Game 4: Packers at Cowboys - 9/28/25 - 7:20 - NBC

[BUCKnation]

I thought Cooper was noticeably bad on quite a few plays. I'm surprised he was graded that highly.

[MVP2110]

Some notable PFF stats

-Dallas was 5/5 for 72 yards and a perfect 158.3 rating when they targeted Carrington Valentine

-Nazir Stackhouse got a 28.9 grade in run defense, that's beyond brutal for a guy whose only job is being a run stuffer

-Micah Parsons was credited with 10 pressures

-Edge Cooper had 3 missed tackles

-The OL gave up 18 pressures(5 from Walker & Kinnard, 4 from Morgan & Rhyan)

[MoMM]

It's weird how high was Kinnard's PFF grade and he has allowed 5 pressures...

[MVP2110]

It's weird how high was Kinnard's PFF grade and he has allowed 5 pressures...

He had an extremely high grade for run blocking

[Ron Swanson]

These are the kind of games where I just throw out the PFF grades. I thought the O-line overall was "fine" by the end. Cooper however, was absolutely brutal out there. If your grading system gave him a 77 then you need to go back to the drawing board with your formula.

[MickeyDavis]

Snap Counts from Acme

Quarterback
79 snaps: Jordan Love
0: Malik Willis
Running Back
52: Josh Jacobs
23: Emanuel Wilson
5: Chris Brooks - 9 SPT
In the first two weeks of the season, the Packers leaned on running back Chris Brooks as a pass protector. Since then, they’ve swung toward playing Emanuel Wilson as the RB2, one who has actually carried the ball for the team. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with Brooks and Wilson once MarShawn Lloyd returns to the 53-man roster, which very well could be next game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6.

Receiver
71: Romeo Doubs - 1 SPT
62: Dontayvion Wicks - 3 SPT
47: Matthew Golden - 3 SPT
19: Malik Heath
10: Savion Williams - 7 SPT
This is about what we’ve expected from the team since Jayden Reed dropped out with collarbone and foot injuries. Savion Williams remains a gadget player and returner on special teams. The fact that Malik Heath can’t get on the field, especially on the kick return unit, on teams means that his job is gonna be at risk whenever Christian Watson (knee) comes off the physically unable to perform list.

Tight End
75: Tucker Kraft - 5 SPT
22: Luke Musgrave - 9 SPT
9: John FitzPatrick - 2 SPT
0: Ben Sims - 7 SPT
For three weeks, John FitzPatrick slowly chipped away at Luke Musgrave’s playing time. For whatever reason, this ended in Week 4, with Musgrave taking over as the true TE2 for the first time this year. He had one reception for six yards and allowed a blocked PAT that ultimately decided the game.

Offensive Line
79: Darian Kinnard - 7 SPT
79: Rasheed Walker - 7 SPT
79: Jordan Morgan - 7 SPT
79: Sean Rhyan - 7 SPT
79: Elgton Jenkins - 5 SPT
0: Donovan Jennings - 7 SPT
0: Brant Banks - 2 SPT
0: Lecitus Smith
For the first time this year, the Packers’ starting five offensive linemen actually played a full game. Thank God, too, because none of Jennings, Banks or Smith has ever taken a regular-season snap for Green Bay. It could have been even uglier in Arlington, if you can believe it.

Defensive End
46: Micah Parsons
41: Rashan Gary
37: Lukas Van Ness - 12 SPT
13: Kingsley Enagbare - 11 SPT
8: Barryn Sorrell - 8 SPT
Including special teams, Lukas Van Ness was actually the most-played defensive end for the Packers on Sunday. If you were wondering why the defensive line looked completely worn down, that’s one reason. Beyond playing about as many defensive reps as Rashan Gary, Van Ness also started on multiple special teams units.

