Packers Report Card: Grades From Tie at Cowboys

In terms of decision-making, one big one early in the game came on the offense’s second possession. Facing a fourth-and-2 following a 17-yard reception by Savion Williams, LaFleur had his offense on the ball looking like he was set to go for it. Instead, the offense ran the play clock down, took a penalty and punted.

Green Bay’s defense had played great to start the season. That unit will make those decisions correct more often than not, especially against bad teams.

Against the good ones? Conservative calls are often not rewarded.

Finally, to top it all off, his decision-making at the end of regulation and in overtime reeked of fear of what was on the other sideline rather than confidence in what was on his sideline.

At the end of regulation, the Packers had the ball in range for a 57-yard field goal with two timeouts and 12 seconds remaining. LaFleur ran the ball on first down and went deep on second down; it looked more like a way to burn clock rather than an attempt to complete a pass. Brandon McManus nailed the field goal, but choosing to play that conservatively at the end of a game could have been disastrous.

Finally, on the lone possession in overtime, LaFleur seemed content to make sure Brandon Aubrey couldn’t kick a long field goal as time expired rather than play to win. He got what he wished for as Love’s last gasp to Matthew Golden fell incomplete with one second to go.

Ultimately, the night started with LaFleur refusing to go for the throat on fourth-and-2 with his team ahead 7-0 and the Cowboys’ defense on its heels, and ended with him refusing to put the pedal down to win the game. 

All gas, no brakes? More like minimal gas and a considerable amount of brakes.

The Packers have enough talent to beat any team in the league, but if a team plays not to lose, oftentimes, it loses. Against Dallas it was lucky to escape with a tie.

The concerns of self-inflicted wounds, the lack of identity and conservative nature, lay at the feet of the head coach.

Grade:  F

Pass Offense

Outside of a gaffe at the end of the first half and in overtime, Jordan Love was brilliant. He had thrown for less than 200 yards in two of his three starts this season and struggled last week against Cleveland.

Against the Cowboys, he was mostly exceptional. He threw three touchdown passes and continued to answer Dak Prescott’s touchdown drives with touchdown drives of his own.

When the game was on the line, Love was at his best. His last two drives in regulation were have-to-have-it situations, and Love drove the team to 10 points.

He threw a touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs with 1:45 left in regulation, which could have held up as the game-winning score, but Green Bay’s leaky defense reared its ugly head. The lead that Love gave them lasted all of 62 seconds.

With Dallas back in front 37-34 with 43 seconds remaining, Love got the team in field-goal range for Brandon McManus’ 53-yard field goal to force overtime.

Love was good in overtime, as well, converting a crucial fourth down and getting his team to the Dallas 40 when the clock hit the 2-minute timeout. Two more completions got the ball into the red zone with about 1 minute to go. Unfortunately, from there, LaFleur would take the ball out of his quarterback’s hands.

The Packers were slow to the line of scrimmage, and it almost felt by design.

Love made his mistakes, as well, to be fair. There were 28 seconds left when Love took his second-to-last snap of the game. He threw a checkdown to Emanuel Wilson that lost yards. The clock nearly ran out after that. Love got the snap with 6 seconds remaining, and his pass into the end zone to Matthew Golden fell incomplete with 1 second remaining, saving themselves from a Chicago Bears-esque embarrassment from last Thanksgiving.

That sequence, combined with a fumble at the end of the first half, is the only thing that knocks Love and the passing offense down a peg.

Grade: B

Rush Offense

After struggling through the first three games of the season, Josh Jacobs found a little more daylight against the Cowboys. Jacobs had 22 carries for 86 yards and two touchdowns, including 14 carries for 70 yards in the second half.

Emanuel Wilson was excellent in relief with 44 yards on eight carries. He got the snaps in overtime.

If there is one criticism, it’s that the run game did not truly get going until the fourth quarter. Through three quarters, the Packers were averaging nearly 10 yards per passing attempt and less than 3 yards per rush.

Despite that, Matt LaFleur stuck to his ground game. Ultimately the Packers ran 35 times for 164 yards, a 4.7-yard average lifted by Jordan Love’s 25-yard scramble. It was by far the best performance of the season.

There is still more on the table for them, and some health on the offensive line could help spring Jacobs, as well.

Grade: C

Pass Defense

In Micah Parsons’ return to Dallas, he had one sack in overtime. His pursuit from the back side kept Prescott out of the end zone and limited the Cowboys to only a field goal.

Aside from that, the pass rush and the coverage were an absolute zero. Prescott threw for 319 yards, three touchdowns and had passer rating of 124.9. Those are all by far the biggest numbers against Green Bay’s defense in the first four games of the season.

George Pickens, who stepped up big in the absence of CeeDee Lamb, took his turn abusing Nate Hobbs, Carrington Valentine and Keisean Nixon to the tune of 134 yards and two touchdowns.

Furthermore, the Packers did not take the ball away. For a team that emphasizes turnovers, it has only two this season.

As great as the defense has played for most of the season, that’s something it has to figure out, especially with Jake Browning and Kyler Murray on the schedule coming out of the bye before a showdown against Aaron Rodgers.

Grade: D

Rush Defense

Green Bay’s rush defense was solid, if unspectacular. Miles Sanders and Javonte Williams had 22 carries for 93 yards, a 4.2-yard average.

That performance came despite losing their best defensive tackle, Devonte Wyatt, late in the first half, and he did not play at all after halftime due to a knee injury.

Dallas did a good job keeping Green Bay’s defense off-balance with misdirection and unconventional run plays to stay ahead of the sticks. Ultimately, the final total when you factor all those things in, Dallas rushed for 117 yards on 26 attempts with two touchdowns.

It’s not a great night. It’s not what we saw the first two weeks of the season, but on a normal night from Green Bay’s pass rush, that’s going to get the job done.

Grade: C

Special Teams

This group has had a rough couple of weeks. In Week 2, it struggled in coverage against Washington and Brandon McManus missed a field goal. Last week, it gave up a blocked field goal that likely cost it a win at Cleveland.

On Sunday night, McManus’ second extra-point attempt was blocked when Luke Musgrave missed an assignment. To make matters worse, Dallas returned the blocked kick for two points, to make the score 13-2. That turned the entire game on its head. Brian Schottenhemier said so during the broadcast.

The miscues did not stop there. After Jordan Love’s touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs gave the team a 34-30 lead, the Packers gave up a big return to KaVontae Turpin, which helped the Cowboys march down the field with relative ease to take a 37-34 lead.

The Cowboys are not the team the Packers are thought to be chasing. They’re chasing the top of the NFC. The Packers, of all teams, know what a shoddy special teams can do to what could otherwise be a special season. Matthew Golden’s struggles as a punt returner continued, leading to him being replaced by Romeo Doubs.

The Packers were able to rebound and make two field goals at the end of regulation and overtime. That saves them from another failing performance.

They’ve invested a lot in special teams, both in terms of roster spots and the investment they’ve made with their coordinator. Rich Bisaccia is playing short-handed, but that’s a day in the life of a special teams coordinator. It’s time for him to earn his hefty salary.

Grade: D