Ten Most Important Players for Packers at Cowboys on Sunday Night

GREEN BAY, Wis. – After last week’s embarrassing loss in Cleveland, the Green Bay Packers need a strong bounce-back performance to get back on track against the Dallas Cowboys.

Green Bay is 5-0 at AT&T Stadium, which is an interesting track record of success but totally irrelevant for this game. These 10 players, not the history, will be the biggest factors for the Packers.

No. 10: Tucker Kraft

Tucker Kraft would like the football. Please and thank you.

“I believe that I offer a different kind of consistent explosiveness whenever I get the ball in my hands,” Kraft said this week.

“That’s always my argument is what happens when 85 touches the football? Is it a first down? Is it an explosive? Breaking tackles? Is he getting in the end zone? That’s just my brand. Give me the ball and just watch what happens every time. I just try to be the most consistent player on offense one snap at a time.”

Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich agreed with Kraft.

“We’ve got to get him the ball,” he said.

Dallas has been good against opposing tight ends, though Chicago rookie Colston Loveland had a 31-yard catch last week. If Kraft wants the ball and Stenavich wants to get him the ball, chances are he’s going to get the ball.

No. 9: Darian Kinnard

While Green Bay’s line performed poorly last week and likely will be without three key players against the Cowboys with Zach Tom and Anthony Belton out and Aaron Banks doubtful, the coaches probably feel good about left tackle Rasheed Walker, left guard Jordan Morgan, center Elgton Jenkins and right guard Sean Rhyan. Those four players got a lot of action together during training camp.

They might not feel as good about Darian Kinnard, who presumably will get the start at right tackle.

A fifth-round pick in 2022, Kinnard in his first three seasons had won as many Super Bowls (three) as he had played regular-season games. Green Bay traded for him before final cuts, and he’s played right tackle in all three games this season. If he starts against Dallas, it would be the second start of his career.

“I think he gets better every day,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “He gets more comfortable with what we’re asking him to do. Even in the limited snaps he’s played for us, I think he’s done all right.”

No. 8: Xavier McKinney

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney (29) intercepts a pass against the Cleveland Browns. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Xavier McKinney had eight interceptions last season but hasn’t had many opportunities this year. He got one last week and made the Browns pay with an interception just before halftime.

McKinney might get more chances this week against Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott. One of the best quarterbacks in football, he entered Week 4 ranked fourth in passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield (15) and fifth in deep completions (six). While he’ll miss the talents of All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens is a big-time deep-ball threat, as well.

With the power of Green Bay’s pass rush, there could be some 50/50 balls thrown in McKinney’s neighborhood.

No. 7: Elgton Jenkins

An interesting matchup will be between Elgton Jenkins, who has a new position, and Kenny Clark, who has a new team.

Clark is the best player on Dallas’ defensive line and is the fulcrum of one of the NFL’s top run defenses. Jenkins and the guards, Jordan Morgan and Sean Rhyan, are going to have to keep Clark out of the backfield so Josh Jacobs can find some running room.

“K.C.’s my guy, but we’ve got to go out there and play ball, honestly,” Jenkins said. “Great player, he probably knows some of our calls and things that we are going to do or calls we’re going to make, so we’ve probably got to switch it up here and there on that. But K.C. is a good player, he’s going to make his plays, but we just have to make sure that he don’t go out there and wreck the game.”

No. 6: Nate Hobbs and Carrington Valentine

Without CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys will rely heavily on George Pickens, who is a matchup problem at 6-foot-3. In three years with the Steelers, he caught 174 passes for 2,841 yards and 12 touchdowns. In 2023, he led the NFL with 18.1 yards per reception.

Maybe things will change with Lamb’s status, but Pickens has played twice as many snaps as the left wide receiver as he has at the other positions. If that continues, he’d see a lot of Nate Hobbs (and Carrington Valentine if that rotation continues). According to PFF, Hobbs has allowed 1-of-4 passing for 7 yards and Valentine has allowed 2-of-8 passing for 20 yards.

Hobbs, who was signed in free agency, missed the end of training camp and Week 1 following knee surgery.

“You’ll see him play more and more and I think you’ll see him play faster and more confident, and I’m excited for that,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “I got a lot of respect for him, the way he came back so quickly after it, with minimal practice reps, and went out there and played. I’m excited about what he’s going to do going forward.”

No. 5: Devonte Wyatt

The Cowboys will be starting backups at right guard and center, which could set up Devonte Wyatt for an impact game.

