Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid once said, regarding the Boston Celtics, “It’s not a rivalry. They always kick our a**.” You could say that this is a very good illustration of the Cowboys-Packers “rivalry” over the years.
Dallas hasn’t beaten Green Bay since 2016; it’s been ten years and two days. Drew Brees was the passing-yards leader (he’s now almost 50 years old), and Dak Prescott was a rookie.
Tonight, they add another chapter to that recent history, so let’s talk about the background behind it.
The Recent History of the Cowboys-Packers
(Green Bay is 10-1-1 against Dallas since 2009)
Last year’s 40-40 tie between Dallas and Green Bay was the second time in 17 years that the two played, and the Packers didn’t win outright. That was a thrilling game, but the totality of this matchup has been anything but for a long time.
In 2010, the Packers delivered a 45-7 beatdown in Lambeau, and one year later was the infamous Matt Flynn 37-36 comeback over the Cowboys in AT&T Stadium.
The next matchup was, perhaps, the most painful, as the NFL’s referees took away a trip to the NFC Championship Game by claiming Dez Bryant “didn’t complete the process of the catch,” despite everyone’s eyes seeing differently.
That loss in 2015 still feels like it was the Cowboys’ best recent chance at a Super Bowl run — they would have headed to Seattle, where they’d already won in the regular season, for the right to play Tom Brady in the big game.
Dallas actually lost again later that year in a 28-7 beatdown, where Matt Cassell, Robert Turbin, and Darren McFadden held the keys to an injured Cowboys offense.
After that is where we find the last Cowboys win, in that 2016 regular-season matchup I mentioned. From there, we have two more playoff losses, both at home, three regular-season losses, usually at the last second, and the tie last year.
In short, this is why I can’t bring myself to pick Dallas to win tonight’s game, even though I can acknowledge they have a shot at it.
For NFL fans, this recent history is funny, and I get why, but from a big-picture perspective, it shows a lot of what’s wrong with the Dallas Cowboys: they have not been able to win the game in a long, long time. They crumble rather than rise to the occasion.
Perhaps tonight’s game changes that, but I sure have my doubts. At least we won’t have to see Micah Parsons terrorize our backfield in that ugly green and yellow.
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