FRISCO, Texas - The Cowboys and Packers will take the field Sunday night in one of the most-anticipated matchups for an NFL regular-season game in quite some time.
Obviously, the drama centers on Micah Parsons, who is returning as a member of the Packers. While there are plenty of other players to focus on, Parsons did make the list as one of the "players to watch" for Sunday's game.
Micah Parsons - Let's not play coy here, folks. The biggest draw of the entire contest is Parsons in his first return to AT&T Stadium since being traded six days ahead of the season. He can say all the right things, sure, but he feels slighted about how things went down with the Cowboys this summer, and he's gonna want to rack up sacks against an offensive line that's down two starters. Schottenheimer better have a lot of tricks in his bag to schematically combat what Parsons wants to do in Dallas, namely wreck the entire game to validate his view of the divorce. - Patrik Walker
Jadeveon Clowney - OK, let's see exactly how much tread is left on these tires. Clowney is one season removed from having 9.5 sacks for the Panthers and delivered another 5.5 last season despite being asked to cover more than he ever has in his career. He's hungry and wanted to play against the Bears, but was held out to ramp up more. That means his ribs are touching to not only play and show he's nowhere near the narrative of being washed that's floating around, but to also, undoubtedly, try to outshine Parsons on Sunday — if only to prove he's still one of the best in the game himself. - Patrik Walker
Jordan Love - A major proponent of the Packers' strong start hasn't just been their defense, it's been the play of QB Jordan Love, who is entering his third season as Green Bay's starter. He's thrown for 663 yards and five touchdowns through three games already, and with Dallas' struggles in the secondary the last two weeks, has a chance to really run up that tally. If the Cowboys want to have a shot in this game, they'll need to force Love to make some poor decisions, which he's shown a tendency to do in the past with back-to-back seasons of 11 interceptions and a crucial late interception last week against the Browns. - Tommy Yarrish
Terence Steele - Dallas' offense could really use a big bounce back game from Terence Steele. Unfortunately, that may be a very tall task on Sunday night with Micah Parsons and the Packers' pass rushing unit coming to town. Steele leads the team in QB pressures allowed (14) and is tied for the lead with Tyler Guyton in sacks allowed (2). Parsons can move all around the line, but if he has more success on one side versus the other Green Bay will likely keep him there. Steele has done some good things as a run blocker, but has really struggled in pass protection in 2025. He'll need to have one of his better games if the Cowboys' offense wants to stay on schedule. - Tommy Yarrish
Jalen Tolbert - It was just last year when Tolbert led the Cowboys with seven touchdown catches. Now, he entered the season as the No. 4 receiver. But for this game, he's going to be asked to make some big plays, especially with CeeDee Lamb out for this game, and maybe longer. George Pickens can't do everything and Tolbert is going to have to step up in a major way for this offense to keep up. - Nick Eatman
Rashan Gary - Sure, the focus will be on No. 1 for the Packers - which is of course, Micah Parsons. But that's not just because he used play for the Cowboys. In the first three games, opposing teams have also tried to block him and it's not easy. What's happening is Rashan Gary on the other side is getting to tee off. Gary is leading the NFL in sacks this year with four. Gary is getting close to already securing his sixth straight year of at least 5.0 sacks. So far this year, he's had a sack in every game and seems to be benefitting nicely from the pressure Parsons is providing on the other side. That's the guy that will get plenty of 1-on-1 matchups Sunday night. - Nick Eatman