Defensive Tackle
45: Colby Wooden - 6 SPT
39: Karl Brooks - 15 SPT
27: Nazir Stackhouse - 6 SPT
12: Devonte Wyatt
Devonte Wyatt dropped out of the game with a knee injury in the first half. Undrafted rookie Nazir Stackhouse played just 7 snaps in the first half, but registered another 20 in the second half. With only a three-man rotation inside after Wyatt was ruled out, the interior also wore down as the game unfolded. The Cowboys scored 37 points from the second through fourth quarters of the game.

Linebacker
67: Edgerrin Cooper - 7 SPT
67: Quay Walker - 6 SPT
23: Isaiah McDuffie - 26 SPT
0: Nick Niemann - 20 SPT
0: Ty’Ron Hopper - 20 SPT
There’s nothing special here. Isaiah McDuffie is the team’s Sam linebacker who comes in only for 4-3 looks. This is consistent week-to-week.

Cornerback
67: Keisean Nixon - 6 SPT
44: Nate Hobbs
24: Carrington Valentine - 14 SPT
0: Bo Melton - 20 SPT
Nate Hobbs took every outside cornerback rep opposite Keisean Nixon in the first half. After allowing two receiving touchdowns, he was then rotated with Carrington Valentine, who gave up one of his own. For the first time this year, the Packers’ outside cornerbacks played poorly.

Safety
67: Xavier McKinney - 13 SPT
67: Evan Williams - 9 SPT
43: Javon Bullard - 11 SPT
0: Zayne Anderson - 20 SPT
0: Kitan Oladapo - 13 SPT
Despite coming off a concussion, Javon Bullard owned the slot defender spot for the Packers this week.

Specialists
K Brandon McManus: 14 SPT
P Daniel Wehlan: 9 SPT
LS Matthew Orzech: 9 SPT

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Snap Counts from Acme

Quarterback

Offensive Line
79: Darian Kinnard - 7 SPT
79: Rasheed Walker - 7 SPT
79: Jordan Morgan - 7 SPT
79: Sean Rhyan - 7 SPT
79: Elgton Jenkins - 5 SPT
0: Donovan Jennings - 7 SPT
0: Brant Banks - 2 SPT
0: Lecitus Smith
For the first time this year, the Packers’ starting five offensive linemen actually played a full game. Thank God, too, because none of Jennings, Banks or Smith has ever taken a regular-season snap for Green Bay. It could have been even uglier in Arlington, if you can believe it.

Defensive End
46: Micah Parsons
41: Rashan Gary
37: Lukas Van Ness - 12 SPT
13: Kingsley Enagbare - 11 SPT
8: Barryn Sorrell - 8 SPT
Including special teams, Lukas Van Ness was actually the most-played defensive end for the Packers on Sunday. If you were wondering why the defensive line looked completely worn down, that’s one reason. Beyond playing about as many defensive reps as Rashan Gary, Van Ness also started on multiple special teams units.

If you would have told me LVN and Gary sat out last night, i probably would've believed you. The only time i remember LVN being part of a play was when he didnt hold the edge giving up a big game. Really needed those guys to make a sack in the 4th when Parsons is getting doubled.

I'm sure every team is like this, but it is weird to me OL dont ever sub in and out. You would think bringing in fresh guys on a long drive would give you a little extra push.

[Treebeard]

The more I hear about the "Shanahan and MLF were both apart of the 28-3 SB choke job and it's caused them to play conservative ever since" theory, the more I believe it. Also, are we sure that Josh Jacobs hasn't already lost a step? The O-line hasn't been great, but Wilson looked so much better running between the tackles by the end of the game and it didn't seem like a coincidence. I didn't think it wise to continue giving Josh such a massive workload even before the struggles (leads the league in carries through 4-games). Other thoughts:

I do like how Wilson has looked this season, he plays fast, but he was also getting carries at a time when Jacobs was cooking too. I agree though, we need to get him more involved to ease the workload.

Wilson is the more explosive runner than Brooks, but nowhere near the pass blocker that Brooks is. There is the dilema

[humanrefutation]

I'm just not so sure what to think about this team. We decimated two contenders to start the year. Our defense looked imperious the first three weeks. Our offense looked pretty good in 3 out of our 4 games. And yet, there's a lot of angst about the state of the team. Angst that I share, at least in part.

