Dak Prescott and Cowboys offense' were surprising no-shows as Packers get emphatic win

The Dallas Cowboys might be in trouble. If the offense is going to be a problem, it's going to be a very long season in Dallas. After five games it was clear the Cowboys’ defense was an issue. It ranked near or at the bottom of the league in many key statistics. But the thought was the Cowboys could outscore enough opponents to remain afloat in a bad NFC East. The Cowboys’ defense showed improvement Sunday night at the Green Bay Packers, but the offense was horrible and the Cowboys lost their second straight game. Dak Prescott took plenty of punishment from a blitz-heavy game plan by Green Bay and the offense was stuck most of the night. There were no big plays and not many points. The Packers breezed their way to a 23-13 win. The Cowboys were stuck on seven points until a touchdown with 44 seconds left. Green Bay Packers' Evan Williams stops Dallas Cowboys' Dak Prescott during Sunday night's game. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)AP Photo/Matt LudtkeThe Packers have looked much better the last two weeks after a lukewarm start to the season. Their defense has played better and Jordan Love is on a hot streak. Love had a tremendous night, navigating regular pressure to generate big plays. The Packers are 4-2, which is a great start for them considering some of the early-season struggles. The Cowboys can't be as optimistic. They're 2-4 and after two straight troubling performances by the offense, their hole is becoming bigger. Cowboys shut out before halftimeIt had been a long time since the Cowboys had a first half as bad as Sunday night. Dallas hadn't been shut out in the first half since Week 9 of the 2021 season, but that streak ended Sunday night. It was the fourth longest streak of not being shut out in the first half, at 86 games, according to NBC.Two interceptions contributed to the Cowboys getting shut out before halftime. One came a play after Dak Prescott took a huge hit and stayed down for a few moments. The other was after CeeDee Lamb slipped planting his foot on a slant and rookie Brandon Cisse had an easy pick. The Packers led 17-0 and it could have been worse. Matthew Golden, who caught the first touchdown of the game, had two more touchdowns he couldn't haul in. One was a particularly bad drop on a perfect deep pass by Love that went through his hands. In the third quarter, Christian Watson had a dropped pass in the end zone on a nice throw from Love. The Packers left points on the board, but they still led by 17 points at the half because the Cowboys’ offense was uncharacteristically quiet. And Dallas wasn't much better in the second half. Packers slowly pull awayThe Cowboys’ defense wasn't bad on Sunday night, by its standard from the first five games. The Packers couldn't run the ball, though that's not unusual this season. There was a good amount of pressure on Love. After giving up 17 points in the first half, the Cowboys kept the Packers out of the end zone in the second half. The Cowboys expect to win when the defense plays at that level. On Sunday night it didn't matter because the offense was poor. There was constant pressure on Prescott. The Packers blitzed often and Dallas couldn't generate any big plays against it. Dallas didn't have a pass play longer than 17 yards until a 21-yard gain by George Pickens in the final two minutes, when Dallas trailed by 16. The Cowboys didn't have a run longer than 8 yards either. The Packers deserve credit for Dallas' issues. It seems Green Bay has figured some things out. It has looked like a different team the past two weeks. And star defensive end Micah Parsons will soon make his season debut after tearing his ACL late last season. Dallas needs to figure out both sides of the ball now. The defense showed some good signs for the first time this season but it will still be a work in progress. The offense wasn't expected to be an issue but it followed up a middling performance with a much worse game at Green Bay. A couple of weeks ago, the Packers looked like the team whose season might surprisingly go south early. They've made adjustments. Now it's the Cowboys who might be worried about where their season is headed.