Too many penalty yards and too few points is never a good recipe for success in the NFL, and the Dallas Cowboys let both things burn them Sunday night in Green Bay.
A closer look behind the numbers of Week 6's 23-13 loss, though, reveal some other bizarre factors that certainly didn't help Dallas climb out of their hole. Like forcing Dak Prescott to throw 54 times on a night, or- on a related note- completely forgetting that Javonte Williams exists and is good at football, too.
To make matters worse, CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens were unable to make the most of all the extra targets they were getting, as both had thoroughly forgettable showings. They weren't the only ones; multiple egregious drops by the Packers WR corps are the only reason the final
score wasn't worse.
In this statistical deep dive, we'll get into all those figures (and more) that contributed to the most gutting loss of the Schottenheimer era.
1: Run play called after Javonte Williams TD
Javonte Williams is averaging just 14.2 rushing attempts per game thus far, and he got only 11 carries on Sunday. His four runs in the first possession after halftime did gain 15 yards of a 9-play, 45-yard drive and put the Dallas offense in the end zone for his seventh touchdown of the season (tied for second-most in the NFL). But then Brian Schottenheimer didn't call another run until there was 2:35 left in the game. Of the Cowboys' 38 plays after Williams's TD plunge, 37 were pass plays. All this while Williams's rushing success rate (gaining at least 40% of yards needed on 1st down, 60% of yards needed on 2nd, and 100% on 3rd or 4th) is seventh-best in the league. Yes, the Packers were up by 13 and then 16 points as time was starting to become a factor, but ditching the ground game completely made things awfully predictable for the Green Bay defense.
3: Number of dropped TD passes by Packers WRs
MATTHEW GOLDEN SHOULD ALREADY HAVE THREE TOUCHDOWNS IN THE FIRST HALF.
— MLFootball (@MLFootball) October 19, 2026
The #Packers WR has dropped TWO of the easiest touchdown passes you will ever see.
Golden could have been putting together a historic 1st half if he could just catch the football.
😱 pic.twitter.com/GXreR5DXCU
This is a reminder that it could have been even worse. Packers wide receiver dropped not one but two surefire touchdown passes in the second quarter alone, and Christian Watson let one bounce off his hands in the third. One of those drives ended up in the end zone anyway, but Green Bay had to settle for field goals on the other two. That's eight points left on the field; the final score really should have been 31-13.
9 (of 10): 3rd-down conversions allowed by Dallas in 1st half
The Cowboys defense couldn't find their way off the field with a map, especially on third down, and especially in the first half. Their astonishing 90% failure rate helped Green Bay's offense maintain a 14- and a 15-play drive early, both eating up over six and a half minutes of clock and both resulting in points. The Packers were able to ease up after intermission; they finished the contest converting 11 of 18 third-down tries, which is still 61.1%. Through six games, the Cowboys are the worst third-down defense in the league, allowing opponents to move the chains 54.7% of the time.
13: Total points scored by Cowboys
Why is that number meaningful? It's the Cowboys' lowest single-game scoring output of Brian Schottenheimer's tenure. After averaging 27.7 points through his first 22 games and scoring 30 or more in half of them, the team's 13 points versus Green Bay represent the poorest point total since Week 17 of the 2024 season.
51.7%: Combined catch percentage of Lamb & Pickens
Two first half INTs for the @Packers 🧀
— NFL (@NFL) October 19, 2026
DALvsGB on NBC/Peacock
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/CrdFEn7GTC
The Cowboys picked a bad time for both their top receiving targets to have a very off night. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens combined to catch 15 balls on 29 targets, or just 51.7% of the throws to come their way. The rest of the Dallas pass-catchers put together caught 19 passes on 25 targets, a catch percentage of 76%.
54: Total pass attempts by Dak Prescott
In abandoning the run game on Sunday, Dallas had no choice but to count almost solely on Prescott's right arm to get them back in the contest, to the tune of 54 pass attempts. Only four games as a pro (playoffs included) have seen Prescott put the ball in the air more. But the pass-happy approach didn't do anything to kickstart the Cowboys offense, as Prescott was not at his best. His 4.8 yards gained per pass attempt on an abnormally inaccurate night ranked among the 10 worst single-game averages of his career.
108: Penalty yards assessed against Cowboys
The Cowboys have played relatively clean ball in 2026 and under Brian Schottenheimer as a whole. Through six games, their 45 penalties rank just 15th leaguewide, though the 422 yards walked off against them is seventh-most. Despite being well-rested after the mini-bye, Sunday night saw a lot of undisciplined play. Dallas was hit with 11 penalties, which cost them a total of 108 yards. That's the most penalty yardage the team has given up in a game since Week 13 of the 2023 season.
Todd is on X at @ToddBrock24f7. Also, follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Massive penalty yards, fewest points under Schotty lowlight Wk 6 stats
