Stay Hot, Wisconsin: 3 Takeaways As Packers Continue Win Streak In Victory vs. Cowboys

Remember when the world was crashing down on the Green Bay Packers? When their offensive line was a disaster? When we’d already started thinking about writing the eulogy on their season? 

Well, now they're one of the hottest teams in the NFL. 

Green Bay took down the Dallas Cowboys 23-13 at Lambeau Field on Sunday night, its third straight victory — tied for the second-longest active winning streak in the NFL. The Packers (4-2) scored 17 points in the first half, blanking the Cowboys in the first 30 minutes to go with two takeaways. And for the Cowboys (2-4), they've now lost three of their last four games. 

Concern continues to mount in Dallas after scoring just 13 points, one week after losing to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Here are my takeaways from Sunday’s game: 

1.

Cowboys' Offense Isn't Good Enough To Overcome Bad Defense

Dak Prescott and the Cowboys’ passing attack struggled Sunday night, but we’ve seen it: Prescott and wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens can catch fire in the blink of an eye.

Dallas’ run game, though, remains an Achilles heel for Brian Schottenheimer’s offense. It produced just 48 yards on 15 carries (3.2 yards per rush) in Week 6 — the fifth time in six games that the Cowboys have had 75 or fewer rushing yards. With the Packers doing such a great job covering the back end, Dallas had nothing it could lean on offensively. It makes life much more difficult for Prescott, who had one of his worst games of the season (34 of 54, 258 yards, TD, 2 INTs).

So this is at the crux of the Cowboys’ problems: Dallas’ offense can’t be consistently effective enough to bail out its defense, which continues to struggle. 

The Packers went 11 of 18 on third down, including seven straight conversions on third down to start the game. It was a lot worse for defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s unit than the final score suggests, but missed opportunities by receivers Christian Watson and Matthew Golden helped (more on this below).

2.

Packers' Offense Is Both Lethal And Limited

When Jordan Love drops back and the Packers’ O-line gives him time to throw, there’s arguably no scarier sight to NFL defenses right now. Between Love’s superb deep ball and WR1-caliber production from both Christian Watson and Matthew Golden, the Packers can be borderline unstoppable in the passing game — even if it didn’t always look that way Sunday night, when Golden dropped two would-be touchdowns and Watson couldn’t secure a pass that touched his hands in the end zone. The threat is there.   

But Green Bay’s run game has been a persistent issue, and it showed up again Sunday night, when the Packers had just 57 rushing yards and couldn’t dominate the time-of-possession battle. And the Cowboys entered this week with the league’s worst run defense. 

So what happens when the passing game is off for the Packers against better defenses? When they have to prove that they can move the chains and get chunk yards on the ground? Green Bay, which has climbed back into NFC contention after a rough start to the year, is not a championship-caliber team as long as it's one-dimensional offensively. 

3.

Packers Will Have An Elite Defense When Micah Parsons Returns

In back-to-back weeks, the Packers have lost standout linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and veteran defensive tackle Javon Hargrave to season-ending Achilles injuries. That’s on top of the continued absence of All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons (ACL), who’s yet to practice and remains on the physically unable to perform list. 

So Green Bay has been shorted defensively, but that hasn’t seemed to matter. A week after registering its first five-takeaway game in a decade, the Packers’ defense stymied the Cowboys’ explosive offense. Dallas didn’t score until nearly halfway through the third quarter, and its second touchdown practically came in garbage time. 

In the first half, Green Bay picked off Dak Prescott twice — the Cowboys quarterback had just three interceptions through the first five games — and held Dallas scoreless. Veteran safety Evan Williams, who had one of the picks, has been playing at an All-Pro level. 

The Packers have been an effective blitzing team and strong on early downs. Entering this week, they were allowing the third-fewest yards per play (4.3) and third-lowest success rate (38.2%) on first and second downs, according to Next Gen Stats. That can position Parsons to thrive on passing downs when he returns, elevating Green Bay in a huge way in the process. 

The Cowboys are back in primetime next week, as they’ll travel to Philadelphia to face the division-rival Eagles on Monday Night Football. The Packers will be on the road to face the Detroit Lions in America’s Game of the Week next Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX One and the FOX Sports app).