Here Are Three Reasons Why Packers Will Lose to Cowboys

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are coming off a dismal loss to the Cleveland Browns. The Dallas Cowboys are coming off a dismal loss to the Chicago Bears.

While the Packers are big favorites, here are three reasons why the Cowboys will spoil Micah Parsons’ return to Dallas and hand the Packers their second consecutive upset loss.

1. No Room for Josh Jacobs

Last year, Josh Jacobs was the dynamo that powered Green Bay’s offense. With Jacobs topping 1,300 rushing yards, the Packers finished fifth in the league in rushing yards per game and sixth in rushing yards per attempt.

This year, opposing defenses have made a point to keep Jacobs under wraps. Green Bay enters Sunday’s game ranked 21st in rushing yards per game and a woeful 28th in rushing yards per attempt.

Dallas’ defense overall is poor, but its run defense, which is led by longtime Packers standout Kenny Clark, is strong. The Cowboys rank ninth with 3.74 yards allowed per carry. According to Next Gen Stats, the Cowboys are allowing just 0.4 yards per carry before contact this season, sixth-best in the league.

“Man, I’m so excited to play,” Clark said in a conference call. “It’s been a great week of practice. I’ve been having a great week of prep. I know all the guys. I’m just excited to play, honestly, just excited to get out there and see everybody in live action, see the physicality and do all those things.

“I want to be as physical as possible, be as violent as possible, play my game I know how to play it and I’m excited to just establish that when we get out there on Sunday. I’m just excited to play, honestly. I’m ready to go.”

Led by Clark, the ball-carrier has been hit behind the line of scrimmage on 60.6 percent of the rushing attempts, which is second only to the Browns.

That’s the potential issue for this game. Against the Browns, Green Bay’s offense spun its wheels because Jacobs was limited to 30 yards on 16 carries. He had 38 yards after contact, meaning Jacobs averaged minus-0.5 yards before contact. Through three weeks, 91.7 percent of Jacobs rushing yards have come after contact. That’s the highest percentage of the 20 running backs with more than 155 rushing yards.

“It’s weird,” Jacobs said. “Obviously, it’s weird for me, but just trying to do what I can. I feel like some plays, I broke a couple tackles and the next guy was there. I tried to strain as much as possible, but sometimes the game is going to be like that. We knew that that team was going to load the box, we knew they were going to bring the safety down. It just is what it is, you’ve still got to find ways to still produce and do your job.”

With no running game whatsoever, the Browns destroyed the Packers’ passing game. The Cowboys’ pass defense is one of the worst in the league but the premier cornerback tandem of Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland will be in the lineup after playing only 27 snaps together to start the season. So, if Green Bay can’t run the ball, it won’t be able to count on Jordan Love to save the day.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs has been bottled up through three games. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

2. Green Bay’s Offensive Line

As former Packers coach Mike McCarthy liked to say, the best offensive lines are the lines that play together.

The Packers’ offensive line has not played together. Right tackle Zach Tom is out for Sunday and left guard Aaron Banks is doubtful. With rookie Anthony Belton also out for Sunday, more than likely the Packers will roll with Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Jordan Morgan at left guard, Elgton Jenkins at center, Sean Rhyan at right guard and Darian Kinnard at right tackle.

“Yeah, you can use that as an excuse always, but it is what it is,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “It’s the National Football League. Guys got to be ready to step up and step in, and you can’t miss a beat. That is what it is. Every team’s dealing with this. We’re not the only ones, so you’ve got to find a way.”

Here's the final #Packers-#Cowboys injury report. A lot of linemen are injured for Green Bay, but which team has the bigger injury problems?

Here's the breakdown. ⬇️https://t.co/4Fr9ZZeSB2
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 26, 2025

LaFleur has to say that but, factually, he’s not correct. Nobody has had to deal with this O-line calamity. According to Next Gen Stats, the Packers have had to use 10 combinations already this season, three more than any other team. Green Bay’s potential starting group for Sunday has played 19 snaps together.

Green Bay has used four right tackles this season. Heck, it used four right tackles last week. Tom started in Week 1, Belton started in Week 2, Tom started in Week 3 and Kinnard might start in Week 4.

The depth is almost nonexistent. Offensive tackle Brant Banks is an undrafted rookie. Guard Donovan Jennings was an undrafted free agent last year and has not played in a game in his career. Center Lecitus Smith, who signed to the practice squad on Wednesday, played 209 snaps with the Cardinals as a rookie in 2022 but only five snaps since.

“It starts up front,” Jenkins said. “We got to move our guy off the line of scrimmage. We got to establish the line of scrimmage and give the running back a hole to run through. As far as pass protection, we got to hold up and make sure we lock in and give the quarterback time, the receivers time to run routes and things like that. …

“We expect whoever’s in there to go out there and play at that level that we want to play at in our room.”

3. Special Teams

Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey gets set to kick an extra point against the Packers in the 2023 playoffs. | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

If the Cowboys have one big edge, it’s on special teams.

Dallas has an elite kicker in Brandon Aubrey. He was first-team All-Pro as a rookie in 2023 and a second-team All-Pro in 2024. This year, he’s 8-of-8 on field goals with a long of 64.

The Packers have a strong kicker with Brandon McManus, but Aubrey is better and Green Bay’s field-goal unit had the pivotal mistake in last week’s game.

“You get bested sometimes in football and we got bested on that particular play,” Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said of the killer block at Cleveland, with Tucker Kraft allowing pressure on the edge and Jordan Morgan allowing pressure up the middle.

Dallas has an elite returner with KaVontae Turpin. The personification of dynamite coming in a small package, Turpin was first-team All-Pro last year with an NFL-best 33.5-yard average on kickoff returns and a 10.4-yard average on punt returns, with a touchdown in each phase.

Green Bay is using rookies in both phases. Matthew Golden didn’t return punts in college but is with Green Bay, and determining when to field the ball has been an adventure. Savion Williams returned kickoffs as a freshman in 2020 but not during his final four seasons.

“He’s certainly qualified to do it,” Bisaccia said of Golden. “It’s just the tedious repetition of the simplest movements, right? It’s just going to take time over and over and over again. He’s working diligently at it in practice. I talked last week about the biggest thing back there is the decision-making process. When you fair catch, when you go get one, when you play out of bounds, those sort of things. So, he’s a work in progress. I’m excited about the direction he’s going in.”

Maybe, but Turpin gives the Cowboys practically an infinite edge in the return game. Combined with Aubrey, Dallas has a big edge on special teams.

More Green Bay Packers News

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

“We all don’t get freebies, at least I’m not in that world. So, I got to work for them.”

No, there definitely are no freebies for Micah Parsons, whose production has been ridiculous in the context of these double- and triple-team numbers. ⬇️https://t.co/AxpXu2PjKz
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 26, 2025