'Shake Things Up'? Cowboys Winners & Losers From Loss at Packers

Same old, same old ... but not just on the defensive side of the ball.

For the second week in a row, the Dallas Cowboys' offense also contributed to a frustrating result as the Green Bay Packers rolled to a 23-13 win at Lambeau Field in front of a Sunday Night Football audience.

Dak Prescott threw two costly interceptions, the Cowboys' run game managed less than 50 yards and the Packers remained unbeaten in the head-to-head between the two storied clubs since 2016.

Here's a look at the winners and losers from the Cowboys' latest "embarrassment."

We'll get to the defensive woes, too, but we start with the Cowboys' play-caller, who firmly finds himself in the midst of a sophomore slump.

Following a complete return of one of the best offenses in football from the season before, the Cowboys' last two games have not helped their cause of living up to the preseason "Greatest Offense There Is" mantra.

Prescott's protection was poor, and despite the Packers being without star ex-Cowboy Micah Parsons, the blitz forced the Dallas quarterback into a brain pretzel.

He rushed throws and was uncharacteristically inaccurate, similar to the loss to Tampa Bay going into the mini bye week. As the pressure kept coming, Schottenheimer's schemes did not adjust to make life easier for the part of the team that is supposed to keep them above water.

REPORT CARD: Can Cowboys Make Major Changes After Loss at Packers?

Said the now-beleaguered head coach: "I'm not opposed to shaking things up. That's different than saying I'm not going to change. I'm never going to change. I'm not going to change who I am and how I look at the game ...''

Oh.

Dallas' new starting cornerback played in his first full workload since being acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers nearly three weeks ago.

Porter moved off of the stomach issue that held him out of last Thursday's loss and offered another lockdown performance on his side of the field.

Credit also goes to linebacker Dee Winters, whose interception finally gets Dallas on the board in that category. Dallas was the last team in football to record an interception this season.

Despite a few defensive highlights, like three sacks and an admirable run defense, the Cowboys faltered on money-making downs. The Packers converted four straight third downs to score an opening-drive touchdown.

That turned into a trend as there were nine third-down conversions for Green Bay in the first half. The Packers entered Week 6 as the worst offense in such scenarios.

Luckily, they were going up against the worst defense in those scenarios.

Dallas remains the NFL's softest third-down defense as opposing offenses succeed on more than 50 percent of third-down attempts against the Cowboys.

Green Bay was 11 of 18 for the game.

The Cowboys were held scoreless in the first half of a game for the first time in five years, then running back Javonte Williams found the end zone at the beginning of the third quarter.

Dallas hasn't been completely shut out of a game since 2018, so at least that streak continues. But so does another, less fortunate streak.

After his first 1,000-yard season of his career in 2025, Williams has yet to surpass 100 rushing yards in a game this season.

Although Prescott's 54 pass attempts to just 11 carries from Williams explains Dallas' long deficit, it does not bode well for the balance the coaching staff has preached about.

The Cowboys can also thank Green Bay receivers for their several drops of would-be touchdown catches in this game of woulda, coulda, shoulda.

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Maybe Winters' interception returned for a touchdown getting called back voided the defense of the jolt it needed early on.

Maybe, had DaRon Bland's pass breakup-turned-interception-turned-breakup avoided a slight juggle the offense would've kickstarted after a second-half turnover.

Maybe KaVontae Turpin not getting injured on the opening kickoff would've led to more positive field position. And for that matter, maybe the overall sloppiness of a slippery field and 22 combined penalties (many, mind you, that went in Dallas' favor but maybe shouldn't have) would've gone a different way.

Maybe it's the bright lights. Dallas is 0-3 in primetime games this season. Next week, they play at Philadelphia on Monday Night Football. Then the Eagles come to Arlington for a national spectacle on Thanksgiving Day.

Or maybe this team just isn't good enough to overcome the "maybes" like actual good teams are.

But maybe this division is just this bad.

The New York Giants and Eagles both lost this week and are without their Week 1 starting quarterbacks for the foreseeable future. The Washington Commanders play against the 5-0 San Francisco 49ers on Monday and are on the verge of forcing the NFC East into its second winless week in a row.

Not unlike the Cowboys' offensive chances in Green Bay, the rest of the division has failed to take control when opportunities have arisen.

Dallas has "winnable" games against Arizona, Indianapolis and Tennessee coming up.

But teams are likely saying the same thing when seeing the Cowboys come their way, which makes for a divisional race that will grind down to the final few weeks if a team doesn't go on a run soon.