The Green Bay Packers keep on rolling and are now 4-2 after a convincing 23-13 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. When the schedule was released, a lot of folks marked their calendars for this game. There was a small chance Micah Parsons could return from his torn ACL to face off against his former team —though that ended up not happening last night. The two teams had quite the battle last year during a game that ended in a 40-40 OT tie, and it felt like something similar could happen again this weekend — that ended up not happening last night. Jordan Love has historically performed well against the Cowboys — that ended up happening. Let's dive in on this victory Monday.
The last few weeks, I've been holding my breath every time the rookie kicker goes out there for an attempt. It hasn't been too bad so far, but that's mostly because the rest of the team seems to have gotten it together, so the missed kicks aren't "deciders". On Sunday night, Smack was finally perfect, with 2 made XPs and 3 FGs (longest 44). In a 10-point win, it's good to see the kicker get all 11 possible points.
When CB Brandon Cisse left the game with what is being described as a stinger , Valentine subbed in. I proceeded to say these exact words:
"They're going to throw right at him."
"He's going to give up a 20 yard play; watch."
And you know what? I was right—about the first part. Cowboys QB Dak Prescott threw right at him. What did Valentine do? Caught it, AND returned it for 21 yards. The play was unfortunately negated due to an absolutely AWFUL roughing the passer penalty on Lukas Van Ness, but Valentine's play shut me the hell up either way. On the very next play, he was thrown at again, and this time forced a PBU. Valentine finished the day with 4 total tackles and 1 PD. Carrington: I'm sorry for doubting you. I won't let it happen again (I probably will.)
Speaking of Brandon Cisse: Brandon Cisse! The "welcome to the NFL" moments have come and gone for the rookie, and he's improving week after week. This week, he snagged his first career interception, and it came as the Cowboys were inching closer and closer to the endzone. He had some really great tackles on Sunday night, finishing with 4, plus 2 PDs. Oh! He also allowed a passer rating of…9.4. The Packers' first draft pick of 2026 looks like a good one so far.
Plain and simple, S Javon Bullard brings a level of physicality to the team that they just would not have with anyone else at his spot. He's gotten better each year he's been in the league, and last night was routine for him. His biggest play of the night came on 4th and 2 in the 4th quarter, when he batted down a pass meant for WR CeeDee Lamb. Bullard finished the night with 6 total tackles and 3 PDs. With next season being a contract year for him, the Packers should probably start working on locking him down soon.
Since we're on the topic of guys who the Packers should definitely re-sign: Evan Williams. Williams is having a phenomenal start to the 2026 season, and if this continues, he might get to call himself an All-Pro safety in January. Williams had an impressive pick last night on 3rd and 8 as the Cowboys were inside the 20 and looking to tie it up. He read Dak like a book here. Williams finished the night with 6 total tackles, 1 PD, 1 INT, and 1 QB hit.
I could probably just leave it at this: by the end of the Packers' first drive, QB Jordan Love had 109 passing yards. But I can never just leave it at that. Love's season of playing well "despite it all" continued last night, as his receivers dropped pass after pass. He could've had 4 TD passes. WR Matthew Golden dropped two, and WR Christian Watson dropped one. All of these were in the endzone. All of these were perfectly thrown balls which hit the receivers only where they could catch it. Love finished the night 23 of 41 (56%) for 276 yards, 1 passing TD, 1 rushing TD, and 1 INT.
It's like if prime Davante Adams got into a Freaky Friday situation with Jameson Williams, but only twice per game. Golden had some really bad drops last night, but didn't let it phase him as he led the team in every receiving category. His QB backed him up after the game. Love and Golden are developing some pretty amazing chemistry on the field, and as a result, the receiver logged his second-straight 100+ yard game. Golden had 6 catches on 13 targets for 104 yards and 1 TD (could've been, should've been 3!)
I'm sorry for ever asking to see more of this. It simply cannot continue. It just can't. 8 rushes. 10 yards. 1 sigh of disgust.
The 2nd place Packers have a big divisional matchup next week as they head to Detroit to face off against the 4th place Lions. With the Bears on a short week as they play the reigning AFC champs Thursday night, this may be the Packers' chance to pull ahead and start to create a gap. The Packers and Lions play at 4:25 ET/3:25 CT on FOX .
