Packers Stock Report: Risers and Fallers After Tie Against Cowboys

The Green Bay Packers started hot, but the special teams faltered and defense crumbled. Here are the risers and fallers following a 40-40 tie at the Dallas Cowboys.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs (87) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

If there was any fear that the Green Bay Packers would be suffering any sort of hangover effect coming off their first loss of the season in disastrous fashion, they put that to bed quickly with a dominating start on Sunday night at the Dallas Cowboys.

After scoring a touchdown to take a two-score lead, disaster struck with a blocked extra point being returned for two points.

On the ensuing possession, Dak Prescott ran for a touchdown to make the score 13-9, and then Jadeveon Clowney recovered a fumble from Jordan Love to give the Cowboys the ball at the Packers’ 15-yard line with 13 seconds left. Prescott hit George Pickens for a touchdown one play later, and a game the Packers were dominating through most of two quarters turned into a 16-13 deficit.

The second half was a barn burner that saw each team trade blows. Dallas took a 40-37 lead at the start of overtime. Green Bay had a chance to win but mismanaged the clock and had to settle for a 40-40 tie that allowed it to get out of Dallas without a second consecutive embarrassing loss.

Here is this week’s stock report.

Stock Up: LB Quay Walker

Has there been a player who has improved more from Thanksgiving to now than Quay Walker?

On Nov. 17, Walker had a tough game against the Chicago Bears. He followed that up with two of the best games of his career against the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins.

Nonetheless, he did not get a contract extension in the offseason. The Packers did not pick up his fifth-year option, either, which they did do for his fellow draft classmate and former Georgia teammate Devonte Wyatt.

The Packers have insisted they want to keep Walker in the fold long term. Talk is cheap, but a potential contract extension for Walker may not be any longer. He was flying all over the field early in the game. Each of Dallas’ first two series were ended on plays made by Walker to stop Cowboys ball-carriers short of the sticks.

Walker finished the night with 11 tackles, including one for a loss.

With the bye coming up, perhaps that would be time for Gutekunst to work with Walker and his representation to make good on the words he’s spoken throughout the offseason.

Stock Up: QB Jordan Love

Yes, Jordan Love was stripped for a fumble before halftime. That was a big play in the game, because it gave Dallas the ball with a chance to take the lead before halftime.

Outside of that? Love was brilliant when coach Matt LaFleur put the ball in his hands.

The Packers’ quarterback was surgical on the team’s opening touchdown drive, including a 46-yard completion to Matthew Golden in which he could have taken his pick between Golden and Dontayvion Wicks as to who was the most open on the play.

Love threw two short touchdown passes in the first half and helped his team build an early lead.

The first time he touched the ball in the second half was similar. Love, with his team trailing 16-13, led his team down the field for another touchdown drive that was finished off by a short plunge from Josh Jacobs.

With the team trailing 23-20 early in the fourth quarter, Love saved Sean Rhyan’s bacon after he gave up immediate pressure. Love ran for 25 yards keeping a drive alive that ended in a touchdown run from Jacobs.

Jacobs got the glory at the end, but that was all set up by Love’s playmaking ability that was absent largely due to an injury a season ago.

Love was reliable on a night where nothing else really was.

The defense, which had been great all season, failed, forcing Love to do more than he’d been asked to do through the first three games of the year. Even when the Cowboys had everything right on defense, Love was brilliant.

With the Packers facing a third-and-10 from the Cowboys’ 15, Love threw a strike to Romeo Doubs in the middle of the field for a touchdown to give the team a 34-30 lead with 1:45 left in regulation to give his team a chance to win the game.

He finished regulation with 302 passing yards and three touchdown passes before getting the ball with a chance to win the game in overtime after the Packers’ defense forced a field goal.

He converted a fourth-and-6 with a strike to Matthew Golden for 14 yards. After two runs from Emanuel Wilson, he hit Dontayvion Wicks for 15 yards. Then he hit Doubs for six.

