The Dallas Cowboys didn’t have what it took to leave Lambeau with the win on Sunday night, falling to the Green Bay Packers, 23-13. While the loss is unpleasant, there were some things we can come out of this game and feel better about. Oddly enough, they’re on the defensive side of the ball.
Initially, it was frustrating for the Cowboys defense. They made some great plays on first down, often creating 2nd-and-10 or longer situations, and they would hold up okay on second down. But then, the bottom
fell out. Again and again, the defense buckled on the money down, allowing the Packers to convert on third down. It was a total breakdown, and it just kept happening.
But they did get better as the game went on. The defense allowed the Packers to convert 9/10 on third down in the first half, but that dropped to just 2/8 in the second half. That’s a significant improvement.
While they struggled getting off the field in the first half, the defense as a whole did well in many areas. Their run defense was great. Granted, the Packers are one of the worst run offenses in the league, but the Cowboys shut them down. Even in a favorable game script for them, Green Bay only finished with 57 total rushing yards, and averaged just 2.2 yards per carry.
Quinnen Williams was overpowering blockers and shutting down rushing lanes. He and Kenny Clark controlled the interior of the trenches, and both came away with a sack, as did fellow defensive tackle Elijah Garcia. All three of these sacks were aided by pressure created by Rashan Gary. Overall, the pressure from the defensive front was good at times, but when they sent more defenders at Love, he usually found a wide-open target somewhere.
Dee Winters came away with the defensive play of the game with the team’s lone interception of the year. He was brought over to Dallas for his coverage ability, and it was nice to see it finally pay off. It’s a shame he was touched, a pick-six could have shifted the momentum a bit. The Cowboys offense then gave the ball right back shortly thereafter.
Speaking of coverage, it’s hard not to be pleased with what Joey Porter Jr. has given the team so far. Not only did this no-tackling corner make a great tackle right out of the gate, but he did what he’s touted to do, which is provide smothering coverage and break up passes. He did both of those things.
Even Malachi Lawrence showed some unexpected coverage skills by getting downfield and having the ball slightly graze off his hands just enough to cause an incompletion in the end zone. Whether it’s Porter Jr. or Lawrence, that’s two last-second deflections that saved a touchdown.
The Cowboys’ improvement resulted in allowing just six points in the second half, and 23 points total. That’s pretty decent. In the second half, the Packers had five drives and two of them resulted in field goals, and one of those happened when Green Bay started in Cowboys territory after the Dallas offense turned the ball over on downs. The other three drives the Packers had resulted in a net yardage total of just five yards. Two of those drives were three-and-outs and netted negative yards. That’s a great second-half showing.
There were certainly a lot of plays the defense wishes they could have back, but this group also made more impact plays in this game than we’ve seen in a while. There was a more all-hands-on-deck feel as more players were helping out in the run game, and Porter Jr.‘s play finally gave them some much-needed support in coverage. It was definitely something to build off of going forward.
