Week 6 was seen as a turning point for the 2026 Dallas Cowboys. After an embarrassing home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 days earlier, Dallas discussed plenty of big-picture questions during its mini bye week. From the coaches and players, we heard this team was ready to turn the page and not let their abysmal performance in Week 5 be a sign of things to come.
There was some optimism heading into their matchup against the Green Bay Packers, but after a 23-13 loss in which the score was not indicative
of how close the teams were on the field, that optimism seems to be all but gone. Dallas got both outperformed and outcoached in a big way on Sunday night.
While their defense did perform a bit better, it still didn’t resemble anything close to even a league-average unit. To the shock of many, Dallas’ offense was even worse than the defense. Dak Prescott and company looked out of sync all night long as the Packers’ defense dominated the matchup.
There weren’t many positives to take away from this game, but one lone bright spot was cornerback Joey Porter Jr. In his second game as a Cowboy, the former Steeler performed very well, earning him this week’s game ball award.
In 28 coverage snaps, Porter did not allow a single reception, while posting an excellent 39.6 Passer Rating against. Porter also recorded an impressive PBU on a deep ball to Packers wideout Matthew Golden, saving Dallas’ defense from allowing another touchdown.
If there is one positive to come out of the Green Bay matchup, it’s that Joey Porter Jr. looks like a true number one lockdown corner. If he can stay healthy and help slow down teams’ number-one offensive targets week in and week out, it will greatly help Daron Bland, Shavon Revel, and other members of Dallas’ secondary who have been struggling to this point in the season.
