ARLINGTON — Feels like the Cowboys should get an incomplete? I mean a tie isn’t a final result, is it? Actually, the Cowboys’ first tie in more than 50 years was a wildly entertaining game and a surprising (non-loss) result for the home team. So here goes:
Offense
Green Bay came to town with the No. 1 scoring defense, No. 1 in yards per play, No. 1 in pass yards per play. I mean, the Lions couldn’t score 20 on the Packers and the Cowboys put up 40? They did it on a 319-yard error-free night from Dak Prescott and some hard inside running (85 yards on 20 carries) from Javonte Williams. The Packers have some outstanding receivers but they lacked a George Pickens on Sunday night.
Grade: A
Defense
Cowboys
Am I grading on a curve already? They surrendered 40 points and 489 total yards. But a strip-sack by James Houston was the defensive play of the night and it led to an easy seven points before halftime for Dallas. And give them credit in overtime because who expected Green Bay to do anything but drive the length of the field for the win? Holding them to a field goal makes Dallas 1-2-1 instead of 1-3.
Grade: C
Special teams
Good returns by KaVontae Turpin and a huge blocked extra point by Juanyeh Thomas that Markquese Bell returned for two points. It got Dallas on the board and the Cowboys’ half of the crowd into the game, stopping an early, loud “Go Pack Go” chant. Also got a monster hit from Marist Liufau on a punt return that ignited the crowd and the Cowboys’ bench.
Grade: A-minus
Coaching
Brian Schottenheimer and his staff had an excellent plan for making Micah Parsons an irrelevant player Sunday night, and mission accomplished. They ran as much as they could and Dak got rid of the ball quickly without just checking it down. On the other side, Matt LaFleur called a very weird game, punting twice on fourth-and-short from Dallas territory, suggesting the Packers were in no hurry to score points and put the game away. Cowboys coaches got the same result (a tie) with a lot less at their disposal.
Grade: A
Overall
None of us in The Dallas Morning News picked the Cowboys to win, and it’s a fair bet that most of the country thought the Packers would have their sixth straight road win against Dallas. It didn’t happen, even if a tie was a result no one could get a good handle on. You have to look at potential Dallas victories down the line differently than you did before the surprise result against their Green Bay nemesis.
Grade: A-minus
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