Another Cowboys’ Season Ends In Heartbreak at the Hands of the Packers

Green Bay Packers RB Aaron Jones called tails to win the toss, and HC Matt LeFleur chose to receive the opening kickoff.

1st Quarter

The Packers started from their own 25 yard line and moved the ball into Cowboys’ territory with the help of an illegal contact penalty on DaRon Bland that wiped out a sack.

Tough running by Aaron Jones and 4/4 passing from Jordan Love set the Packers up inside the Cowboys’ five yard line for a short 3rd & 2.

Jones then capped off a 12-play 75-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown rush to open the scoring.

Dallas’ would face a third down on their first set of plays, and Dak Prescott showed his wheels with a big 18-yard run near midfield.

They would immediately face another third down, and Prescott’s pass just slipped through CeeDee Lamb’s fingers to set up an Anger punt.

The Dallas defense forced a punt by the Packers after Micah Parsons finally got a holding call as he was tackled on a 3rd & 9.

Dallas, starting from their own 8-yard line, would face disaster on just their second play.

A great play by Jaire Alexander while guarding Brandin Cooks resulted in an interception, putting the Green Bay offense immediately in the redzone.

2nd Quarter

The Packers’ offense made the Cowboys pay for that turnover with another Jones touchdown rush, this time from just one yard away for a 14-0 lead.

Dallas finally moved the ball on their next drive, converting a short 3rd down and hitting a big play to Jake Ferguson over the middle of the field.

However, the drive would end in a punt after Prescott was sacked out of field goal range, forcing a punt.

The Dallas defense looked like a shell of themselves on a 93-yard drive by the Packers in which they converted all three 3rd downs they faced.

That included a 20-yard touchdown pass to rookie WR Dontayvion Wicks.

Now down 20-0, the Cowboys needed a score to make it a competitive game.

Prescott then threw a 64-yard touchdown pass…to Green Bay defender Darnell Savage, who stepped in front of a pass intended for Lamb for a 27-0 lead.

Under three minutes left to go in the half, the Cowboys finally drove down the field for their first points of the game.

Those points come with no time left on the clock on a one-yard touchdown catch to TE Jake Ferguson to cut the deficit to 27-7 at the half.

3rd Quarter

Needing a big drive to start the second half, Dak scrambled short of the first down on a 3rd & 2 but a facemask penalty extended the drive.

Dak and CeeDee finally looked in sync after not being on the same page for the entire first half.

A 3rd & 10 pass by Prescott inside the Packers’ 20 yard line was batted down, and Dallas settled for a 34-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal.

Jordan Love again drove his offense down the field, boosted by a 46-yard pass to Romeo Doubs inside the Cowboys’ 20-yard line.

A few plays later, Jones scored his third touchdown of the game, this time from nine yards out to put the Packers up by 24 points.

Prescott took Dallas into the Packers’ redzone again after a 46-yard pass to Michael Gallup.

Tony Pollard capped off the drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

The 2-point conversion to Jake Ferguson is good, but Jalen Tolbert is flagged for an illegal pick play to force an extra point that hit the right upright.

It went from bad to worse to disgusting on the next drive.

A big run by Jones was followed up by a naked bootleg throwback pass to a wide-open Luke Musgrave for a 38-yard touchdown.

4th Quarter

Dallas would turnover the ball on downs on the next drive to give the Packers the ball at the Cowboys’ 41-yard line.

The route was on and the Packers, unstoppable all game, scored a touchdown on a 4th & Goal from the three yard line to make it a 48-16 game.

The rest of the 4th quarter was the Cowboys trying to make the game interesting, but it wouldn’t be enough to make up the deficit.

Ferguson would catch two more touchdowns from Prescott, but there just wasn’t enough time left in the game.

It ends with a final of 48-32 in favor of the Packers.

Big Plays

Big plays can include tackles for loss, sacks, turnovers, or offensive plays gaining more than 20 yards.

Damone Clark tackles Aaron Jones for a four-yard loss

Jordan Love 22-yard pass to Romeo Doubs

Jordan Love 25-yard pass to Romeo Doubs

Jaire Alexander intercepts a pass intended for Brandin Cooks

Dak Prescott 20-yard pass to Jake Ferguson

Keisean Nixon sacks Dak Prescott for a six-yard loss

Jordan Love 39-yard pass to Romeo Doubs

Jordan Love 20-yard pass to Dontayvion Wicks (TD)

Darnell Savage intercepts a pass intended for CeeDee Lamb (TD)

Jordan Love 46-yard pass to Romeo Doubs

Dak Prescott 42-yard pass to Michael Gallup

Aaron Jones 27-yard run

Jordan Love 38-yard pass to Luke Musgrave (TD)

Aaron Jones 20-yard run

Lukas Van Ness sacks Dak Prescott for a five-yard loss

Dak Prescott 47-yard pass to CeeDee Lamb

Preston Smith sacks Dak Prescott for a five-yard loss

Scoring Plays

Aaron Jones 3-yard rush (GB 7-0)

Aaron Jones 1-yard rush (GB 14-0)

Dontayvion Wicks 20-yard pass from Jordan Love (GB 20-0)

Darnell Savage 64-yard interception return (GB 27-0)

Jake Ferguson 1-yard pass from Dak Prescott (DAL 7-27)

Brandon Aubrey 34-yard field goal (DAL 10-27)

Aaron Jones 9-yard rush (GB 34-10)

Tony Pollard 1-yard rush (DAL 16-34)

Luke Musgrave 38-yard pass from Jordan Love (GB 41-16)

Romeo Doubs 3-yard pass from Jordan Love (GB 48-16)

Jake Ferguson 7-yard pass from Dak Prescott (DAL 24-48)

Jake Ferguson 14-yard pass from Dak Prescott (DAL 32-48)

Analysis

What is there to say?

The Green Bay Packers came into the Cowboys’ house and did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

It was a great game plan on both sides of the football, but mainly on defense to make the #1 offense look flustered and out of sync.

Deeper analysis will show for sure, but it appears Packers’ DC Joe Barry took a page out of the 49ers playbook by only rushing four up front and dropping seven into coverage.

On the defensive side for Dallas, I’m not sure we’ve seen a worse performance when it mattered most.

The Packers had 41 points before the 3rd quarter was over, and the only reason they didn’t score more than 50 is because they took their foot off the gas.

Another disappointing season comes to a close for the Dallas Cowboys, and many questions will need answers this offseason.