After that, for whatever reason, the ball was taken out of his hands.

Some poor execution, to be clear, and Love’s management of his final pass of the game was poor, as well. He was lucky his last pass to Matthew Golden fell incomplete.

Despite that fact, it felt more like Love’s coach was more concerned with the Cowboys having time to kick a game-winning field goal than he was to let his quarterback win the game for him. Love finished 31-of-43 for 337 yards and three touchdown passes. It was his most productive game of the season.

Stock Up: WR Romeo Doubs

Who is the Packers’ top wide receiver? There was a clear answer delivered on Sunday night, and the name was Romeo Doubs.

Doubs is often solid, if unspectacular, but he has some great memories at AT&T Stadium. He had 151 receiving yards in the team’s playoff win over the Cowboys two seasons ago. It’s the one and only 100-yard game of his career. On Sunday night, he was the leading man when the money was on the line.

He scored two touchdowns in the first half to help the Packers build a lead. His third touchdown of the game was the biggest of the night to date, giving the Packers a 34-30 lead that would have held up as a game-winning touchdown if Green Bay’s defense from the first three games of the season was on the field.

Alas, it was not, so the Packers gave that lead away in just over 60 seconds.

Doubs finished with three touchdowns and had a huge third-down conversion to set up his final touchdown.  

Stock Up: RB Josh Jacobs

Josh Jacobs has had a quiet start to the season, largely due to factors outside of his control. As teams have loaded the box to try and stop the run, Jacobs’ production has suffered. Against Dallas, he was the touchdown machine that the Packers paid for a season ago and looked more explosive with more room to gallop thanks to the guys in front of him.

Jacobs finished with 86 yards on 22 carries and added another 71 yards through the air. It was by far his most productive game of the season, and the Packers will need more of him as the year progresses.

Stock Down: Matt LaFleur/End-of-Game Management

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is shown on Sunday night at the Cowboys. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

When the Packers had the ball at the Dallas 40 with 2 minutes left in overtime, it felt like destiny they were going to waltz into the end zone for a game-winning touchdown.

They had plenty of time and one timeout in the bank. However, they ran only two plays between the 2-minute timeout and the clock running under 30 seconds and the Packers using their second timeout.

Ultimately, they’d run two more plays, the last of which they were fortunate the pass hit the turf with 1 second left on the clock.

Brandon Aubrey is as good as it gets, but he cannot step on the field if the Packers were to score a touchdown on that final possession. Instead, the coach who once claimed he was all gas, no brake, slammed on the brakes, pulled the emergency brake and took the keys out of the ignition altogether.

The management throughout the game was suspect, but none worse than the way he approached the end of the game, especially with how well his offense played throughout the night.

Stock Down: Carrington Valentine, Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs

Nate Hobbs was one of the prized acquisitions the Packers made this offseason and looked to be full-go for the first time this season. He was off to a good start with a pass breakup deep down the sideline the first time he was targeted. He also was the big culprit of the first two touchdown drives the Packers have given up in the first half this season.  

First, Hobbs was in position to make a play on a deep ball to George Pickens that helped set up Dallas’ first touchdown. He failed to contest the catch and, ultimately, Dallas scored two plays later.

After Jordan Love was strip-sacked, it looked like Hobbs was supposed to be in coverage on Pickens on the first play after the turnover. He wasn’t there, and Pickens was standing all alone in the end zone to give Dallas a 16-13 halftime lead.

Had Dak Prescott had more time on Dallas’ first series of the third quarter, Hobbs may have been victimized again by Pickens, but instead he challenged Nixon, who was in position to force a Dallas punt.

He also had a play when KaVontae Turpin beat him off the line of scrimmage for what would have been a touchdown. Instead, Prescott threw the other direction, but that would have been another walk-in touchdown for Dallas’ receiving corps.

