FRISCO, Texas – When the NFL schedule came out for the 2025 season, the Cowboys' Week 4 matchup against the Packers seemed to be their opportunity for revenge after a heart-breaking playoff loss to Green Bay in 2023.
Then, the story changed after Dallas traded All-Pro Micah Parsons to the Packers in exchange for Kenny Clark and two future first-round picks. Now, the added and much larger storyline is Parsons' return to AT&T Stadium for the first time as a visitor.
Let's take a look at some keys that could help the Cowboys get their first win ever over the Packers at AT&T Stadium:
Take Micah Parsons AND his teammates out of the game
I don't have to tell you that Micah Parsons is an elite, game-altering pass rusher. The Cowboys watched him do that for them the last four years. Now, they've got to figure out how to limit him as best they can, because he's going to make plays.
In his four seasons with Dallas, the Cowboys finished in the top eight in pressure rate across the NFL all four years and were first in 2022 and 2023. So far in 2025, they rank 15th. Parsons on the other hand is second in the league in pressures this season with 19, and had eight last week against the Browns, his most in a game since 2023.
The added layer of danger that Parsons brings is what he does to open things up for his teammates. Parsons has 1.5 sacks in his first three games, but the added attention going his way has allowed Rashan Gary to tally a league-best 4.5 sacks, putting him well on his way for a career year. Green Bay is fifth in the league in sacks with 10 and third in defensive yards allowed per game. Parsons and Gary have combined for a league-best six sacks and 31 pressures, the second-best among all edge duos.
You bring all of that into the equation, and we've only really covered two players. Don't forget that Quay Walker is still there too, and he hasn't missed a single tackle in 31 tackle opportunities this season. There's also Edgerrin Cooper, who is one of the best young linebackers in football. Add in Lukas Van Ness, who when on the field with Parsons and Gary has allowed just 1.5 yards per play and generated a 36.3% pressure rate.
This Packers group is one of the best in the league, and not all of it has to do with Parsons. The Cowboys don't need to just take number one out of the game, they need to get the whole defense out of sorts if they want a chance.
Force Jordan Love into mistakes
When given time and in rhythm, Jordan Love is very hard to beat. Cowboys fans unfortunately remember seeing that in 2023, when he completed 16 of his 21 passing attempts for 272 yards and three touchdowns. The telling stat from that game, however, was that Dallas failed to get a sack on Love and only hit him three times over the course of the game.
The key to limiting and/or stopping Love is getting pressure on him and making him uncomfortable. In the last two seasons, Love has thrown 22 interceptions, and eight of them have come when he's under pressure. His completion percentage under pressure is just 47.8%, and he's been strip sacked five times.
There's just a few problems with the Cowboys achieving this goal. For starters, the Cowboys defensive line has greatly struggled to get pressure on the quarterback. They have the fifth-least sacks in the NFL this season with four, and did not sack Caleb Williams last week in Chicago, the first time that he hasn't been sacked in his career.
Second, Dallas' secondary has given up 748 yards passing in the last two weeks. Last week, seven of their eight secondary players gave up an average of about five yards of separation to their receivers. If that remains the case, then it won't matter if there are bad throws mixed in because nobody is close enough to the ball. They'll need to tighten up in coverage to be able to take advantage of those poor throws, if the front seven can do their part too.
Lastly, the Cowboys are tied for the worst turnover margin in the NFL at -5. They have just one takeaway this season, the Donovan Wilson interception late in the game against the New York Giants in Week 2. The Cowboys need to give their offense as many opportunities as possible to get points on the board, and that means you need complimentary football.
Now is the time for George Pickens
Simply put, there is no replacing CeeDee Lamb. With that in mind, the Cowboys are better set in their backup plan in 2025 compared to 2024 thanks to George Pickens. All the talk in the offseason after the Pickens trade was that Lamb and he would be WR 1A and 1B. For the next however many games, Pickens needs to be 1, with no letter next to it.
The good news for Dallas is he has been that in the last three years of his career in Pittsburgh. In those three seasons, Pickens caught 174 passes for 2,841 yards and 12 touchdowns. He averaged 16.3 yards per reception and picked up 117 first downs.
In three games with the Cowboys, Pickens has 22 targets with 13 catches and 166 yards to go with two touchdowns. He also has a few drops that he'd want back, like one last week against the Bears that bounced off his hands and resulted in an interception.
With CeeDee Lamb sidelined with an injury, Pickens has a giant opportunity in front of him, and the Cowboys need him to do so. The good news is, he and Dak Prescott have a way to mesh: Getting passes into tight windows.
Since Pickens got to the league, he has the third-most receptions (40) and second-most receiving yards (715) on tight window targets. Prescott has the highest tight window throw-rate in the NFL at 21.4%, the third time in the last four years that Prescott has led the league in that category. On those tight window throws in 2025, Prescott has gone 11/27 for 109 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Dallas' offense will need anything and everything they can get from their skill players without Lamb, and Pickens is at the forefront of who can be called upon to help complete that task.
