For the second straight year, Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys in heartbreaking fashion this time by the score of 35-31 as the Cowboys continued their second-half woes being outscored 23-10.
The opening drive did not start well as a quarterback Dak Prescott swing pass to running back Eziekel Elliot resulted in a four-yard loss. After a run for no gain on second down, Prescott would evade the pressure and find wide receiver Brice Butler for a huge 49-yard gain down into Packer territory. The Cowboys would capitalize on the big play as Prescott would find wide receiver Cole Beasley for a 2-yard touchdown to cap off a 13-play 75-yard drive that took 6:25 take a 7-0 lead.
The Packers would quickly respond as quarterback Aaron Rodgers would find wide receiver Devontae Adams for a 10-yard touchdown pass but a missed Mason Crosby extra point made it 7-6 late first quarter on a drive that saw Rodgers go 5-of-5 for 52-yards. The Cowboys would then go on an 11-play 75-yard drive that would culminate in a touchdown as Prescott would find Beasley again this time from 5-yards out to take a 14-6 lead early second quarter. On the following series, the Cowboys defense was finally able to come up with a stop after consecutive sacks by defensive end Tyrone Crawford and defensive tackle David Irving resulted in a Packers punt.
The Cowboys would take advantage of the stop as Prescott would hit wide receiver Dez Bryant for a 10-yard touchdown pass to cap off a 10-play 57-yard drive that took 5:56 to make it 21-6 middle of the second quarter. However, the Packers would come back with a scoring drive of their own as they went 75-yards in 13-plays capped off by a 7-yard touchdown run by running back Aaron Jones to make it 21-12 at the half as Crosby missed another extra point.
The Packers would start the second half strong marching all the way down to the Cowboys four-yard line before the Cowboys defense would stiffen up forcing a 22-yard Crosby field goal to cut the lead to six, 21-15 early third quarter. Following a stop, the Packers would take over on their own 18-yard line and go on a 14-play 88-yard drive that took 7:43 and resulted in a Rodgers to wide receiver Jordy Nelson 10-yard touchdown pass to take their first lead of the game, 22-21 early fourth quarter. The Cowboys would respond as kicker Dan Bailey would hit a 43-yard field to put the Cowboys up 24-22.
Following a stop, the Packers defense would come up big as Prescott’s pass to wide receiver Terrance Williams went off of his shoulder pads and into the hands of cornerback Damarious Randall who took it back 21-yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good making it 28-24 middle of the fourth quarter. The Cowboys would go on a methodical drive chewing up 8:43 on 17-plays resulting in an 11-yard Prescott touchdown run with 1:13 left in the game to take a 31-28 lead.
With the game on the line, Rodgers would break the hearts of Cowboys fans again as he would lead the Packers offense 75-yards in 9-plays finding Adams for a 12-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left to secure the win and drop the Cowboys to 2-3.
The defense was the problem again failing to get off the field on third downs and giving the offense only one possession in the third quarter. The Cowboys defense was gashed for 25 first downs and 342 yards of total offense. Rodgers finished going 19-of-29 for 221 yards and three touchdowns through the air and four carries for 32-yards on the ground, none bigger then the 18-yard scamper on third and eight to keep the drive alive. Jones finished with a career-high 125 yards and one touchdown on 19 carriers becoming the third player this season to run for over 100-yards against the Cowboys after they allowed zero last season. Rodgers record against the Cowboys now improves to 6-2.
Offensively the Cowboys did all they could do totaling 28 first downs, 400-yards of offense and controlling the ball for 35:06. Prescott finished 25-of-36 for 243 yards and three touchdowns with one interception and added 37-yards and one score on the ground. Elliot led the way on the ground with 116-yards on 29 carries giving him 100-yards rushing in all three career games against the Packers. Tight end Jason Witten led in receiving yards and catches with eight for 61-yards.
The Cowboys have a bye next week before traveling to San Fransico to take on a struggling 49ers team and try to get back on track.
That Cowboys defense is really awful, especially against the run and whenever the pressure is on. Definitely have to give a shout out to Garrett and his coaching staff; they were tremendously bad. Garrett has always been poor at clock management, and it showed today. Plus, it makes me physically ill to watch him clap nonsensically every time one of his guys does something boneheaded.
First off, really appreciate the like. Secondly, the clapping kills me! And almost every coach does it. Like why are you clapping lol? I blame the defense more than anything. The offense has a drive that lasted over 8 minutes and they gave up a touchdown in a minute and six seconds not to mention letting Rodgers run for 18 YARDS. Plus they have to figure out how to play in the second half. Back-to-back blown second-half leads is a huge problem.