Cowboys and Packers play to a 40-40 tie
By Elwyn Henderson
The 1-2 Dallas Cowboys entertained Micah Parsons and the 2-1 Green Bay Packers on NBC/Peacock Sunday Night Football at AT&T Stadium Sunday and found themselves behind before the game even kicked off as they were a 6.5 UNDERDOG at home.
Cowboys fans were hoping their team could pull off the upset but the stadium roared “Go Pack, Go” throughout the contest as many Green Bay fans were in the stadium. When the game ended and the dust settled nobody won and the game ended in a 40-40 tie.
Dallas won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, bringing Brandon Aubrey out to kick off to begin the game. His kick was taken at the 2 and returned up to the 33 where Jordan Love and the Packers set up on offense.
Love hit former Texas Longhorns receiver on a 46-yard pass down to the Dallas 16 just a little over two minutes into the game. The drive ended with a 2-yard TD pass from Love to Romeo Doubs with 10:02 left in the first quarter. Brandon McManus hit the PAT and the Pack was up quickly 7-0. The drive was 8 plays, 67 yards and took 4:58.
The Dallas possession after the score resulted in a quick three-and-out and Bryan Anger punted the ball from his 34 to the Green Bay 15 where the ball was fair caught and Love and company hit the field for their second possession.
He visitors moved up to their 46 where Daniel Whelan punted the ball down to the Dallas 5 and Prescott and his offensive unit returned to the field hoping for more success than they had in their first possession.
After picking up one first down Anger punted the ball away on the next series and Love and company set up on their 32 with 1:18 remaining in the first quarter of play. They moved 68 yards in 9 plays over 5:41 and scored their second TD of the game when Love hit Doubs from 1 yard out with 10:37 left in the half. The PAT was blocked by Juanyeh Thomas and Marquese Bell picked up the ball and ran the other way for 2 points and Dallas got on the board but trailed 13-2.
Dallas was unable to move the ball on their next possession and Anger came in to punt the ball away from his 16. The punt was fielded at the Packers 40 and Love was on the field again trying to add to his team’s lead.
The teams exchanged punts and the Cowboys got the ball back at their 5. The offense finally got going and the ‘Boys moved into the end zone with 41 seconds left in the half when Prescott called his own number on a 2-yard quarterback draw for a TD. The extra point by Brandon Aubrey was good and Dallas had closed the gap to 13-9. The drive was 11 plays, 95 yards and took 5:05 off the clock.
After the next kickoff the Pack got the ball back at their 20 after a touchback. They ran 4 plays and then Love as sacked and Dallas recovered at the Green Bay 15 with 13 seconds left in the half.
On the first play of the possession Prescott hit George Pickens for a 15-yard TD pass with 9 seconds left in the half. Aubrey was true on the point after kick and Dallas had their first lead of the game, 16-13 and everyone in the stadium was stunned.
The kickoff after the score landed in the end zone and the Packers began at their 35 with 9 seconds left in the half. Love took a knee and the half ended.
Dallas got the opening kickoff of the second half and began the possession at their 30 after a nice return by KaVonte Turpin. It was a quick three-and-out for the Cowboys and then after an Anger punt Green Bay set up on their 24 for their first possession of the half.
The Packers moved down the field and got into the end zone to retake the lead with left in the third quarter when Josh Jacobs ran into the end zone from 1 yard out with 7:08 left in the quarter. The extra point was good and the Packers led 20-16. The 76-yard drive took 9 plays and 5:25.
Dallas began on their 20 on the next possession. Prescott moved the team the 80 yards into the end zone in 9 plays over 6:34 and found Jake Ferguson on an 8-yard TD pass with 34 seconds left in the third quarter. Aubrey’s extra point was good and the Cowboys went back in front by the score of 23-20.
The Packers set up after the next kickoff at their 30. The drive ended when Jacobs ran into the end zone from 18 yards out with 11:39 left in the game. The extra point was good and Green Bay grabbed the lead back at 27-23. The 70-yard drive took 3:55 off the clock and lasted 8 plays.
The next Cowboys possession began at their 23. They moved methodically down the field and the drive ended when Javonte Williams ran into the end zone out of a wildcat formation from the 1 with 4:50 left in the game. The extra point was good and Dallas led 30-27. The drive was 77 yards, 14 plays and took 6:45 off the fourth quarter clock.
The Packers set up at their 20 after the kickoff knowing they needed to find the end zone if the wanted to win the game.
Love moved the team down the field and they were on the Dallas 5 at the 2-minute warning with a 1st and 10 and feeling very good about pulling out the victory. The drive was aided by a bone-headed unnecessary roughness call against Marist Liufau after a Packers receiver dropped a ball and the 15-yard penalty kept the drive alive.
