The Dallas Cowboys lost a heartbreaker in overtime against the Green Bay Packers by a final score of 31-28. Dallas led by 14 points in the third quarter but could not fend off quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who notched the 20th fourth-quarter comeback of his career.
Both teams started slowly, going punt, missed field goal, punt, punt before Dallas opened the scoring. Quarterback Dak Prescott hit receiver CeeDee Lamb from 3 yards out. Lamb squeezed between two defenders to sneak into the endzone for the score.
Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence earned a strip sack on Rodgers in the second quarter and recovered the fumble to give Dallas an opportunity to go up by two scores. On the second play of the drive, Prescott was intercepted by Rudy Ford on a pass intended for tight end Dalton Schultz. Green Bay would score three plays later on a 58-yard pass to even the score.
Prescott threw another interception on the next drive, again snatched by Rudy Ford, who ran 34 yards to put the Packers in scoring position. A 12-yard run by Aaron Jones gave the Packers a seven-point lead.
A Dalton Schultz touchdown by Dallas before the half tied the score at 14. The Cowboys opened the second half by scoring two touchdowns to open up a 28-14 lead into the third quarter. The Packers scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, then forced a punt following a seven-play drive that advanced 25 yards. The Packers tied the game on the next drive, leaving only 0:22 on the clock.
Dallas won the toss and received the ball to open the overtime period. An offsides penalty on second-and-three by Jalen Tolbert erased a Tony Pollard first down, then a holding penalty on Connor McGovern wiped out a 16-yard gain by Malik Davis. Prescott was able to complete a 16-yard pass to get the penalty yardage back and set up a makeable third-and-three. Prescott was unable to connect with Lamb on third down and tossed an incompletion on fourth down to avoid a sack.
Green Bay was able to maneuver into close field goal range on another penalty by Dallas. Dante Fowler was making a tackle on Jones when he grabbed the facemask of the Packers runner, drawing a 15-yard add-on to the five-yard run. Kicker Mason Crosby knocked the 27-yard chip shot field goal for the win.
The game marks the first time that Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has played at Lambeau Field since his firing as the head coach of the Packers in 2018. The return was spoiled by the overtime loss, but the coach did share a moment before the game with Rodgers who was the starting quarterback for the Packers throughout most of McCarthy’s tenure there.
The Cowboys now drop to 6-4 and are losing ground to the Philadelphia Eagles who remain unbeaten and face division rivals the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football. The Cowboys will be in Minnesota to take on the Vikings next week. The Vikings played this week’s other overtime game, a stunning roller coaster that resulted in a 33-30 win over the Buffalo Bills.