Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers will look to build on their best performance of the season when they host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night.
Green Bay (3-2) enters off a dominant 31-7 home win over the Chicago Bears, marking their first back-to-back wins of the season. Dallas (2-3) lost 24-16 at home to Tampa Bay on Thursday, committing three turnovers.
“I think our guys have approached it, win or loss, with the right mentality,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Wednesday. “And we’ve got to keep bringing it. You’ve got to bring it every week. Every week’s a new challenge, a new opportunity, and you’re only as good as your last game.”
Love completed 25 of 31 passes for 367 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions against the Bears. Christian Watson and Matthew Golden had six catches apiece for a combined 266 yards.
“He’s got speed, he’s got weapons,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Wednesday of Love and the Packers passing game. “You’ve got Watson and Golden and (tight end) Tucker Kraft and they’re not afraid to turn the ball loose down the field, trusting those guys to make plays.”
Green Bay’s opportunistic defense forced five turnovers — three interceptions and two fumble recoveries — while limiting Chicago to 246 yards and 3.6 yards per play.
The Packers’ ground game remained ineffective, mustering just 70 yards at 2.7 yards per carry.
Green Bay is worst in the league in rushing offense (60.4 yards per game), while Dallas is third from the bottom at 81.6 ypg. The Packers have just two rushing touchdowns.
Packers guard Aaron Banks, who has not played since Week 2 because of knee and toe injuries, was a limited participant in practice Wednesday.
Starting cornerback Keisean Nixon did not practice Wednesday because of a groin injury. Defensive tackle Jordon Riley, sidelined since late last season after tearing his Achilles, has been designated for return from the physically unable to perform list and was a limited practice participant.
Love is third in the NFL in passing yards with 1,408, completing 60.5% of his passes with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is fifth in yards with 1,381, completing 67.2% with nine touchdowns and three picks.
The Cowboys average 351.2 yards per game (11th in NFL) and 27.6 points per game (seventh).
Dallas wideout CeeDee Lamb is tied for second in the league with 39 catches for 507 yards, including seven for 20 yards or more, and four touchdowns, already more than the three he had last season. George Pickens has 27 receptions at 13.1 yards per catch.
“They are extremely high-powered,” LaFleur said of the Cowboys’ offense. “They can score a lot of points, they can put a lot of yards on you, so our guys are going to have to do a great job defensively.”
Dallas ranks second-to-last in total defense, giving up 395.4 yards per game and a league-worst 6.4 yards per play. While Green Bay’s ground game has struggled, the Cowboys’ run defense is the worst in the league, allowing 168.4 yards per game.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday that defensive coordinator Christian Parker would move from the sidelines to the coaches’ booth, though Schottenheimer said Wednesday that no final decision had been made.
Dallas also hired former Browns head coach Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant on Monday. Pettine was Green Bay’s defensive coordinator from 2018-20.
Starting linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (hamstring), cornerbacks Ameer Speed (knee) and Cobie Durant (hamstring), and offensive tackle Drew Shelton (hamstring) did not participate in practice Wednesday.