Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense had the ball at the Cowboys 1-yard line in the third quarter Sunday when disaster struck.
Rodgers dropped back to pass, stepped up in the pocket but fumbled as Dallas' David Irving tackled him, a loose ball that Irving recovered.
The turnover was one of four the Packers committed in arguably their worst home loss in several seasons. Green Bay did not score a touchdown until 6:53 remained in the game and fumbled five times, losing three of them, in a 30-16 loss.
Here's a recap of Sunday's game:
SUNDAY SCHOOL
-- Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott led his offense on an eight-play, 75-yard drive to start the game, capping it with a one-yard touchdown pass to Cole Beasley. Dallas moved the ball with a balanced and efficient attack, running four times for 23 yards and passing four times for 46 yards.
-- Green Bay responded with a strong drive of its own, keyed by a first-down scramble by Rodgers on a third-and-seven. Rodgers was aided on the play by strong blocking from the offensive line, which the unit provided all day. The Packers could have gone for a first down on fourth-and-short from the Cowboys' 19-yard line, but coach Mike McCarthy elected for the 37-yard field-goal attempt, which Mason Crosby hit.
-- The Packers and Cowboys traded fumbles later in the quarter, with Dallas cornerback Morris Claiborne recovering a Jordy Nelson fumble and Green Bay's Joe Thomas recovering a Prescott fumble four plays later. The Packers hit another field goal after that fumble on a drive aided by a third-and-long facemask penalty on the Cowboys. Rodgers struggled with accuracy on the drive, missing on throws to Jared Abbrederis and Richard Rodgers, the latter of which would have put the Packers in the red zone.
-- Aaron Rodgers' struggles continued on Green Bay's next two drives. He underthrew a pass to Randall Cobb on a fourth-and-5 and missed Cobb on a deep route on the Packers' subsequent drive. Prescott led his team on a five-play, 97-yard touchdown with less than two minutes to go in the half, a drive that featured beautiful passes of 42 and 20 yards. Dallas led 17-6 at halftime.
-- Rodgers made another poor throw on Green Bay's first drive of the second half, killing his offense's momentum with an interception near midfield. He rebounded to lead the offense to the Dallas 1-yard line on the Packers' next possession before Irving recovered his fumble. Rodgers had another chance for redemption when Morgan Burnett intercepted Prescott at the Cowboys' 16-yard line, but he overthrew an open Cobb in the end zone, and the Packers were forced to kick a field goal.
-- Dallas all but salted the game away with another Prescott-to-Beasley touchdown early in the fourth quarter, making the score 27-7. Green Bay responded with its first touchdown, a six-yard pass from Rodgers to Cobb, but Ty Montgomery fumbled later in the quarter to seal the Cowboys' win.
DULY NOTED
-- Eddie Lacy was questionable coming into the game after sustaining an ankle injury the previous game, but he played Sunday and fared decently well. He finished with 17 carries for 65 yards, which included a 25-yard run in the first quarter during which he hurdled a Cowboys defender. Lacy ran for just 20 yards on 10 carries in the second half, however, and the cameras showed him in pain on the sideline.
-- Prescott appeared to throw his first career interception in the first quarter when Thomas caught the football midair. The play was ruled a fumble, however, extending his record streak for a quarterback at the start of his career without an interception. That streak ended at 176 attempts with Burnett's third-quarter interception.
-- Packers cornerback Damarious Randall was injured in the second quarter, leaving Green Bay without its top three corners. That allowed Prescott to exploit favorable matchups outside against corners LaDarius Gunter, Demetri Goodson and Josh Hawkins. He finished the game 18-of-27 passing for 247 yards and a passer rating of 117.4.
-- Rodgers did struggle for the Packers, but he made some nice plays, too. He found Cobb for a long gain on a third-and-three late in the first quarter after scrambling out of the pocket. He later made a beautiful pass to Nelson for 25 yards in the fourth quarter. He finished 31 for 42 for 294 yards, but the struggles certainly outweighed the positives.
-- The game was a meeting of the NFL's best rushing offense in the Cowboys vs. the best rushing defense in the Packers. The Cowboys won that battle, rushing for 191 yards on 33 carries (5.8 yards per carry). Rookie Ezekiel Elliott led the way with 28 carries for a career best 157 yards, including 97 in the second half.
-- Montgomery led the Packers with 10 receptions on 12 targets for 98 yards. Cobb had seven catches on 11 targets for 53 yards, while Nelson had five catches for 68 yards on seven targets.
-- Wide receiver Davante Adams left the game in the third quarter, while tackle Bryan Bulaga left with a back injury. The Cowboys lost Claiborne to a concussion in the second quarter.
WHAT IT MEANT
-- Rodgers and his receivers have work to do to get back in sync, and Rodgers in particular is not looking like the MVP player he was in the past. He made poor throws in key situations and looked tentative, even when he had time to throw.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
-- Prescott. He led the Cowboys on a touchdown drive in the final minutes of the first half and all but clinched the game with his fourth-quarter touchdown pass. He has thrown seven touchdown passes on the season with a completion percentage of 68.7 and a passer rating of 103.9.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME
-- Irving forced three fumbles for Dallas and recovered one. He also had a sack.
THAT MOMENT
-- Green Bay had a chance to cut the 20-6 lead to one touchdown when it took over at the Cowboys' 16-yard line after an interception in the third quarter. The Packers went three-and-out, however, and had to settle for a Crosby field goal.
THIS NUMBER
25 -- The Packers' red zone touchdown percentage (one for four). That included Rodgers' fumble and two field goals.
THEY SAID IT
"I don't know if I agree with 'broken.' It's definitely not clean in some areas." --McCarthy on the Packers' offense
"Offensively, we didn't play the way we need to. We made some plays, didn't make enough, didn't take care of the ball, and that's not us." -- Nelson
"I felt my movement was good tonight. I felt the line blocked really well. We've got to do a better job of hitting the ones we're used to hitting." -- Rodgers
WHAT'S NEXT
The Packers host the Chicago Bears on Thursday at Lambeau Field.
