Packers most to blame after defensive nightmare in tie vs. Cowboys

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Packers most to blame after defensive nightmare in tie vs. Cowboys

Douglas Fritz, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Tue, Sep 30, 2025 ·

4 min read

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The post Packers most to blame after defensive nightmare in tie vs. Cowboys appeared first on ClutchPoints .

The Green Bay Packers had to settle for a tie, and Micah Parsons had plenty to say about it. Included in the mix, the star defender said he was angry . But there was plenty of blame to be shared, and here are the people at the forefront after the nightmare tie against the Cowboys.

Kickers, of all players, decided the overtime outcome with Brandon Aubrey of the Cowboys and Brandon McManus of the Packers trading short field goals in a dull end to an otherwise exciting 40-40 tie.

It was a night to forget for the Packers, who saw their vaunted defense getting shredded like paper by Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott . This happened despite the fact that Prescott didn't have his top weapon, CeeDee Lamb .

So that means at the top of the heap is the Packers' defensive coordinator.

Packers DC Jeff Hafley had a bad night

Even after the Cowboys made a splash to close within 13-9 late in the first half, the Packers were still in good shape. And even after a turnover gave the Packers a short field, they could have taken a 13-12 lead into halftime.

That's when Hafley lost his way. The Packers went into a defensive alignment that allowed George Pickens to make one simple jab step and get wide open in the middle of the end zone. Matt LaFleur should have talked to Hafley at halftime and helped him refocus.

And perhaps he tried, but Hafley seemed to have no clue in the second half. The worst part was the Packers' complete inability to get pressure on Prescott throughout the game — despite the Cowboys operating with an injury-weakened offensive line.

Throughout the game, it looked like the Cowboys had the better defense. That's true even though they didn't play well, either.

Brian Schottenheimer's offense embarrassed Halfley's defense. That's just a fact of this game.

HC Matt LaFleur failed in the clutch

When a team doesn't manage the clock well, it falls on the head coach. And the Packers got lucky that they even had time to kick a tying field goal because of how badly they botched the final 30 seconds. They ended up with only one second left on the clock after a head-scratching, disorganized, next-to-last play.

LeFleur's response? It's hard to read this, but go ahead and try . The post appeared on X by Ryan Wood.

"Asked Matt LaFleur about clock management and offensive tempo at end of OT: "It's always a fine line you're battling. If I knew it was going to end like that, we would've gone faster."

Yep. That's what he said.

He also said, according to Packers.com, that work needs to be done.

"That just goes to the level of detail where we're not where we need to be," LaFleur said of the operation, clearly annoyed at the final sequence.

Yep. And maybe make one big play somewhere over the course of 70 minutes?

"They made some big plays, they executed, we missed a lot of tackles," LaFleur said. "We've got to find a way, somehow, some way to generate some takeaways.

"Obviously, we didn't come down here to tie a football game, but that's what happened. It's disappointing in regards to too many critical mistakes that led to that tie."

And quarterback Jordan Love summed it up pretty nicely.

"It sucks," Love said. "It doesn't feel good. It feels kind of weird."

Edge rusher Micah Parsons didn't do enough

Yes, the Cowboys were going to do everything they could to keep Parsons from making big plays. But if he had given max effort, a teammate would have made a big play. Or if that was max effort from Parsons, the Packers aren't going to be the defensive juggernaut they planned on being. Oh, and that would mean the Cowboys absolutely robbed them in the trade.

Parsons said he's mad, according to ESPN.

"I'm not even going to lie, I'm pissed off," Parsons said. "I'm very disappointed, just overall, how we performed.

"I even told Jordan to the side, you know, 'Thank you for having our back today. You know, that's why it's so pivotal to, you know, you play complementary football. Because today, Jordan played like the player he was, and we let him down. We didn't live up to the level of expectation on defense."

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