Cowboys studs and duds Week 10: Dak Prescott falters when needed most

This wasn’t the first loss of the season for the Dallas Cowboys but it was easily the most frustrating. While they lost in worse fashion to the Bucs and Eagles, losing to the Green Bay Packers — who had dropped five in a row — was worse because the game was well in hand.

Dallas not only let them get back into the game but they then caved while under pressure. With that being said, let’s look at who stood out as both studs and duds in Week 10.

Cowboys studs and duds for Week 10 loss to Packers

Stud: C.J. Goodwin, CB

With the score tied at 14 in the third quarter, Green Bay was able to force a punt after another frustrating — and short — drive by the Cowboys. With Dallas kicking it from their own 12, Bryan Anger booted it 55 yards and that allowed C.J. Goodwin to get to work.

A veteran special teams ace, Goodwin was one of three players to converge on Amari Rodgers but it was his hit that forced the ball loose.

Sean McKeon recovered it and Dallas took the lead 21-14 when Tony Pollard ran in a 13-yard touchdown. It was a huge turn of momentum that allowed Dallas to take control of the game, for a while anyway.

Dud: Kelvin Joseph, CB

Anthony Brown didn’t have a great game and was lost in the first half to a concussion. With him out, Kelvin Joseph stepped in and the former second-round pick continued to struggle. He was beaten on a route by Sammy Watkins — who has been awful all season. Even worse, it was on a second and 22, giving the Packers life when there shouldn’t have been any.

Later in the second half, Joseph was flagged on a punt return which pushed the Cowboys back to their own 14. Had he not been penalized for the blindside block, Dallas would have started at the 38, essentially making it a 28-yard penalty. It wasn’t the greatest call but it still was another moment to forget for Joseph.

Stud: CeeDee Lamb, WR

Since Dallas traded Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb became the No. 1 wideout. Overall, he’s been very good this season but he hadn’t crossed the 100-yard mark all year. In fact, he hadn’t done so since Week 8 of the 2021 season when he was catching everything thrown his way during Cooper Rush’s first career start.

That finally changed for him on Sunday as he hit the 100-yard mark on his ninth catch of the game in the third quarter. That came on a clutch third down play, but it was far from his first big play. Lamb also had their first touchdown, hauling in a three-yard score from Dak Prescott in the second quarter.

He also wasn’t done on that ninth catch, as he scored his second touchdown of the day two plays later. Lamb shook off Jaire Alexander and got free for a 35-yard touchdown to give his team a 28-to-14 lead.

Lamb finished with 11 receptions for 150 yards and two touchdowns. It was a huge outing but not enough to get the win.

Dud: Peyton Hendershot, TE

Before talking about this game, it has to be stated that Peyton Hendershot has been a great find for Dallas. The undrafted free agent has nine receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown so far and shows a ton of promise.

Having said that, Sunday wasn’t his best outing. He nearly made a huge mistake when the Packers took a 14-7 lead just before the half. A short kickoff went to him and he ran it 18 yards but fumbled when being tackled. Hendershot was able to pull the ball back in but it could have been disastrous. Had Green Bay gotten the ball and extended the lead, halftime could have been much different than it was since they were able to tie it up at 14.

In the second half, he was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty that forced the offense to start from their own goal line, and nearly led to a safety. He did atone for his mistakes as he had a great block on a 14-yard run from Malik Davis, but he has to be better on special teams.

Stud: DeMarcus Lawrence, EDGE

With Micah Parsons playing out of his mind over the past two seasons, it’s easy to forget about how good DeMarcus Lawrence is. The former second-round pick out of Boise State has been the leader of this defense for years and while he might not fill up the stat sheet the way Parsons can, he still makes elite plays.

That happened in the second quarter against the Packers when he broke through the offensive line and was able to sack Aaron Rodgers. He didn’t just take Rodgers down though, as he also forced a fumble, giving his offense the ball on the Green Bay 10.

Dallas did nothing with the great field position as Dak Prescott threw a terrible pick in the end zone but that doesn’t take away from the impact play out of Lawrence.

Lawrence continued to play well in the second half, making a tackle for a loss followed by drawing a holding flag. He set his team up with a second-and-22 but Kelvin Joseph was beaten by Sammy Watkins, which again wasted D-Law’s efforts.

Dud: Anthony Brown, CB

Early in the game, Anthony Brown was bailed out by Christian Watson as he dropped two passes where he had position on Brown. That wasn’t the case after Prescott threw a pick in the end zone.

With the door open for Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers aired it out for Watson and again, he had Brown beat. This time, it was caught as he was able to bring in a 58-yard touchdown pass to tie the game up at seven.

Brown suffered a concussion on that play, adding injury to insult, as it was a game to forget all around.

Stud: Tony Pollard, RB

For the second game in a row, Ezekiel Elliott was out with an injury and once again, Tony Pollard answered the call. He had 131 yards against the Bears and this week, he went for 115 and had another touchdown run as well.

Pollard added 13 yards on three receptions but it wasn’t enough as the passing game faltered when they were needed most.

Dud: Dak Prescott, QB

One of the primary issues with this team for years has been when they play down to the opposing team’s level. It seemed as though they put an end to that under Mike McCarthy, including a couple of easy wins the past two weeks against Detroit and Chicago.

That changed this weekend as they were facing a 3-6 Green Bay team that just lost to Detroit. The Cowboys should have been able to run away with this one but they decided to put up one of their worst offensive performances since Week 1.

Prescott was a major reason for the issues as he led them to a three-and-out on each of their first two drives to start the game. He then threw two terrible picks, including one at the Green Bay 10, both of which led to touchdowns for the Packers.

He turned things around enough to give his team a 28-14 lead but when the Packers started to come back, he continued to miss throws in key moments. That included missing passes on third and fourth down in overtime which led to the loss.

Dud: Mike McCarthy, Head Coach

We heard all week — in fact, it was the past two weeks since Dallas was on their bye — about the return of Mike McCarthy to Green Bay. The Cowboys’ head coach spent 13 seasons there and won a title, so it was natural for him to have some nostalgic feelings.

It was also understandable that he wanted to get a win against his former team. However, he made a few bad decisions that ultimately cost his team the chance at securing a victory.

The biggest was when he decided to go for it on fourth down in overtime. Despite being in field goal range, McCarthy gave his offense the green light and Prescott was unable to get the first down. Of course, anyone watching the game knew what was going to happen. The Packers’ secondary was playing tight all day and the Cowboys’ offensive line was struggling.

Naturally, this led to a desperate pass to Pollard while Prescott was under pressure and the ball hit the turf and the game was essentially over considering how well the Packers’ offense played in the final quarter.

McCarthy also has to take heat for a continued lack of discipline from his team. Dallas was flagged nine times including an inexcusable offside from Jalen Tolbert (yes, an offensive player) and a hold on Connor McGovern that negated a 16-yard run from Malik Davis.

This was a game Dallas should have won but they treated the Packers as if they were a 13-win club that’s impossible to stop rather than a team that had lost five in a row. That falls on McCarthy who clearly let his emotions cloud his decisions in this one.

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