To me, it seems like our biggest struggles are reflective of youth - inconsistency, mental mistakes, dumb penalties, missing the little details, etc. That's where veteran leadership is important, and it doesn't appear we have enough of that holding others accountable. You can point to the coaching staff, but this isn't college. These are grown men and coaches can only do so much to instill these expectations. LaFleur was apparently a major hardass during TC and that hasn't translated. The only thing you can hope for is that they learn through experience.

The coaching isn't off the hook, though. Our head coach and defensive coordinator seem to be excellent at designing plays and schemes. That's awesome. But they both seem to struggle to adjust when facing something they didn't plan for. I'd also attribute that to inexperience, if it wasn't for the fact that LaFleur is in his sixth season and you'd expect him to get better at game management over that time, and Hafley was a head coach for three seasons before he came here. They need to step up themselves.

I don't believe there's a magic bullet out there in the trade market to solve our problems. So, all we can hope for is that we heal over the bye, the players stop bathing in their own hype, and they return with renewed purpose and the right mentality.

I know that's a lot of cliches, but the truth is, with a young talented team, the only way they will achieve their goals is by putting in the work and holding each other accountable.

[JCP11]

The more I hear about the "Shanahan and MLF were both apart of the 28-3 SB choke job and it's caused them to play conservative ever since" theory, the more I believe it. Also, are we sure that Josh Jacobs hasn't already lost a step? The O-line hasn't been great, but Wilson looked so much better running between the tackles by the end of the game and it didn't seem like a coincidence. I didn't think it wise to continue giving Josh such a massive workload even before the struggles (leads the league in carries through 4-games). Other thoughts:

I do like how Wilson has looked this season, he plays fast, but he was also getting carries at a time when Jacobs was cooking too. I agree though, we need to get him more involved to ease the workload.

Wilson is the more explosive runner than Brooks, but nowhere near the pass blocker that Brooks is. There is the dilema

Wilson has great patience, vision and is a talented runner. He's getting better in pass pro too. I wouldn't let him go, if Jacobs gets injured he's next in line to start regardless of Lloyd status. Brooks is superb in pass pro but average in everything else. I would like to keep him but they're not keeping 4 RBs and unfortunately he would be the odd man out imo.

[Marley2Hendrix]

I'm just not so sure what to think about this team. We decimated two contenders to start the year. Our defense looked imperious the first three weeks. Our offense looked pretty good in 3 out of our 4 games. And yet, there's a lot of angst about the state of the team. Angst that I share, at least in part.

To me, it seems like our biggest struggles are reflective of youth - inconsistency, mental mistakes, dumb penalties, missing the little details, etc. That's where veteran leadership is important, and it doesn't appear we have enough of that holding others accountable. You can point to the coaching staff, but this isn't college. These are grown men and coaches can only do so much to instill these expectations. LaFleur was apparently a major hardass during TC and that hasn't translated. The only thing you can hope for is that they learn through experience.

The coaching isn't off the hook, though. Our head coach and defensive coordinator seem to be excellent at designing plays and schemes. That's awesome. But they both seem to struggle to adjust when facing something they didn't plan for. I'd also attribute that to inexperience, if it wasn't for the fact that LaFleur is in his sixth season and you'd expect him to get better at game management over that time, and Hafley was a head coach for three seasons before he came here. They need to step up themselves.

I don't believe there's a magic bullet out there in the trade market to solve our problems. So, all we can hope for is that we heal over the bye, the players stop bathing in their own hype, and they return with renewed purpose and the right mentality.

I know that's a lot of cliches, but the truth is, with a young talented team, the only way they will achieve their goals is by putting in the work and holding each other accountable.

