Packers kicker Brandon McManus nailed a 34-yard field goal as the time expired in overtime, resulting in a 40-40 tie in Micah Parsons’ return to Dallas on Sept. 28.
McManus’ game-tying field goal matched Cowboys’ kicker Brandon Aubrey’s field goal, giving the Packers its seventh tie game since 1974, when overtime was introduced to the NFL, and the first since it tied the Minnesota Vikings 29-29 in 2018.
During Green Bay’s drive in overtime, the Packers worked down to the Dallas 15-yard line down three points with 28 seconds left. From there it was obvious that there was confusion, as the Packers ran the clock nearly all the way down and snapped the ball with six seconds left in the game. Love fired a pass to the back of the end zone that landed incomplete with one second left, setting up McManus and saving Green Bay from a loss.
“That just goes to the level of detail of where we need to be,” said Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, on the end-of-overtime chaos. “We have an on-the-ball call to send everyone to the end zone. It has to go out of bounds or end zone, obviously with time remaining, and the operation was just way too slow. Ultimately, the communication has to get better — myself to Jordan (Love) and Jordan to the huddle, and that is the bottom line.”
LaFleur said there was no thought to try and throw another pass to the end zone with one second remaining in overtime.
Parsons was relatively quiet in his reunion with Dallas, as he was able to muster just three tackles and one sack that resulted in a loss of no yards. With Dallas trading Parsons to Green Bay exactly one month prior to the date of the game, there was understandable hype surrounding the reunion given the pass rusher’s talent, as well as the messy divorce between him and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“The emotions for me being in Dallas went away the moment they traded me,” said Parsons, on how he was able to handle the reunion. “I didn’t even get to talk to my owner, the person that drafted me.” Parson added that he found out through his agent that he was traded from Dallas to Green Bay. “To me, that emotion-side was pointless … it was more about a respect factor at that point.”
Even though Parsons seemed like he was going to be the main storyline of the game, that quickly shifted.
The story of the matchup between the Packers and the Cowboys was the excellent offenses and quarterback play as a whole.
Love finished the game completing 31-of-43 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns. On the other side, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott completed 31-of-40 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns as well. Prescott added another touchdown on the ground.
Along with Love’s big day, Romeo Doubs recorded the best game of his career, totaling 58 yards on six receptions and hauling in all three of Love’s touchdown passes. Matthew Golden joined Doubs in the receiving column, totaling 58 yards on five receptions, while Tucker Kraft added another 56 yards on five receptions.
In the running game, Josh Jacobs was finally able to find some footing for the first time this season, rushing 22 times for 86 yards and two touchdowns. He also found success in the receiving game, catching four passes for 71 yards.
Dallas was led by George Pickens in the receiving game, as the former Steeler caught eight passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Jalen Tolbert added another 61 yards on four receptions, while former Wisconsin Badger Jake Ferguson totaled 46 yards and one touchdown. On the ground, Cowboys running back Javonte Williams rushed for 85 yards and one touchdown.
After Dallas took a 37-34 lead with 50 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Love and the Packers offense quickly moved down the field with help from a 25-yard reception from Jacobs and nine-yard reception from Malik Heath. That set up McManus’ first field goal with no time left on the clock, which sent the game to overtime.
While this game featured a flurry of game-changing plays, none may have been bigger than after Green Bay’s second touchdown. After going up 13-0 on Doubs’ second touchdown of the game, McManus’ extra point attempt was blocked and returned back to the end zone by Dallas, giving the Cowboys two points and swinging the game by three points.
“That is disappointing two weeks in a row where you have a kick blocked,” said LaFleur. “I thought we did a lot of good things throughout the week to correct the problem. Obviously it wasn’t enough.”
After being in control of the game for a majority of the first half, Green Bay had the ball, up 13-9, late in the second quarter. From there, Love was stripped and on the next play, Prescott connected with Pickens to give Dallas the lead heading into halftime.
In total, the Packers and Cowboys combined for the second-most points (80) in a tie in NFL history.
Even though the tie leaves a sour taste in the Packers’ mouth, the team is still slotted into the two spot in the NFC North and will take a 2-1-1 record into the Week 5 bye.
