Blogging The Boys
The NFL adopted new rules for overtime this year, which guarantees both teams a chance to possess the ball. It appears the Cowboys are trying to test the limits of the new rule. When they reached overtime against the Giants in Week 2, they took it down to the last second before kicking the game-winning field goal. This time, the Packers threw incomplete with one second left on the clock, giving them a chance to tie the game with a field goal.
And that’s exactly what happened: a tie.
After all the drama and lead-up to this game – billed as the Micah Parsons revenge game by many, and even featuring an odd Parsons=focused promo with Jerry Jones that NBC aired before kickoff – it ends with a tie. No winners, no losers, just something that happened that we all must move past. Perhaps this will reflexively become a poignant metaphor for the Parsons trade itself, but for now, fans of both teams are left wondering why they just wasted four hours watching a game while simultaneously setting new highs for heart rate.
Of course, there are some positives to be gleaned from it. Remember how this game started for the Cowboys, which was about as poorly as anyone could’ve drawn it up. The Packers started with the ball and promptly marched down the field, with Jordan Love connecting on all five of his passes, including a 46-yard bomb and a touchdown.
The Cowboys then went three-and-out in a hurry, with three straight runs that went nowhere. Their next drive ended in a punt, too, and that was followed up with another Packers touchdown drive. Ironically, though, that touchdown led directly into the first positive of the night for Dallas: a blocked extra point returned for a two-point score.
The play felt like a wake-up call moment for the Cowboys, but their offense went three-and-out on the very next drive, killing any potential boost they may have had from the special teams score. However, Green Bay punted on their next drive, and then things started to click.
Dak Prescott settled into a groove without CeeDee Lamb, hitting passes to George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy, and both of his running backs to keep moving the chains. In fact, Dallas didn’t face a single third down on their 11-play drive that went 95 yards and ended with Prescott running in for a touchdown. Suddenly, the Cowboys were only down 13-9.
That score from the offense seemingly woke up the defense, who had forced several punts but otherwise not made any real plays. James Houston once again made his presence felt, whipping around the left tackle to knock the ball right out of Love’s hand.
That sent the offense back onto the field with nine seconds left in the first half and needing just 15 yards to get a touchdown. Prescott didn’t even need those nine seconds, hitting a wide open Pickens in the endzone on the very next play and putting the Cowboys...
