PackersCoverage Weekly: 09/30/2025

The first 29 minutes of Micah Parsons’ highly anticipated return to Dallas went exactly as most were expecting. The Packers came out playing all-around better football than the Cowboys and built a commanding lead early, despite some conservative play-calling from MLF who seemed hellbent on running the ball despite the Packers offensive line letting Josh Jacobs get swarmed behind the line of scrimmage and the Cowboys’ secondary having no answer for the Packers wide receivers. The only unforgivable blemish though was another special teams error that transformed what could’ve been a 14-0 edge into just 13-2 (more on that later). Everything seemed under control, even if not perfect.

Then, with 44 seconds remaining in the half, the script flipped. Dallas marched down the field and scored a touchdown. On the ensuing possession stripped the ball from Jordan Love (MLF randomly decided this was the one drive he wanted to play aggressive) and escaped the half with ANOTHER touchdown and a 16-13 lead. Despite dominating most of the first half on paper, the Packers were suddenly trailing at the half.

From there, the rest of the game turned into a chaotic shootout. The Packers’ defensive line struggled to get to Dak Prescott, which enabled the Cowboys to torch the Packers’ secondary all night. In the final two minutes alone, three scoring drives were completed: Love hit Romeo Doubs for a 15-yard touchdown with 1:45 to go, giving Green Bay a 34-30 lead, only for Dak to connect with George Pickens on a 28-yard catch-and-run TD with 43 seconds left. The Packers showed composure on the ensuing drive, setting up Brandon McManus for a clutch 53-yard field goal at the buzzer to force overtime. But once in OT, LaFleur’s lack of aggression was glaring. After Micah Parsons’ TD-saving sack gave the Packers a chance to win with a touchdown, LaFleur appeared uninterested. On 1st down from the Dallas 25 with 1:15 to go, he called a run followed by an RPO that burned most of the remaining clock, and then let nearly the entire final sequence drift away before one final throw to the end zone fell incomplete with the clock barely showing one second remaining, saving the Packers from a disastrous and avoidable loss. McManus anticlimactically salvaged the tie with a 34-yard field goal as time expired. The Packers barely escaped with a 40-40 draw after a night full of wild swings, and a head coach whose conservative approach and absurd game management on the final drive nearly cost them the game.

What. The. Hell?

As the game was ending, I was fully prepared to share what I felt a win or loss against the Cowboys meant for the Packers. Every time you lose, the next game feels like a must-win. But when it ended in a tie, I stood there in shock like everyone else, in disbelief that I had just stayed up past midnight (on the East Coast) watching one of the best games of the year finish without a winner. Surely everyone can agree that the fact that a hyper competitive, profit-driven entity like the NFL even lets ties happen is ridiculous, so I won’t spend anymore time on that. But I really just don’t know how to feel about a tie, other than…empty? I told some people close to me that I’d rather lose than tie, which wasn’t received well, but I think I stand by that. (Meanwhile, Cowboys fans were celebrating like they won, which tells you all you need to know about them.) Am I crazy for saying that I would have rather seen the Packers take another shot at the endzone rather than kick that field goal as time expired in OT? Probably. But if I was the coach, that would have been what they did for all of the prior 3 plays too, so maybe they wouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place (if the Packers front office is reading this and needs a copy of my resume, just shoot me a DM).

I said if the Packers didn’t beat the Cowboys, I would start to “panic.” And that kind of came true, I guess. But I still feel pretty good about this team.

I won’t come on here and give silver linings after every loss. That isn’t my style at all. But the Packers have shown what they are capable of, unlike in year’s past where they don’t get hot until the very end of the season. They are one of five teams I’d say have a real shot to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, along with the Eagles, Lions, Rams and maybe the Bucs. Last year, even after going 11-6, it just didn’t feel like the Packers could compete with the class of the NFC. It was literally the elephant in the room that they lost when they played good teams. Across the board, they truly were outmatched and the lesser team against Philadelphia in the playoffs, plain and simple. I don’t feel that way this year comparing them to anyone. Watching a team beat themselves with avoidable mistakes like the Packers did the past 2 weeks is extremely frustrating, but it’s better than watching a team just get straight up dominated with no solution other than coming back with different coaches and players. At least this way, we know that there is easy room for improvement and reasons to be optimistic. That team we saw out there those first 2 weeks was the best in the NFL. They gave us a reason to have hope and confidence. Who knows, maybe it’ll become a toxic relationship where you fall in love with what they could be rather than what they are, if the Packers keep this up. But we aren’t there quite yet. It’s on the coaching staff to get those type of performances out of them every week. This is the best roster the Packers have had in at least 3-4 years. Don’t fall for the BS media narrative that they’re too young. This loss was on Matt LaFleur. He and plenty of other people in the building will be getting a lot of well deserved criticism, and it should fuel them plenty to beat the brakes off the Joe Burrow-less Bengals. Speaking of…

Unfortunately, we have to wait 2 full weeks for redemption with the bye coming up next week. That means the Packers will go at least a full calendar month without winning a game!

Going into the season, having a Week 5 bye feels like losing the draw. Players feel really banged up towards the homestretch of the NFL season, and it’s just nice to get that reset closer to the playoffs. Going into a bye week after a tie (wow I am still not over that being a thing) also sucks, it feels like we are just stuck in purgatory of not knowing what to think for 2 weeks. I certainly don’t really know what to say anymore — how many times can I say the Packers need to make less stupid mistakes and Matt LaFleur needs to call more aggressive plays against weak opponents? But after the bye, the Packers have a chance to get back Zach Tom, Aaron Banks, Christian Watson, Marshawn Lloyd, all at once. Don’t forget about Jayden Reed either.

Despite my positivity, this team needs a huge reset coming out of the bye week. It’s time for Matt LaFleur to lock in. The narrative-driven criticism quarterbacks often get about not being “clutch” and failing to win late feels like it applies to LaFleur as a coach. He is not a crunch-time coach. I do not trust him to make the right call in close games against good teams. I’m still not over the 2020 NFC Championship. You may think I am too soft on him, but I promise I am not. Let’s see some better results next week, Matt. I don’t want to have to write almost 2,000 words about the emotional turmoil that your playcalling put me through again. And I don’t think anyone wants to read that, so how about a win for everybody next time?

Till next time,

Brian Pedretti