One of the NFL's highest-scoring rivalries will be renewed on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 6 when the Green Bay Packers (3-2) host the Dallas Cowboys (2-3) at Lambeau Field on Sunday night.

Last season, the Packers traveled down to Texas to face the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, and the two teams tied at 40-40, the highest-scoring tie in the Super Bowl era, since 1996, per CBS Sports Research. The game featured seven lead changes, including six consecutive touchdown drives with a lead change in the second half. 

However, this rivalry hasn't exactly been very competitive in terms of the games' final outcomes, with the Cowboys seeking their first win against the Packers since the 2016 regular season, quarterback Dak Prescott's rookie year. Since that game, Dallas is 0-5-1 in the last six games against Green Bay despite scoring 31 points per game in that stretch. The problem is their defense has allowed a combined 37 points per game during the six-game winless streak against the Packers. That's the most points per game scored by a team's offense during a six-game winless span against an opponent in NFL history, per CBS Sports Research. 

Sunday will mark Packers quarterback Jordan Love's first home start against the Cowboys, with both of his games against Dallas coming on the road -- a 48-32 wild card round win in the 2023 season and the 40-40 tie last year. It will also mark a homecoming for two former Packers who are now Cowboys: three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark and Pro Bowl edge rusher Rashan Gary. 

Let's dig into this primetime fight against two of the NFL's most historic franchises, but first, here's how you can watch:  

Where to watch Cowboys vs. Packers

Date: Sunday, Oct. 18 | Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: Lambeau Field (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
TV: NBC | Stream: Fubo (try for free)
Follow: CBS Sports App
Odds: Packers -1.5, O/U 53.5 (via DraftKings Sportsbook)

Cowboys vs. Packers need to know

Cowboys looking to fix bad vibes on defense: In Week 5, Dallas lost a home game 24-16 on "Thursday Night Football" to the previously 0-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team it was favored by 9.5 points. Tampa Bay was starting undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels, making his second career start in place of an injured Baker Mayfield, and Dallas allowed the Buccaneers to control the game with 241 rushing yards. That was the most for the Buccaneers in a game since the 2024 season. 

This week, there has been speculation from owner and general manager Jerry Jones about first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker moving upstairs to the booth, but Parker and head coach Brian Schottenheimer maintained he will remain on the sideline. Dallas' performance improvement plan has begun with the hiring of former Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine as a senior assistant. Pettine actually gave Parker his first job in the NFL when he was Green Bay's defensive coordinator in 2019. 

Dallas knows that being the league's 31st-ranked defense (395.4 total yards allowed per game), last-place run defense (168.4 rushing yards allowed per game), and worst third-down defense (52.6% third-down conversion rate allowed) won't cut it.

How fixable are the issues? 

"Very fixable because they're under our control," Parker said. "Very fixable."

Cowboys All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams agrees. 

"Just from the aspect of the things that we can control are the things that we're messing up on. Effort. Playing with our technique. Playing better, things like that. Those are things we can control as a unit, we can control as a unit. It's fixable. We just have to make our best effort to fix those things. 

Packers' Jordan Love aims to maintain an explosive passing game to Christian Watson and Matthew Golden: Packers quarterback Jordan Love is fresh off his best game of 2026 in Week 5, a 31-7 beatdown of the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. 

Love completed 25 of his 31 throws for 367 yards and 2 touchdowns against Chicago, which makes him the Packers' record holder for the most passing yards in a game against the Bears at Lambeau Field. He beat the previous record of 345 yards passing by Lynn Dickey, set back in 1983. The victory, 24 points, ranks as the largest win against the Bears since 2014, the year Rodgers won the second of his four NFL MVPs. The Packers are now 5-3 against the Bears in Love's eight career starts against them since 2023, including playoffs. 

"We were flowing today. Executed at a really high level. I was proud of everybody. That's what it looks like when we play to our standard, and we got playmakers making plays down the field, O-line doing a great job," Love said postgame on FOX. "That's the standard for us. ... This is huge. This is a win we needed at home, getting us rolling and keep building off this."

