The Dallas Cowboys enter Week 4 in rare territory: absolutely nobody is giving them a shot to beat Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. They are a touchdown underdog at home, which is extremely rare for a team that has a really good quarterback.
Of course, it's easy to see why Dallas is widely expected to lose. Not only are the Packers considered one of the best teams in football, but the Cowboys' defense is a walking charity, and their offense will have to operate without superstar wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who makes everything click.
The Cowboys will have to win on the margins to even sniff victory, and they clearly recognize that based on their latest move. On Thursday, they announced the signing of former Packers cornerback Corey Ballentine to the practice squad
Cowboys aren't fooling anyone with Corey Ballentine signing, but it's still smart
Ballentine was let go by the Patriots this week, so credit to the Cowboys for acting fast. Granted, they had an open spot on their practice squad after the Texans poached summer standout Zion Childress, but signing Ballentine is still good business, even if he doesn't see the field on Sunday.
The 29-year-old Ballentine played under Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who is considered a potential head coaching candidate for the 2026 cycle.
Hafley is one of the best play designers in the league, and Green Bay has held opponents to less than 20 points in 12 games since he was hired last year. The addition of Parsons has created more space for teammates, but it has also deepened Hafley's bag of tricks. Using more creative fronts is just one area where Hafley has benefited from the Parsons trade.
Lamb getting injured on the second drive against the Bears forced Schottenheimer to abandon the game plan almost right away. It's hard to overstate how difficult an adjustment that is.
While the Packers are a bear of a matchup, Schottenheimer at least has a week to game-plan an offense that can hopefully put up points without Lamb. Having Ballentine around to drop some nuggets on Hafley's scheme will only make that easier for the first-year head coach.
Nobody's saying signing Ballentine will help the Cowboys win, but as we've seen the last two weeks, this team needs every advantage it can get right now.