The Green Bay Packers got elite level performances from their quarterback, star pass-rusher and Pro Bowl running back, but too breakdowns in coverage and on special teams created a old fashioned shootout at AT&T Stadium and a rather historic 40-40 tie with the Dallas Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 4.
The Packers will win a lot of football games in 2025 when Jordan Love, Micah Parsons and Josh Jacobs play as well as they did on Sunday night. But they’ll also be in position to lose games if the supporting cast struggles as consistently as some did against the Cowboys.
Here are the studs and duds from the Packers’ Week 4 tie:
Studs
QB Jordan Love: Protect Love and good things happen. He was incredibly accurate and efficient again from clean pockets, completing 25 of 27 passes and producing all three touchdown passes. He also effectively attacked the short area of the field, completing all 26 of his attempts on passes thrown under 10 yards down the field. Love did make one big play under pressure, avoiding what should have been a crushing third-down sack and scrambling for 25 yards. Love of 2024 just wouldn’t have been able to make that play. He’s healthy now and moving around great. It’s hard to blame him for the strip-sack, but a quarterback has to be secure with the football in that spot late in the half. The operation also wasn’t clean to end overtime, which always falls at least partially on the quarterback’s shoulders. But considering who was playing along the offensive line, and who wasn’t playing at wide receiver, Love was incredible. He consistently moved the chains with big conversions and brought the Packers back with points in a back-and-forth shootout. It’s just unfortunate that he didn’t get better opportunities to go for the win once the Packerss were in scoring range late in overtime.
DE Micah Parsons: In his return to Dallas, Parsons was quietly incredible. PFF credited him with 10 pressures; Next Gen Stats said seven. Either way, Parsons was consistently disruptive, both in getting quick wins in 1-on-1 situations and hustle wins against double (and even triple) teams. The problem? Dak Prescott was incredible, and the Cowboys had a terrific plan for negating the pass rush. Parsons did have a pair of run stops in the red zone, and his chase down “sack” of Prescott inside the 10-yard line probably saved the game in overtime. Without Parsons’ incredible speed and hustle, Prescott almost certainly scrambles into the end zone for a touchdown. It was a tackle worth four points. The Packers defense struggled mightily but not at all because of the former Cowboy.
RB Josh Jacobs: He turned 26 touches into 157 total yards, a season-high and his most since joining the Packers in 2024. Not only did Jacobs score twice, including an 18-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, but he had a 28-yard catch setting up a touchdown in the first half, one drive where he produced 34 total yards and the 1-yard touchdown run, and a 25-yard catch helping set up the game-tying field goal to end regulation. Counting catches and runs, Jacobs had five plays of at least 14 yards. The 2024 Pro Bowler consistently made explosive plays to set up scoring opportunities in big spots. While the run game was still a slog at times, Jacobs once again worked hard for every yard despite often encountering resistance at or behind the line of scrimmage.
WR Romeo Doubs: His missed block on Matthew Golden’s catch late in overtime was a killer play, but Doubs was otherwise fanastic, completing two contested catch touchdowns and giving the Packers a late lead with a 15-yard score in the fourth quarter. He also made a clutch contested catch for 18 yards on 3rd-and-7 to kickstart the go-ahead drive that ended in his touchdown catch. With a need on special teams, Doubs successfully handled punt returns in the second half. Jordan Love trusts him so much in the scoring area and big spots and it’s easy to see why. Doubs has the body control and strong hands to make tough catches against tight coverage.
K Brandon McManus: The blocked point wasn’t at all his fault — the protection blew and it was an easy block. From there, McManus made the rest of his extra points and connected on two clutch kicks, including the 53-yarder to send the game into overtime. McManus also made a tackle covering a kickoff to open overtime, and then brushed off a brief injury before making the 34-yarder to ensure the tie.
Duds
CB Carrington Valentine: Valentine played only 16 snaps in coverage against the Cowboys. He still allowed five catches on five targets for 72 yards and a touchdown, including a 28-yard score to George Pickens (which included a missed tackle from Valentine) and a fourth-down conversion to Pickens. Valentine was also lined up offsides on Javonte Williams’ 1-yard touchdown run. He brings little to the table in run support, so Valentine can’t afford to be such a liability in coverage.
TE Luke Musgrave: While his block helped spring Josh Jacobs on an 18-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, his performance in the run game was mostly average to subpar, and he caught just one pass for six yards despite being on the field for 12 passing snaps. His positive impact on offense has been hard to find through four weeks. On special teams, his whiffed block on field goal protection resulted in a game-changing blocked extra point.
CB Nate Hobbs: The former Raider gave up touchdown catches to receiver George Pickens (uncontested) and tight end Jake Ferguson, and he got beat on a contested catch by Pickens inside the 5-yard line. Pickens also dropped a ball in which he beat Hobbs clean on a slant and had a gain of at least 12-15 yards, and there was at least 2-3 other snaps where Hobbs got beat without being targeted, so the damage could have been a lot worse. To his credit, Hobbs was fearless as a tackler and supporting against the run, and he did break up a pass intended for Pickens. His physicality showed up time and time again. But covering on the perimeter against a good player like Pickens was a real adventure.
DE Rashan Gary: While he was physical setting the edge and attacking down the line in the run game, Gary made little impact in the passing game. Neither PFF nor Next Gen Stats tracked him with a pressure despite playing 26 pass-rushing snaps. The lack of production was especially disappointing considering the quality of the Cowboys tackles and the amount of attention the Cowboys were sending at Micah Parsons. Overall, the Packers pass-rushers not named Parsons weren’t good enough against a so-so offensive line.
RG Sean Rhyan: He committed two penalties — a false start near the goal line and an ineligible man down field infraction on a failed RPO. Rhyan also gave up four pressures, including two quarterback hits. He was very fortunate that Jordan Love was able to avoid the immediate pressure he allowed and scramble for 25 yards on a key third down in the second half. Rhyan is a multi-year starter in a contract year. The Packers absolutely need him to play better coming out of the bye. Conditioning could be a problem, and the remedy would be a rotation in games if everyone along the offensive line can get healthy.
DL Nazir Stackhouse: Stackhouse and Colby Wooden struggled at the point of attack in the run game, but Stackhouse was moved too easily and too often by a mostly average interior offensive line. Losing Devonte Wyatt midgame really hurt, and the Packers might have a problem if he has to miss any significant time.