With 1:45 left in the game Love hit Doubs on a 15-yard TD pass on a big 3rd down. The extra point was good and Green Bay got the lead back 34-30. The drive was 10 plays, 80 yards and took 3:05 off the clock.
Dallas got one last possession knowing Brandon Aubrey could not get them out of the jam and knowing they had to find a way to get into the end zone. Turpin got a 46-yard return up to his 47 and the Pokes had a shot.
They took advantage of the opportunity and Prescott hit Pickens from 28 yards out with 43 seconds left in regulation. Aubrey’s extra point try was good and the Cowboys claimed the lead back at 37-34. The drive was 4 plays, 54 yards and took just 1:02.
Green Bay knew if they could get into field goal range they could potentially tie the game and go into overtime and they had all 3 of their timeouts remaining. The Dallas defense was determined not to let that happen so it came down to who wanted the win the most.
They moved down to the Dallas 35 with 4 seconds left and McManus hit a 53-yard field goal as the clock expired, tying the score at 37-37 and sending the game into overtime. The drive was 7 plays, 39 yards and took the final 43 second off the fourth quarter clock.
Green Bay won the overtime coin toss and elected to kick. Dallas started at their 20 after a holding call on the return and they set the goal of moving down and getting a touchdown.
The Cowboys moved down to the Packers 4 but on 4th down and goal they were forced to settle for a 22-yard Aubrey field goal with 4:40 left in OT, putting the home team up 40-37. The drive was 10 plays, 76 yards and took 5:20 of the overtime clock.
Green Bay got their chance to either tie the game or get the win with a TD on their ensuing possession. They began on their 20 after a touchback that landed in the landing zone by Aubrey.
Love brought his guys out to see if they could either escape with a time or a win. Dallas forced a 4th and 7 but former Longhorn Matthew Golden caught a pass up to the 38 and the Pack had another set of downs.
The Pack moved down to the Dallas 16 with 1 second left after an incomplete pass and McManus nailed a 34-yard field goal as time expired and the game ended in a 40-40 tie.
When Coach Brian Shottenheimer came to face the media after the lengthy and disappointing game for both teams the Mirror asked him if this game was the craziest one he had ever been a part of during his many years in the NFL.
“Lot of games for me in the NFL. It’s definitely one that I will remember, and I think I’ll remember it because I’m just, I’m so proud of our guys’ fight, but golly I wanted them to get that win. And so, I think that’s what I’ll take away from it. I mean, to come in and play that team, that’s a damn good football team we just played, and our guys just battled for 70 minutes, and the ebbs and flows. And so, I told them how proud I was of them. You know, it’s a tie, and I really don’t know what to say about that. But yeah, I’ll remember it for a while.”
We also asked Shotty about his thoughts on how newly acquired defender Jadaveon Clowney performed on the field in his first action since joining the team.
“Yeah, again, I talked to JD after the game, and he was hard on himself. He said, ‘I’m knocking the rust off, Schotty. I’ll be better.’ If that’s knocking the rust off man, I’ll take two of those. But, you know, he’s fitting in great. He really is. And, like I’ve talked about, I love veterans with experience that are willing to talk and teach the young guys, because we need that.”
When quarterback Dak Prescott faced the media after the game he was asked his thoughts about the tie and he gave a lengthy dissertation spelling out exactly how he felt.
“You don’t play the game for ties. I don’t care about the stats, the ups and downs, the ebbs and flows. I just care about the end result and the win. When you don’t get that right now, it’s tough for me. In 10 years, it’s the first tie I’ve been a part of. It’s hard to wrap my head around it because I know I’d feel a lot worse if it was a loss. But, I’m not satisfied, not that I would be if we’d won. But it’s a weird feeling to what Schotty alluded to. I heard the end of it, it’s just the fight and the resilience of the team, staying together and believing in each other every chance and every opportunity. I don’t know about you, but I thought that last play of regulation before the clock was done then. Just tough to wrap my head around the tie right now. A lot that we can build and grow from. We’re still only four weeks into the season, so we’re almost done with this first quarter of it. We’re starting to figure out who we are, in a sense, on both sides. It’s all about playing complimentary ball and making sure we get a win, whatever it takes to get a win. We didn’t do that tonight. That’ll be the conversation tomorrow and throughout this week, is doing whatever it takes to win.”
After facing four straight NFC teams to begin the season the Cowboys will hit the road next Sunday, October 5th for their first AFC foe of the year, the New York Jets. They will go into that game hoping they can close it out with a “W”. Kickoff is set for high noon Central Time and you can see the game on Fox.
