Packers Make NFL Overtime History in Tie Against Cowboys

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The NFL created overtime in 1974. The 30th overtime tie in NFL history was also its highest scoring as the Green Bay Packers battled to a 40-40 draw against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at AT&T Stadium.

According to Stathead, the previous high was the combined 74 points in a 37-37 tie between the Bengals and Panthers in 2014. Both teams scored field goals in overtime of that game, as well.

“We didn’t come down here to tie a football game, but that’s what happened,” coach Matt LaFleur said.

The teams battled for 3 hours and 47 minutes but neither got to celebrate a victory.

For the Packers, at least they remained undefeated AT&T Stadium – 5-0-1 against the Cowboys and 6-0-1 overall, including Super Bowl XLV. But at 2-1-1, they are in the familiar position of staring up at the first-place Detroit Lions in the NFC North standings.

For the Cowboys, they are 1-0-1 at home, with both games going to overtime, and 0-2 on the road.

There are no ties in college, so this, not surprisingly, was the first tie of Jordan Love’s career.

“It sucks. It doesn’t feel good. It feels kind of weird,” he said. “It’s my first time going through a tie. It feels weird to play a full game and end in a tie. It’s definitely tough. Offensively, we did some good things. I still think we left a lot out there. I still think there’s some drives we didn’t execute well.”

First and foremost was the end of the first half. After Dallas pulled within 13-9, the Packers got the ball at their 20 with 41 seconds remaining and one timeout. Green Bay picked up one first down on a third-and-10 screen to Tucker Kraft, with the Packers using their final timeout with the ball on the 32 with 21 seconds remaining.

A false start by Darian Kinnard was bad. The sack/strip on the next play was infinitely worse. The Cowboys scored on the next play, incredibly turning what should have been a 14-0 deficit into a 16-13 lead.

“Obviously, the end-of-half situation, turning the ball over and putting them in a scoring position” was a turning point, Love said. “I still think there’s so much more out there that we’ve just got to keep executing.”

The second half turned into a Wild West shootout. After Dallas punted to start the second half:

- Green Bay drove 76 yards for a touchdown to lead 20-16.

- Dallas drove 80 yards for a touchdown to lead 23-20.

- Green Bay drove 70 yards for a touchdown to lead 27-23.

- Dallas drove 77 yards for a touchdown to lead 30-27.

- Green Bay drove 89 yards for a touchdown to lead 34-30.

- Dallas drove 54 yards for a touchdown to lead 37-34.

- Green Bay drove 39 yards for a field goal to force overtime.

- Dallas started with the ball in overtime and drove 76 yards for a field goal to lead 40-37.

- Green Bay drove 64 yards at the end of overtime for a field goal to salvage a tie.

“It’s like right in the middle,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “It don’t feel like a win. It don’t feel like a loss. You’re just right in the middle. There’s a lot of things on the tape that I know we’re going to have to correct and we’re going to have to be better moving forward.”

Added cornerback Keisean Nixon: “Ain’t lose. We ain’t win. Tie, I guess. I ain’t never had that. It’s my first tie ever, so just cope with that.”

The tie wasted excellent performances by Love and running back Josh Jacobs. After Jacobs found little daylight the first three games, he led the Packers with 86 rushing yards as well as 71 receiving yards.

“Weird. Honestly, that’s the only way I can really explain it,” he said. “I think the stuff before the half, we kind of shot our self in the foot a little bit. Came out and tried to battle, had a chance to still win it at the end of the game. Got to find a way to pull those out.”

It was the seventh overtime tie in Packers history. The last was in 2018, Mike McCarthy’s final season as coach. Green Bay emerged with a 29-29 tie against the Minnesota Vikings on Vikings rookie kicker Daniel Carlson’s third missed field goal of the game. While the Packers survived with a tie, Carlson lost his job – only to become one of the best kickers in the league upon landing with the Raiders.

The Packers gave up 44 points in the first three games of the season but were trounced for 40 by Dallas. The Cowboys’ final seven possessions resulted in five touchdowns and one field goal.

“It’s my first time tying, seventh year,” said defensive end Rashan Gary, who failed to build upon his league-high 4.5 sacks. “It’s not a win, it’s not a loss. It don’t feel good. It’s not up to our standard. All three phases of the ball, we got to be better, talking about myself included. We got to be better and we will.”

The highest-scoring overtime games came in the AFL. In 1964, the Oakland Raiders and Boston Patriots battled to a 43-43 draw. Boston’s Babe Parilli and Oakland’s Cotton Davidson threw four touchdowns apiece.

“You don’t play the game for ties,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said. “I don’t care about the stats, the ups and downs, the ebbs and flows. I just care about the end result and the win. When you don’t get that right now, it’s tough for me. In 10 years, it’s the first tie I’ve been a part of. It’s hard to wrap my head around it because I know I’d feel a lot worse if it was a loss.”

Seventh Overtime Tie in Packers History

2025: 40-40 at Dallas Cowboys

2018: 29-29 at home against Minnesota Vikings

2013: 26-26 at home against Minnesota Vikings

1987: 17-17 at home against Denver Broncos

1982: 20-20 at Baltimore Colts

1980: 14-14 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1978: 10-10 at home against Minnesota Vikings

Seventh Overtime Tie in Packers History

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