Really well said. Just caught up on this thread. Few thoughts:

Someone else posted "Is Musgrave officially a bust?" I actually had the same post typed during the 4th Q last night, but deleted it to avoid piling on negativity in a stressful situation. I'm shocked by the snap counts as it looks like Savion didn't play much, and, not hating on the kid, but I remember a bit floored how often he seemed to be out there during important moments in the 4th/OT. To me, this emphasizes how much we miss Reed and Watson. Likewise, again, Wicks was completely MIA. He's just a dude, and I'm already dreading a future we might move on from Doubs and Wicks takes his spot.

Defensively, a few of our young guys, particularly Cooper and Quay, really felt like NBA players trying to go hero ball out there, going for pull-up 3s on fast break moments rather than settling for easier layups. I know some last night had the mood, "No more youngest team BS, it's been years." Yeah, it's been years, but, like Matty McConaughey would note, we keep staying the same age (or younger).

Two exceedingly key plays resulted in this tie - the FG block (seriously, I don't think I'll feel confident going into a Figgie the rest of the season) and the one huge connection to Pickens that was a ridiculous uncalled hold on Micah.

I assume we're all hoop heads here. This felt like a game where Dallas approached it like it was their super bowl, not wanting parsons to win in their house. Kudos to them for stepping up and throwing haymakers, but I think a few here are missing out how incredibly composed Love was in leading, what, three consecutive scoring drives? I walk away from this game more confident in him. Provided we have a healthier oline, there are much brighter days ahead on offense.

2-1-1, I'm not sweating it. We got this, y'all. I fully expect at least one more dominant win around the 70% mark of the season, followed by a hubris loss to a team that will infuriate all of us here.

OT needs to be 12 minutes.

[JCP11]

My two cents on the defense:

-For the first time of the season our pass rush wasn't getting home so our zone coverage got exposed. Can't play this amount of zone if you can't get to the QB.

-Hafley didn't adjust (sending blitzes or play some man), all we needed was to steal a possession and he never tried. It's like he thought the front 4 would eventually make a play but it never happened.

-Once Wyatt went down we couldn't get any pressure in the middle and it kinda exposed the concern I had that were too thin in the middle. Stackhouse has been struggling mightily with the few snaps he's had so it leaves the defense with no real big plugger down the middle. He could get better with time but this team is trying to win right now so another body before the trade deadline could be in play here.

[Ron Swanson]

I'd buy the "youngest team in the league" rationale as a reason for the mistakes/mental miscues more if it wasn't for the fact that we're seeing veteran dudes be the biggest culprits. Sure, Morgan looks like a JAG, Musgrave looks like a mess on offense and special teams. But the O-line overall? Jenkins, Walker, Rhyan, Kinnard? These dudes are in their 3rd-4th years (Jenkins is in his 7th), whereas our rookie tackle (Belton) looked fine before the injury. Quay, LVN, McKinney, Nixon, Hobbs, Vallentine? these dudes are all "veterans" in NFL years. And is there any sort of historical correlation between age and special teams proficiency? Bisaccia was literally here during the last Rodgers year where we were a much older team. They were trash then and they're still trash now.

[RRyder823]

The more I hear about the "Shanahan and MLF were both apart of the 28-3 SB choke job and it's caused them to play conservative ever since" theory, the more I believe it. Also, are we sure that Josh Jacobs hasn't already lost a step? The O-line hasn't been great, but Wilson looked so much better running between the tackles by the end of the game and it didn't seem like a coincidence. I didn't think it wise to continue giving Josh such a massive workload even before the struggles (leads the league in carries through 4-games). Other thoughts:

- This was the worry with the secondary when our pass rush stopped being dominant for any stretch, and sure enough, they got absolutely torched by an unspectacular group minus their best play-maker (Lamb). Nixon had the one great PBU but was invisible otherwise. Vallentine got roasted all game. Hobbs wasn't great but at least he has the injury excuse.

- Hafley definitely deserves blame for a vanilla gameplan as well. Very uncharacteristic performance. Zero creativity and disguising when they weren't getting pressure rushing four. Seemed content to just keep everything in front of them.

