The Dallas Cowboys hosted Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night and needless to say the game carried enormous narrative and energy. Amazingly, it fell on the one-month anniversary of the Cowboys trading him to their longtime rivals.
At long last things were finally about football, though. Green Bay jumped out to a huge lead and Dallas first got on the board by way of a blocked extra point that they took to the house for a deuce.
But the Cowboys rallied. It was admirable. The defense got some stops, generously speaking, but the offense really carried things through. The Packers were able to send the game to an extra period and it expired after both sides hit another field goal. They call that a tie in professional football.
Below you will find our recap of it all broken down on a quarterly basis and featuring highlights of all important moments.
First Quarter
The Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers kicked off on Micah Parsons Night and it was finally all about football. Dallas won the toss and deferred so it was Brandon Aubrey’s toe that met ball initially.
It looked exactly like it did both for Dallas last week in Chicago and when the Packers were most recently in the building. Jordan Love looked incredibly comfortable and went 5/5 on the possession to the tune of 74 yards and a touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs. Just like that they were up 7-0.
The Cowboys took over and may not have realized that a football game started. They ran it three straight times and did not come anywhere near the line to gain. Not to point fingers here, but it sure seemed like they were rather afraid of putting the offense in a passing situation for tons of obvious reasons.
After the Cowboys punted the Packers appeared to pick up right where they left off. Thanks to a holding penalty they were a bit behind though and on 3rd and 18 were only able to pick up 16 yards. Only!
Green Bay was technically on the Cowboys’ side of the 50 (just barely as they were at the 49) and lined up to go for it on fourth and two. Ultimately they elected not to and took a delay of game penalty before punting. It was strange.
The Cowboys picked up a first down after their second play, but after that stalled out a bit. They got down to fourth and one and made it seem like they were going to go for it, but ultimately they took a delay of game and punted back to the Packers.
Green Bay got to the Dallas 38-yard line before the quarter ended.
Second Quarter
The second quarter started with a miracle for the Cowboys as Trevon Diggs picked off Jordan Love. Unfortunately Dallas had 12 men on the field so the penalty washed it away.
Green Bay kept their drive moving and grooving and a big reason was a play where Jordan Love broke out and scrambled before tossing a lateral (he may have thought it was a pass) to Josh Jacobs. The play went all the way down to the Dallas goal line and shortly after Love hit Romeo Doubs for their second touchdown connection of the night.
Things turned weird right after that. Juanyeh Thomas was able to block the extra point and Markquese Bell ran it back for the first Dallas points of the game. 13-2! Yea!
There would be no building upon this, though. Penalties on the kickoff return impacted where the Cowboys started and they came out acting rather shy. Dak Prescott was able to hit KaVontae Turpin for what looked like a nice gain and first down, but Nate Thomas was not lined up properly and was called for an illegal formation. Punt city, population Cowboys.
Amazingly the Cowboys defense was able to stand its ground and force a punt right back. Unfortunately as they did Malik Hooker appeared to be injured and he needed help getting off of the field.
As far as the game, the next Cowboys possession saw them finally start to build some things on offense. George Pickens caught a pass for the first time on the night and things felt less tense.
Pickens did more than that. He put the Cowboys on the doorstep with this absurd catch.
It looked a bit questionable at first, but replay quickly took care of that. There wasn’t even a review.
Two plays later Dak Prescott took it himself for a rushing touchdown to narrow the gap.
The Packers were aware of who Brandon Aubrey is and what his range offers so they clearly wanted to at least end the half without giving Dallas another chance. They began to move and picked up a first down, but they picked up a false start right after which took some wind out of their sails.
But then a miracle happened. James Houston and Jadeveon Clowney got to Jordan Love for a sack (Houston) and fumble and recovery (Clowney!)
One play later Dak Prescott found George Pickens! For a touchdown!
The Cowboys took an improbable 16-13 lead into the locker room at halftime and were set to receive the ball right after.
Third Quarter
The Cowboys began the second half with all positive vibes. They did not fully translate, though.
After some initial success things stalled for the offense and they were forced to punt it away. It marked the first real opportunity that the defense had a lead to protect.
Ultimately the Cowboys defense bent and bent and bent… and bent. They got Green Bay down to the goal line after a Tucker Kraft catch and run, and they successfully stopped Josh Jacobs on first and second down.
Third down proved prosperous, though. The Packers re-took the lead after Jacobs punched it in to make things 20-16.
The next drive felt critical for the Cowboys. It was as if they had to return serve in order for the game to be within reach for them.
Thanks to plays from KaVontae Turpin, Javonte Williams, and incredibly Ryan Flournoy… they made it work. They moved all the way down the field and Dak Prescott found Jake Ferguson for a touchdown (finally!) right before the period ended.
The Cowboys took the lead into the fourth quarter at 23-20.
Fourth Quarter
Green Bay took over trailing once more and quickly made it down into the redzone. The game felt tense.
Packers running back Josh Jacobs did not seem to feel that way. He was running with a calm demeanor and skipped right into the endzone to give his team the lead once more at 27-23.
What followed next was a thing of beauty.
The Cowboys buckled down and got serious and put together one of their better offensive possessions of the season. All told it traveled 62 yards across 14 plays and even featured a roll of the dice on fourth down.
Javonte Williams capped it off with a touchdown that he took on a direct snap! Dallas led 30-27.
The Packers marched down the field and got within easy field goal range as the two-minute warning hit.
They lost yards on first down and got back to the original line of scrimmage on second. Brian Schottenheimer was burning his timeouts to protect a future possession for the Cowboys.
Third down proved fatal as Jordan Love found Romeo Doubs for the third time on the night. The touchdown gave Green Bay a 34-30 lead and Dallas the ball with 1:45 left and a timeout to work with.
In the blink of an eye… the Cowboys answered.
KaVontae Turpin set them up very well with a return and there was a questionable intentional grounding that wasn’t called on Dak Prescott.
Shortly after that he found George Pickens for the go-ahead touchdown to make it 37-34!
Green Bay took over down three with 35 seconds left and all of their timeouts in their pocket. It was time for the defense to stand up.
They did not. Well not really.
Green Bay was able to get into field goal range and nailed the 53-yard attempt to send it to overtime.
Overtime
The Packers won the toss and elected to give the Cowboys the ball first. Each team is guaranteed a possession in the current rules format, though. We learned this again just two weeks ago! Two home games this season, two overtime contests.
KaVontae Turpin had a solid enough return, but Dallas was called for holding which took it back.
The Cowboys went to work, though. They moved and moved and moved and moved and got stopped just shy of a touchdown. Brandon Aubrey put his first field goal of the night on the board (amazingly) and gave the team a 40-37 lead to try and go win the game with.
As noted the Packers were guaranteed a possession. They faced a fourth down early on in it, but they were able to convert and keep it alive. Soon after that they reached the two-minute warning in overtime.
The time became an important factor. Overtime is one period and Packers quarterback Jordan Love was not acting like it. On third down he let a significant amount of time go and threw an incompletion that left only a single second on the clock.
It was enough time for Green Bay to tie it. Yes, tie it.
That was it. For real.
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