Love went big-game hunting with regularity to both wide receiver Christian Watson (143 yards receiving and 2 receiving touchdowns on 6 catches) and wide receiver Matthew Golden (123 yards receiving on 6 catches), making Watson and Golden the first Green Bay duo with 120-plus yards receiving in a game since 2016. It last occurred when Davante Adams and Jordy Nelson accomplished the feat against the Tennessee Titans 10 years ago. Love hit Watson for gains of 42 yards (the game's first touchdown that made the score 7-0), 31 yards and 53 yards (Love's second touchdown pass that made the score 20-7 with 13:10 left in the third quarter). He connected with Golden on throws of 36 yards and 50 yards.

In total, Love connected on six of eight of his eight throws of 20-plus air yards for a career-high 258 yards and 2 touchdowns on his passes of 20-plus air yards. Per the league's Next Gen stats, only Russell Wilson (264 with the New York Giants in Week 2 of the 2025 season against the Dallas Cowboys) had more in the NGS era (since 2016). According to ESPN Insights, Love joined Ben Roethlisberger as the only players with five completions of 30-plus air yards in a game since ESPN began tracking the metric 20 years ago in 2006. 

Slowing this high-flying passing attack down will be a tall task for a struggling Cowboys defense. 

A stoppable force vs. a movable object: The Packers rank dead last in the NFL in rushing yards per game (60.4) and third-down offense (27.6% conversion rate) thanks to missing running back Josh Jacobs while he was on the commissioner's exempt list and dealing with some offensive line injuries. Across from them on the line of scrimmage at Lambeau Field on Sunday will be the Cowboys' last-ranked run defense (168.4 rushing yards per game allowed) and last-ranked third-down defense (52.6% conversion rate allowed). Whichever team can find an edge here will likely emerge victorious.

New Cowboys CB Joey Porter Jr. primed to return in primetime: New Dallas Cowboys cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was set to play his first full game as a Cowboy in Week 5 before a stomach bug made him a late scratch hours before kickoff. However, Porter Jr. is now recovered from his illness and aims to play a full starter's load of snaps. He played on 48.1% (25 of 52) of the Cowboys' defensive snaps in their 34-30 road win over the Houston Texans in Week 4 just days after being acquired in a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier that week. He is officially listed as questionable to play on Sunday with an ankle injury, but on Wednesday he said he is "definitely" ready to be a full-time starter for Dallas. Parker agreed, saying the team is ready for him to have a "heavily increased" workload against the Packers.

Cowboys vs. Packers prediction

Despite Porter Jr. likely returning to action for Dallas in Week 6, their defense won't be able to stifle Love, Watson and Golden through the air. Whichever receiver between Watson and Golden that cornerback DaRon Bland, who has struggled with his footing on the field of late, will break free for big gains on a consistent basis. Yes, the Cowboys do have the NFL's No. 7 scoring offense (27.6 points per game) powered by Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, wide receiver George Pickens and running back Javonte Williams. 

However, Dallas' defense struggles will limit their offense's ability to find a rhythm. The Cowboys are averaging 3.07 points per drive, the second-highest by a team under .500 through five games this century per CBS Sports Research, but their 45 drives this season are the second fewest in the league this season. Among the NFL teams that have played in all five weeks of the 2026 season, Dallas' 45 drives stand as the fewest. That's what happens when you have the league's worst run defense (168.4 rushing yards per game allowed) and worst third-down defense (52.6% third-down conversion rate allowed).

That unit will struggle again in Green Bay on Sunday night as the Cowboys have yet to overcome their decision to trade All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Packers at the start of the 2025 season. Parsons won't suit up for Green Bay on Sunday night while he continues to recover from the torn ACL he suffered at the end of last season, but his presence will continue to haunt Dallas' narrative.  Pick: Packers 34, Cowboys 24