Later, he was boxed out by Jake Ferguson on a touchdown that gave the Cowboys a lead late in the third quarter.

He would later leave the game being evaluated for a concussion, giving way to Carrington Valentine. The whole defensive backfield struggled tonight, but Valentine really struggled in relief of Hobbs.

He was beaten for a touchdown by Pickens for Dallas’ go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter thanks to poor tackling technique. In overtime, he was beaten by Pickens on third-and-5 for 22 yards.

In overtime, Keisean Nixon looked like he gave up on a 34-yard completion to Jalen Tolbert, which looked like it was going to be a throwaway but instead gave the Cowboys a first-and-goal at the 5.

Ultimately, the cornerback room, subject to a lot of criticism during the offseason, had its worst night of the season. They gave up 319 yards passing to Prescott and three touchdown passes.

Stock Down: Punt Return Game

The Packers do not have a punt returner.

Matthew Golden stands back there, but he has not looked comfortable at all in his extended looks since Jayden Reed was injured and went on injured reserve.

He fair caught his first chance at a return tonight when it looked like he had some room to gain some yards for his offense. His second attempt was one he could have caught in the air with plenty of room to run. Instead, he played it off a hop and took away the chance he had at a big return.

His third opportunity was one he likely wishes he didn’t try to catch, as he got smoked by Marist Liufau. It’s not necessarily Golden’s fault. He’s inexperienced at the position – he hasn’t returned punts in his life, he said this week – and they replaced him with Romeo Doubs in the second half.

It was Doubs’ first career punt return, despite practicing it for each of his four seasons as Packer.

The Packers used to have a veteran option on the roster, but they released Mecole Hardman earlier this week.

Going into the bye week, this could be something the Packers look to try and rectify.

As we’ve seen before, if there’s a problem on special teams, it tends to rear its ugly head at the worst possible time.

Golden is talented as a receiver, as evidenced by his 46-yard reception on the first series of the game. As a returner, however, the Packers need to find someone who is more comfortable.

Stock Down: Kicking Game

Brandon McManus faced a kicker’s biggest nightmare a week ago.

His game-winning attempt was blocked by Shelby Harris, and the Packers ultimately lost the game against the Browns as a result.

This week, the rebound was not much better.

McManus’ first extra point went off without a hitch, but his second one looked awfully familiar. After a Jordan Love touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs, the Packers looked like they were going to be up 14-0 and set to unleash their dominant defense against Dak Prescott and Dallas’ short-handed offense.

Instead, McManus’ kick was blocked and returned by Marquise Bell to give the Cowboys their first points of the night.

That’s two weeks in a row in which the Packers have had a kick blocked. That turned the entire game on its head. Assuming everything played out the same, but the Packers just made the extra point, the score would have been 14-14 at halftime.

Instead, the Packers’ special teams continued to light points on fire and they trailed at half as a result.

To be sure, they did redeem themselves to some degree with two clutch field goals to tie the game at the end of regulation and overtime.

As Rich Bisaccia often says, however, special teams does not get a second down, and those miscues cost the Packers a win that could come handy later in the season.

Stock Down: LT Rasheed Walker

Walker certainly is not the lone culprit in terms of offensive linemen who did not have their best night, but one of the biggest plays of the game came at his expense.

With the Packers leading 13-9 late in the first half, Walker was beaten by James Houston, who stripped Love and set the Cowboys up in scoring range. Walker was not good against Cleveland last week, but neither was anyone else on the offensive line.

Walker also has the most to lose of the linemen on the roster. Walker is going to be a free agent at the end of the season. Considering Jordan Morgan was in competition with Walker during training camp, it’s unlikely he’s going to get a second contract in Green Bay. Walker is likely going to get a nice contract. Any tackle with a pulse seems to get one of those, but every poor performance could cost him dollars.

For now, it’s costing the Packers opportunities on offense. Walker is a veteran, they need their blindside protector to play better. 

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