Another week, another embarrassing loss for the Dallas Cowboys, this time a 23-13 defeat to the Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys are now six weeks into their 2026 season, and the word “embarrassing” has become an all too familiar refrain associated with the team.

Yet there’s no better way to describe Brian Schottenheimer’s team. The Cowboys didn’t do much right in the loss to the Packers as they were both outplayed and outcoached. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly for the Cowboys in the Week 6 loss that dropped them to 2-4 on the season.

The Good: Veteran defenders step up

The defensive players-only meeting didn’t produce the desired results, but the man who called it, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, and a few of the veteran defenders responded well. Williams and fellow DT Kenny Clark each had a sack in the loss.

Both players also had a tackle for a loss, with Williams accounting for two of them. One of Williams’ biggest plays came on a 2 nd -and-goal from the one-yard line with the Cowboys down 7-0. The slick veteran DT got into the backfield and made the stop for a loss, which eventually led to a Packers field goal. 

At the time, being down just 10-0 felt like a big stop for the maligned Dallas defense. That didn’t turn out to be the case, but Williams and Clark had good outings in defeat.

The Bad: Third-down defense

Christian Parker and the Cowboys brought in veteran defensive coach Mike Pettine to help with the sieve of a unit, but it didn’t help. They were solid on first and second downs, but the Cowboys’ third down defense was abysmal. When the team needed a stop, Dallas’ defense couldn’t get off the field.

Parker’s group allowed the Packers to convert on their first seven third down opportunities, including two 3 rd -and-13 tries on their opening drive. 

In total, the Packers went 11-18 on third downs, 1-1 on fourth downs, and only Matt LaFleur not trying to score late held them back from converting at a higher percentage. The Packers were 10-15 went on third downs prior to the fourth quarter when the game was already in hand. Giving up a conversion rate of nearly 69% on third and fourth downs won’t help win many games, and the Cowboys had trouble getting stops. 

The defense must be able to get off the field, especially on third and long, if the team is to turn around their defensive fortunes this season. They failed miserably in that area against Green Bay.

The Ugly: Dak Prescott and the offense

It was the second straight week where Schottenheimer, Prescott and the offense had no answers. The Cowboys were held to a season-low 13 points, six of which were gifted to them late. Prescott threw two interceptions, one of which came after wide receiver CeeDee Lamb fell and left the cornerback to grab the easy pick.

The offensive line had trouble stopping the Packers’ defense from harassing Prescott, the quarterback had issues beating the blitz, and the receivers had problems catching the ball. That’s a bad combination for an offense that thinks of themselves as one of the best in the league.

Prescott wasn’t sharp, throwing for 258 yards and a touchdown, but many of his throws were low or off target. Jonathan Gannon’s defense kept coming after Prescott, and neither the QB nor Schottenheimer had an answer.

There didn’t seem to be a plan to beat the blitzes that kept coming, even with the protection breaking down nearly every play. The quick outs, stops and hitches that felt like they were a big part of the old playbook felt like the go-to options in this game. It never worked and the Cowboys never adjusted to what the Packers were doing on defense.

It was a struggle for Dallas' offense, which was supposed to be their path to winning games. That wasn’t the case against the Packers, and it was difficult to watch Prescott and the offense get embarrassed in Week 6.