The Dallas Cowboys (2-3) bring a top-10 offense and the NFL’s worst defense to Lambeau for Sunday Night Football. The Green Bay Packers (3-2) are coming off a 31-7 win over Chicago that included five takeaways by the defense.
This sets up as a shootout, and the Packers face the best quarterback and receiver group they have seen this season. All three Dallas losses were by fewer than 10 points, and the Cowboys lost at home to winless Tampa Bay as a 9.5-point favorite last week.
2025 recap
Dallas went
7-9-1 in Brian Schottenheimer’s first season and missed the playoffs after losing four of its final five games. The offense carried the team: Dak Prescott threw for 4,552 yards (3rd), George Pickens had 1,429 receiving yards (3rd), and Javonte Williams ran for 1,201. The defense was historically bad, allowing 30.1 points per game (last), 251.5 passing yards per game (last), a 47.3% third-down conversion rate (last) and a 109.6 passer rating (31st). Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus was fired after one season.
Key Losses
- DC Matt Eberflus was fired.
- DL coach Aaron Whitecotton left for Tennessee.
- DE Jadeveon Clowney signed with Houston.
- DE Dante Fowler signed with Seattle.
- DT Osa Odighizuwa was traded to San Francisco.
- DT Solomon Thomas was traded to Tennessee.
- DE Sam Williams signed with Cleveland.
- DE Payton Turner signed with Detroit.
- LB Kenneth Murray and S Donovan Wilson left in free agency.
- LB Logan Wilson and CB C.J. Goodwin retired.
- WR Jalen Tolbert signed with Miami.
- C Brock Hoffman signed with Pittsburgh.
Key Additions
- DC Christian Parker came over from the Eagles.
- Pass game coordinator Derrick Ansley came over from the Packers.
- DL coach Marcus Dixon came over from the Vikings.
- Edge Rashan Gary was acquired from Green Bay for a 2027 fourth-round pick.
- LB/edge Von Miller signed for 1 year, $7.5M.
- S Jalen Thompson signed for 3 years, $36M.
- S P.J. Locke signed for 1 year, $5M.
- CB Cobie Durant signed a one-year deal.
- LB Dee Winters, DT Otito Ogbonnia and DL Jonathan Bullard were also added.
- RB Javonte Williams re-signed for 3 years, $24M.
- WR George Pickens is playing on the franchise tag.
- K Brandon Aubrey signed an extension that makes him the league’s highest-paid kicker.
- S Caleb Downs was a 1st-round pick (No. 11).
- Edge Malachi Lawrence was a 1st-round pick (No. 23).
- LB Jaishawn Barham was a 3rd-round pick.
- OT Drew Shelton, CB Devin Moore and DT LT Overton were 4th-round picks.
- Schottenheimer still calls the offense.
Efficiency, 2026 through Week 5 (SumerSports)
Cowboys offense
- EPA/play: 0.09 (7th)
- EPA/dropback: 0.16 (~8th)
- EPA/rush: -0.03 (~10th)
- Success rate: 47.5% (6th)
- Points per game: 27.6
- Rushing yards per game: 81.6 (29th)
Cowboys defense
- EPA/play allowed: 0.16 (32nd)
- EPA/dropback allowed: 0.36 (32nd)
- EPA/rush allowed: -0.02 (~23rd)
- Success rate allowed: 50.7% (32nd)
- Rushing yards allowed per game: 168.4 (32nd)
- Sacks: 5 (29th)
- Interceptions: 0
Packers offense
- EPA/play: -0.07 (20th)
- EPA/dropback: 0.07 (~11th)
- EPA/rush: -0.33 (32nd)
- Success rate: 40.1%
- Rushing yards per game: 60 (32nd)
Packers defense
- EPA/play allowed: -0.10 (8th)
- EPA/dropback allowed: -0.15 (tied 3rd)
- EPA/rush allowed: -0.04 (~20th)
- Success rate allowed: 43.3%
- Rushing yards allowed per game: 127.6 (24th)
Cowboys’ first five games
- L 20-28 at NYG: lost the opener on the road.
- W 37-20 vs. WAS: the offense’s best game of the season.
- L 31-34 vs. BAL (in Rio): lost a shootout; Prescott threw for 276 yards and a TD.
- W 34-30 at HOU: Dallas rallied from down 16-6 at halftime. Prescott threw for 335 yards, CeeDee Lamb caught 17 passes for 189 yards and the game-winning TD, and Williams ran for three TDs. The defense allowed 347 passing yards to C.J. Stroud.
- L 16-24 vs. TB: three turnovers (two Prescott interceptions and a special teams fumble), and Lamb left with a quad injury.
Keys for Green Bay
Find a run game this week. Dallas has allowed a league-high 842 rushing yards, and Green Bay has the league’s worst run game. If the Packers can’t run on this defense, they won’t run on anyone.
Let Love cook. The Cowboys allow the most EPA per dropback in the league, have 5 sacks and have no interceptions. Love threw for 367 yards against Chicago, and Christian Watson and Matthew Golden should have room downfield.
Limit Lamb and Pickens without Parsons. Micah Parsons is still out, and the cornerback depth is thin. Lamb is questionable with a quad injury, but Prescott plus Pickens is still the best passing attack Green Bay has faced.
Keep winning the turnover battle. Green Bay forced five takeaways last week, and Dallas gave the ball away three times against Tampa Bay.
Expect familiarity. Rashan Gary returns to Lambeau, and former Packers assistant Derrick Ansley now runs Dallas’ pass game.
Kick it straight. Trey Smack missed an extra point and two field goals against Chicago, while Dallas has Brandon Aubrey. In a game projected for 52.5 points, missed kicks can decide it.
