Things weren’t moving fast enough, and there were so many plays called down the middle of the field that it felt like the team really had to just settle for their two final field goals. Really weird stuff coming from an offense that looked unbeatable in their first two games of the year. LaFleur needs to be more aggressive, because that’s ultimately what pays off for Jordan Love and the Packers offense.
With a multitude of injuries to the offensive line and receiving room, as well as some of the defense, the Packers head into a much-needed bye week to hopefully get right and ready for their next game at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. Green Bay currently sits at 2nd in the NFC North, which I don’t think comes as a surprise to anyone who watched this team last season. So: we’re right on track! And look on the bright side: we’ve still never lost in Dallas.