- Do we need to call Musgrave a bust at this point? Only one target (caught it for 6-yards) while making another inexcusable blocking mistake on the kick team. If dude's gonna be a non-factor on offense then you may as well just give Fitzpatrick all his snaps, because what's the point of trotting him out there if he can't consistently block?

I think this is the only real concern going forward (outside of injuries of course) despite last night's showing

The D got lit up but its still the modern day NFL so even with the best units that's not uncommon to happen once or twice a season

STs giving up blocked kicks in b2b weeks is troubling but I have to imagine that's not going to be a reoccurring theme

The bye week seems to be comming at a good time for the Oline to get healthy

Jacobs however...... RBs hit the wall around his age and he has a lot of miles on that body. It is very possible we're watching him hit that wall



Sent from my SM-S918U using RealGM mobile app

[TroyD92]

Losing Wyatt hurt a lot.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

The more I hear about the "Shanahan and MLF were both apart of the 28-3 SB choke job and it's caused them to play conservative ever since" theory, the more I believe it. Also, are we sure that Josh Jacobs hasn't already lost a step? The O-line hasn't been great, but Wilson looked so much better running between the tackles by the end of the game and it didn't seem like a coincidence. I didn't think it wise to continue giving Josh such a massive workload even before the struggles (leads the league in carries through 4-games).

Jacobs however...... RBs hit the wall around his age and he has a lot of miles on that body. It is very possible we're watching him hit that wall
[/url]

I don't disagree with you guys where he did seem to lose a step but he had 155 yard and 2 TDs in a game where he needed stitches on his knee. I think some of Wilson looking good is like Giannis goes to the bench and the defense relaxes a bit or isnt expected Wilson to get the ball.

But, yea, something to monitor.

[MoMM]

Well, there are some reports saying that Matt doesn't allow Bisaccia to use the best available players, so he needs to use backup ones and after the blocked FG he could use Jenkins, Tucker, etc because Matt allowed.

Also, there is no practice for ST at all.

My question, what Bisaccia does so? Why is he paid?

[PintSizedBox10]

Well, there are some reports saying that Matt doesn't allow Bisaccia to use the best available players, so he needs to use backup ones and after the blocked FG he could use Jenkins, Tucker, etc.

Also, there is no practice for ST at all.

My question, what Bisaccia does so? Why is he paid?

There's no way that's true? Lafleur isn't okay with the best lineman blocking for FGs but he'll let Golden catch punts?

Then again, we watched them let Amari Rodgers muff punt after punt after punt so perhaps it is true

[MoMM]

Well, there are some reports saying that Matt doesn't allow Bisaccia to use the best available players, so he needs to use backup ones and after the blocked FG he could use Jenkins, Tucker, etc.

Also, there is no practice for ST at all.

My question, what Bisaccia does so? Why is he paid?

There's no way that's true? Lafleur isn't okay with the best lineman blocking for FGs but he'll let Golden catch punts?

Then again, we watched them let Amari Rodgers muff punt after punt after punt so perhaps it is true

https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/analysis/71773/green-bay-packers-blocked-field-goal-analysis-2025-dallas-cowboys-personnel-special-teams

[MickeyDavis]

The more I hear about the "Shanahan and MLF were both apart of the 28-3 SB choke job and it's caused them to play conservative ever since" theory, the more I believe it. Also, are we sure that Josh Jacobs hasn't already lost a step? The O-line hasn't been great, but Wilson looked so much better running between the tackles by the end of the game and it didn't seem like a coincidence. I didn't think it wise to continue giving Josh such a massive workload even before the struggles (leads the league in carries through 4-games).

Jacobs however...... RBs hit the wall around his age and he has a lot of miles on that body. It is very possible we're watching him hit that wall
[/url]

I don't disagree with you guys where he did seem to lose a step but he had 155 yard and 2 TDs in a game where he needed stitches on his knee. I think some of Wilson looking good is like Giannis goes to the bench and the defense relaxes a bit or isnt expected Wilson to get the ball.

But, yea, something to monitor.

Jacobs may at some point "hit the wall" but he's not close to that now. He was really good last night.