Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys didn’t pull out the win on Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers, but they didn’t lose either. It was a crazy back-and-forth contest that featured many opportunities for the Cowboys to come out on top, but they just couldn’t pull out the win. After 70 minutes of football, both teams finished with 40 points, with the game ending in a tie. It was the first time in 56 years that a Cowboys game ended in a tie (1969, 24-24 against San Francisco). Here are 10 thoughts on the Cowboys’ tie-game thriller against the Packers.
It’s hard to describe the frustration felt by how this Cowboys’ defense plays. They were not terrible all the time, but in a game where their offense did everything in its power to win, the defense couldn’t come through with a single stop in crunch time. Five times the Packers possessed the ball in the second half or overtime, and five times they scored. Even when the defense made plays on early downs, they’d falter on the money down. The Packers were 10/14 on third down and converted their only fourth-down attempt on a crucial play in overtime. In total, the defense surrendered 489 yards. It was terrible. Just one second-half stand would have been enough to give the Cowboys the victory. And that is because…
As bad as it was to watch the defense repeatedly cave, it was equally satisfying to watch the offense take off. It didn’t start great as the Cowboys punted on their first three possessions of the game, but then strung together six scoring drives on their next seven possessions, five of which went for touchdowns. Dak Prescott was incredible in this game, converting on 78% of his passes for a total of 319 yards. He threw three touchdowns and ran one in as well. He made clutch throw after clutch throw, including a 34-yard heave downfield that was hauled in by Jalen Tolbert thanks to some great sideline footwork. It was an impressive 40-point effort by the Cowboys’ offense that was squandered by a terrible defense.
In a game that many expected Micah Parsons to wreak havoc against a banged-up Cowboys offensive line, the team’s former star pass rusher was held in check almost all night. Dallas did a great job game planning against him, providing help with blocking that included double teams from their tight ends and running backs. Despite a mishmash of tackle arrangements that sometimes included Nate Thomas on either side, the Cowboys did a great job not only against Parsons but the entire Packers pass rush. Prescott was sacked once according to the official stat sheet and that was by Parsons. That proved costly for Dallas as it forced them to settle for a field goal instead of Prescott running it in for a touchdown for the second time...
