As Mike Tyson once said, “everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth.” On Sunday, it felt like the Green Bay Packers got punched in the mouth, the gut, and below the belt all in one, as they lost to a bad Cleveland Browns team, thanks to a game-winning 55-yard field goal from rookie kicker Andre Szmyt. It’s only the Packers’ first loss of the season, and there’s lots of time to recover, of course. But… the Browns?! Specifically, THIS Browns team?
While we could spend more time irrationally overreacting, it’s time to move forward. The Packers had issues on offense, with Jordan Love not being able to connect with his receivers for the deep ball, and throwing his first interception of the season at the absolute worst possible time. They’ll have to correct that and get back to being the team that picked apart the Lions and Commanders in the first two games of the year. Fortunately, they’ll take on a Dallas Cowboys team this week that has their own issues ahead of a Sunday Night Football primetime matchup.
The Big Story
The headlines always seem to be magnified when the Dallas Cowboys are involved. But no story is bigger than the return of defensive end Micah Parsons to the team that traded him away just before the beginning of the season in a move that is still baffling to Cowboys fans. Owner Jerry Jones has said that there are no plans to honor Parsons as he returns to his former team, and it would be safe to assume that Parsons will take that personally. Expect his rush on quarterback Dak Prescott to have just a little bit of extra velocity.
This past week, Dallas got embarrassed by the Chicago Bears, losing 31-14 at Soldier Field. A 1-2 start was made worse, though, as Dallas also lost star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb due to a high ankle sprain in the game. The initial concern is that it may be severe enough to put Lamb on the injured reserved list, which would mean a minimum of four weeks before he’s back in action. The Cowboys have already reported that they’ll likely take 10-14 days before fully evaluating their star wideout, ruling Lamb out of action for Sunday night.
On the other side of the ball for the Cowboys, they lost to Chicago thanks to four touchdown passes from Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. He went 19 for 28 on passing attempts, with his longest pass being a 65-yard flea flicker to Luther Burden III for a touchdown. Williams had 239 passing yards by halftime, which exposed the Cowboys' defense, who have given up more yards through the air than any team in the NFL so far. That means that Jordan Love should be able to get the ball to his receivers, and if he gets off to a hot start, he can quickly shake off his issues from the Cleveland game. Dak Prescott has also already thrown four interceptions this season, and with the Packers’ defense glaring down on him, he may up that number before the night is over, too.
Where to watch the Packers vs. Cowboys
Sunday’s game kicks off at 7:20 p.m. Central. You can watch it on NBC locally and streaming on Peacock. Of course, you can also belly up at any of Milwaukee’s many sports bars to watch the game, and if you’re out of town, you’re in luck; there’s a Packers bar in every state (and beyond.)
Elsewhere in the NFC North
As mentioned before, the Bears beat the Cowboys, and now they’ll head to Las Vegas to take on a Raiders team that is looking for their first home win of the season. The Vikings are headed to Ireland to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in one of the NFL's international games, featuring a rejuvenated (for now) Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. The Lions will take on the Browns in a short week for them, after holding off the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football.
Time to shake off last week and get prepared to turn it around. Go Pack Go!
