Homecomings aren’t always happy, and that certainly wasn’t the case for Cowboys Head Coach Mike McCarthy on Sunday.
Green Bay snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over the Cowboys in McCarthy’s first game back at Lambeau Field since his firing at the end of the 2018 season.
It was a game the Cowboys expected to win, and one they should have won given the Packers’ recent struggles.
Here’s a look at some of the highlights and lowlights from Dallas’ week 10 loss:
STAR UP…
CeeDee Lamb: What you saw for much of this game, particularly in the second half, is what you really hope the connection between Dak and CeeDee can be. As Lamb went, so did the Cowboys offense. There was the interception before the half where Lamb either rounded off his route or had poor communication with Prescott, but it was a single blip on an otherwise excellent performance.
DeMarcus Lawrence: Lawrence was incredibly active on Sunday, forcing a fumble on a strip sack of Aaron Rodgers, and making a couple of nice plays in the run game. Some fans have expressed frustration with Lawrence’s lack of sack numbers in recent years, but he’s still an incredibly well-rounded, impactful defensive end.
Draw Plays: The Cowboys had three really big gains on draw plays with Tony Pollard. The first was a 14-yard gain following a Tyler Smith holding penalty that put them in 2nd and 13. Dallas ultimately scored on that drive. The second was an 11-yard gain coming out of a timeout on the final drive before the end of the first half. That drive also ended in a touchdown. And the third was a touchdown itself, when Pollard scampered in from 14 yards to put the Cowboys up 28-14. The running game for Dallas was strong for the most part, even getting big contributions from rookie UDFA Malik Davis, and a big factor was their ability to gash the Packers with draw plays.
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STAR DOWN…
Overtime Penalties: There are plenty of things over the course of the game that you could point to as the reason for Dallas' loss on Sunday, but Connor McGovern's overtime hold erased a big run from Malik Davis. The Cowboys ultimately couldn't overcome the penalty and turned the ball over on downs a few plays later. Jalen Tolbert's penalty was erased by a Tony Pollard carry on the next play, but the lack of discipline overall was damaging.
Communication/Chemistry in Passing Game: There is clearly something not right about the communication between Dak Prescott and his receivers. There have been too many instances of Dak zigging and a receiver zagging. Both interceptions appeared to be the result of some sort of misunderstanding. It appeared to improve in the second half, but we’ve seen instances of this in each of Dak’s three games since he returned from injury. Chemistry is a joint effort, which means all parties involved need to work to remedy this in the coming weeks.
Corners Not Named Trevon Diggs: Whether it was Anthony Brown, DaRon Bland, or Kelvin Joseph, the Cowboys were getting abused at corner on the left side. Brown gave up the big 58-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson, and Joseph gave up a 2nd and 22 conversion to Sammy Watkins. It was Bland falling down on the big overtime catch and run by Allen Lazard that iced the game. Aaron Rodgers only completed 14 passes, but he was highly efficient due to some poor play from Dallas' corners.
Run Defense: The Cowboys run defense continues to be a problem. Whenever the Packers wanted to run the ball, they were able to do so. That theme of being able to run on the Cowboys whenever you need to has been a dark cloud over a defense that has largely been excellent for most of this season.