Wyatt has two sacks this season. PFF has credited him with 13 pressures, which ranks second among interior defenders and puts him on pace for 74. He had a total of 80 pressures the past two seasons combined.

“I think it’s just playing the game,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “The more you play it, the more you learn, and he’s playing fast. He’s playing at a high level.”

No. 4: Quay Walker/Edgerrin Cooper

Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku (85) catches the ball against Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker. | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

Partially because of Green Bay’s pass rush taking things away on the perimeter, the Packers have given up plenty of production to opposing tight ends. Green Bay enters Sunday having given up the fourth-most catches (21) and fifth-most yards (215) to tight ends.

No tight end has been as productive as Dallas’ Jake Ferguson. Entering Week 4, his 27 catches were eight more than any other tight end. Green Bay won the 2023 wild-card game at Dallas in a rout, though Ferguson scored three touchdowns.

Linebackers Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper, with their roles in zone coverage, could have busy days defending the underneath passes.

“He is a complete tight end,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “They obviously target him quite a bit. I think he leads their team in catches. He’s gone out there, done his job and done it at a high level.”

No. 3: Matthew Golden

According to Next Gen Stats, quarterbacks facing the Cowboys are 10-of-15 on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield for 415 yards and five touchdowns. How bad is that? For context, the Packers’ defense has given up 567 passing yards and three touchdowns in 117 passing attempts over three games.

Matthew Golden is Green Bay’s best deep threat. He hasn’t had a breakout game, but he was given more opportunities last week. It’s probably only a matter of time before he uses his elite speed to get behind the defense.

While former All-Pro cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland are healthy and will be back in the starting lineup for the first time since Week 1, there should be opportunities for Jordan Love, who lives to throw the deep ball.

Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and current Monday Night Football commentator Troy Aikman said the Dallas defense lacked discipline, resulting in a lot of big plays.

“What this league comes down to is the ability to make big plays, and if you do that, then you score points,” Aikman told Dallas sports radio station 96.7 FM this week. “That’s what these teams have been able to do that have faced them. As concerning as anything about the big plays is they’ve kind of tried to play to minimize them, and yet they’ve given up a ton of them.”

No. 2: Micah Parsons

Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons reacts after a sack against Detroit. | Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Given the weakness of Dallas’ offensive line, Micah Parsons could feast against his former team and make Jerry Jones eat his words.

“While he does make great plays, there is also a way to approach playing against Micah,” Jones said on Dallas radio station 105.3-FM this week. “As we know, we didn’t exactly win the Super Bowl those years.

“Some plays [with Parsons it] looks beautiful, but then other plays – especially running plays – you wish you had a different formation ... being trite, we lost games with Micah. That is a trite statement, but we did.”

This might not have been the best time to be critical of Parsons. The Cowboys have weaknesses at left tackle and right tackle and backups at right guard and center. Parsons had plenty of motivation to begin with; adding fuel to the fire against a combustible line could create an inferno.

No. 1: Jordan Love

After a poor performance against Cleveland – the offensive line getting crushed by the Browns’ defensive front didn’t help – Jordan Love has a chance for a bounce-back game.

Dallas enters this week ranked 32nd in yards allowed per attempt, 31st in opponent passer rating and 29th in opponent completion percentage. Yeah, but what about the pass rush? It’s 28th in sack percentage.

It’s been a work in progress under first-year defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. The former coach of the Bears – he went 1-5 against Packers coach Matt LaFleur – plays almost nothing but zone. They just don’t play it well. According to Next Gen Stats, Dallas is allowing 9.4 yards per attempt in zone, second-worst in the league. Meanwhile, Love against zone leads the NFL with 9.9 yards per attempt

However, they have allowed 9.4 yards per attempt when in zone in 2025, 2nd-most in the league. Jordan Love has been incredibly effective against zone coverage this season, completing 32 of 42 passes for 417 yards (0 TDs, 0 INTs). His 9.9 yards per attempt vs zone is the most in the NFL and a career-high with a completion rate of 76.2 percent.

More Green Bay Packers News

In Part 1 of our weekly dynamic duo of stories, here are three reasons why the #Packers will lose tonight to the Cowboys. ⬇️https://t.co/ZIb6JJqGse
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 28, 2025

In Part 2 of our weekly combo of stories, here are three reasons why the #Packers will beat the Cowboys tonight.

The biggest reason of them all? Micah Parsons.⬇️https://t.co/20qxUVUBL6
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 28, 2025