Packers Escape With 40-40 Tie Against Cowboys

The Green Bay Packers almost committed a Caleb Williams and Matt Eberflus-style clock-management meltdown. Fortunately, they had 1 second on the clock for Brandon McManus to kick a 34-yard field goal to give the Packers a wild 40-40 tie at the Dallas Cowboys.

With 28 seconds remaining, Jordan Love completed a pass to Emanuel Wilson that lost 1 yard when he was tackled with 22 seconds to go. Perhaps because it was the 70th minute of the game, Romeo Doubs jogged back to the line of scrimmage. Tucker Kraft lined up about 2 yards offside and had to retreat.

Love finally got the snap with 6 seconds remaining. He threw a pass into the back of the end zone to Matthew Golden, which was broken by linebacker Jack Sanborn.

Fortunately for Green Bay, there was enough time to kick a field goal to salvage a tie.

Green Bay won the overtime toss and let Dallas go first. Dak Prescott’s miraculous 34-yard heave to Jalen Tolbert gave Dallas a first-and-goal at the 5. Micah Parsons and Colby Wooden had late pressure, and Keisean Nixon simply watched from the end zone as Tolbert made an incredible catch at the sideline.

The Packers’ defense, trounced for most of the evening, finally got a stop. On second-and-goal from the 4, Parsons ran down Prescott for a 0-yard sack. On third-and-goal, Prescott had nowhere to go and threw it away. Brandon Aubrey kicked a 22-yard field goal to make it 40-37 with 4:40 to play.

The Packers started at their 20 and quickly faced fourth-and-6. Love found Golden over the middle, who made the catch between a pair of defenders for 14. A pair of hard-charging runs by Wilson gained 22 yards – 21 after contact – to move the ball to Dallas’ 40 at the 2-minute warning.

Love ripped one over the middle to Dontayvion Wicks for a gain of 15 in which he broke two tackles. A 6-yard pass to Romeo Doubs and a 7-yard by Wilson set the Packers up to win. Instead, they almost lost.

Love was 31-of-43 passing for 337 yards and three touchdowns, all of them to Doubs.

Prescott was 31-of-40 passing for 319 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to George Pickens.

The Packers are 2-1-1, a half-game behind Detroit in the NFC North.

With Dallas trouncing Green Bay’s touted defense for a third consecutive touchdown drive, Love got the ball at his 26 with 35 seconds remaining and facing a 37-34 deficit. On the first play, Love flung one out to Josh Jacobs, who stepped on the gas for a 25-yard catch. That set up Brandon McManus’ 53-yard field goal as time expired to send the game to overtime.

Trailing 30-27 with 4:50 to go, Love threw his third touchdown pass of the night to Romeo Doubs to give Green Bay a 34-30 lead with 1:45 remaining.

Prescott answered in practically no time at all. Set up with a short field, he threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Pickens, who broke Carrington Valentine’s tackle at the 20.

Josh Jacobs gave the Packers a 27-23 lead with an 18-yard touchdown run with 11:39 remaining. It was a big-time answer by the Packers that included two critical third-down conversions.

At the start of the drive, on third-and-2, Love saw a void to the right for a 25-yard run. Moments later, on third-and-2, Wilson rode the surge of Rasheed Walker and Elgton Jenkins for a gain of 3. Moments later, Jacobs was in the end zone. At the start of the run, he broke a tackle attempt by Kenny Clark.

Dallas retaliated, though. They pecked away, a little here and a little there. The Cowboys converted on third-and-3, fourth-and-2 and third-and-5. Javonte Williams carried the ball on the final four plays, including 13 yards when Barryn Sorrell was too far up field and for the touchdown on a direct snap.

The Cowboys led 30-27 with 4:50 remaining.

Dallas led 23-20 after three quarters. The Packers, who trailed 16-13 at halftime, took a 20-16 lead midway through the third quarter when Jacobs had a rare opening on third-and-goal at the 1.

The Cowboys answered, though, as Prescott was 8-of-9 passing on an 80-yard touchdown that he capped with an 8-yard pass to Jake Ferguson with 34 seconds left in the third. Micah Parsons, in his much-anticipated return to Dallas, was off the field after helmet-to-helmet contract with a teammate. He also was holding his back, the injury that he brought with him from Dallas. Without him, Green Bay’s pass rush evaporated.

The Packers went from leading 13-0 and lining up to kick the extra point to go up 14-0 to trailing 16-13 at halftime. It was a stunning turnaround considering how thoroughly dominant the Packers were in the first 20 minutes.

“We’re a team that feeds on momentum,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said at halftime of the blocked extra point.

Green Bay looked every bit like the Super Bowl contender that overwhelmed Detroit and Washington to start the season.

Love threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs on the opening possession and a 1-yard touchdown pass to Doubs on the third possession. The Packers lined up for the extra point, an automatic conversion with Brandon McManus. Instead, it was blocked by Juanyeh Thomas, who Luke Musgrave allowed to get inside of him. The ball was picked up by Markquese Bell, who ran the other way for two points.

So, it was 13-2, but the Packers were still rolling. At that point, it was 13-1 in first downs. When Green Bay’s next drive stalled and Kingsley Enagbare downed the punt at the 5, it looked like a ferocious defense might be in position for a safety.

Instead, Prescott led a 95-yard touchdown drive highlighted by a 28-yard catch by George Pickens to the 1 and Prescott’s touchdown run on a quarterback draw. That made it 13-9 with 41 seconds left in the half.

It was the first touchdown allowed by Green Bay in the first three quarters of a game this season.

With the Cowboys set to get the ball to start the second half, the Packers suddenly were in a bit of trouble.

They were in a lot of trouble moments later, when James Houston stormed around the corner to strip the ball from Love. Dallas recovered at Green Bay’s 15 and was in the end zone on the next play, with Prescott firing a bullet to a wide-open Pickens to lead 16-13 at halftime.

Highlighted by a barrage of screens, Love was 14-of-19 for 172 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Josh Jacobs had just eight carries for 16 yards but a 28-yard catch on a flip from Love to set up the second touchdown to Doubs.