The Packers signed OT Brant Banks to the 53-man roster.  The signed OC Lecitus Smith to the practice squad and then elevated Smith to the game-day roster.  The Packers also released WR Mecole Hardman from the practice squad and signed a different WR, Jakobie Keeney-James to the practice squad.  Replacing Hardman with a different wide receiver is a little surprising.  

Zach Tom, Aaron Banks, and Anthony Belton were inactive due to injury.  Warren Brinson and Kamal Hadden were healthy scratches.  Malik Willis and Lecitus Smith wre active but did not play.  

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN:

Despite being 2 starters down, the pass blocking was pretty good.  Dallas managed just 4 QB hits and 1 sack.  On the other hand, the ball came out fast and the Packers Adot was 5.8 yards.  Dallas got some consistent pressure.  Also, there were a few penalties, including penalties both times the Packers made it to the couple of inches line.  The run blocking was a tale of two halves.  Jacobs gained 16 yards on 8 carries with a long of 7 and Wilson chipped in 6 yards on 2 carries with a long of 5 in the first half.  22 yards on 10 carries is bad, and other than the 7 and 5 yard runs left 10 yards on 8 carries.  Jenkins had a whiff early and the left side of the line had issues in the first half.

The second half was a different story (hence, the new paragraph!).  Jacobs gained 70 yards on 14 additional carries for a 5-yard average in the second half with a long of 19.  Wilson carried 6 times for 38 yards, a 6.33-yard average, with a long of 13.  I would like to think that the line settled in as the game wore on, and I think that is true to a considerable degree.  It may be that an important Dallas player got hurt  or the coordinator changed the scheme to try to stop the Packers from torching his secondary.  Be that as it may be, the Packers can look forward to the return of Zach Tom, Aaron Banks, and Anthony Belton, which should greatly increase the talent available. 

RUNNING BACKS:

Josh Jacobs finished with 86 yards on 22 carries for a 3.91-yard average and 2 touchdowns.  Jacobs added 71 yards on 4 receptions.  I remember noting that Jacobs gained 2 yards after contact just to get to back to the line of scrimmage a time or two.  Jacobs showed the speed to get to the edge, the abilty to make players miss, and good hands.  Wilson had 44 yards on 8 carries, a 5.5-yard average and added 37 yards on 3 receptions.  Jacobs had 157 yards from scrimmage and Wilson had 81, so they combined for 238 yards. Brooks caught one pass for 1 yard.  Jacobs left the game late to get stitches in his leg.  Jacobs did not get any carries in the overtime period: Wilson carried 3 times for 29 yards in the overtime period.  

The running back room is brimming with talent.  Brooks is the quintessential third-down back.  At some point, Lloyd, Watson, Reed, Monk and Colin Oliver will be ready to come off of the IR and PUP lists, at which point some tough decisions will get made.  I imagine the Packers will just keep 4 RBs on the 53.  They might try to slide Brooks or Wilson to the practice squad.  

QUARTERBACKS:

Love completed 31 of 43 (72.1%) for 337 yards (7.84 yards/attempt) and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions.  He had a passer rating of 118.1.  He gained 28 yards on 3 carries with a long of 25 yards.  He had no turnover-worthy throws.  An interception was erased by a Dallas penalty, but Love knew he had a free play, though it may have been a little closer than one would like.  

TIGHT ENDS:

Tucker Kraft caught all 5 of his targets for 56 yards with a long of 16.  Musgrave caught 1 pass for 6 yards. His failure to block inside out led to the blocked extra point attempt and the 2 point earned when Dallas scooped up the football and took it all the way for 2 points.  Fitzgerald and Sims had no statistics.  Kraft spent a lot of time blocking.  Musgrave perhaps can be a receiving tight end in the NFL, but that is not what LaFleur's scheme wants and needs.  Fitzgerald is heralded as the blocking tight end but he is not a very good blocker.  Sims can catch.  Perhaps an upgrade of the tight end room is possible.      

WIDE RECEIVERS:

Doubs caught 6 of 8 passes for 58 yards and three big touchdowns.  Doubs showed some strong hands.  Golden caught 5 of 6 for 58 with a long of 46.  On the 46-yarder, both Golden and Wicks were in the area, so I imagine that one of them ran the wrong route.  Golden also caught a clutch 14-yard pass on 4th down to keep a scoring drive going.  Wicks caught 2 of 4 for 19 yards with a long of 15.  Heath caught his only reception for 9 yards.  Williams caught 3 or his 3 targets for 22 yards, with a long of 16.    

This group has been efficient.  They have largely eliminated the drop issue.  Still, the return of Watson and Reed should help this unit.

DEFENSIVE TACKLES:

I confess: I was not a fan of the defensive tackle room last year headed by Kenny Clark and I have not been a fan of the room this year now that it is headed by Devonte Wyatt.  The team did seem to miss Wyatt when he left the field early and did not return.  Dallas' offensive line seemed to be firing out and moving the line of scrimmage on running plays.  That said, a considerable part of the defensive issues were poor tackling and less swarming than in the first three games.  Zach Kruse estimated that the Packers had over 10 missed tackles.  Stakhouse had 3 tackles (2 solo) and Wooden also had 3 (1 solo), plus a QB hit.  PFF credited Wooden with 2 stops.  Brooks had 2 assisted tackles and a QB hit.  PFF credited Brooks with 3 pressures.  Wyatt had 1 assisted tackle.  Dallas gained 117 yards on 26 carries (4.5 yards/carry) and there was not enough inside pressure.    

DEFENSIVE ENDS:

Gary had 4 tackles (2 solo) and 2 stops.  Parsons had 3 tackles (1 solo), and 3 QB hits.  PFF gave Parsons a 94 initial grade and credited him with 8 pressures and a 35% pass rush win rate.  He got doubled much of the time.  Van Ness had no statistics but PFF credited him with 3 pressures.  I noted one time when Van Ness crashed hard inside and allowed a big run to his side of the field.  Enagbare had 1 assisted tackle and no pressures.  Sorrell had no statistics and no pressures.  PFF credited the Packers with 15 pressures. They gave Dallas credit for 15, also. I believe the Packers were well into the twenties for pressures last week. 

LINEBACKERS:

Quay Walker had 11 tackles (6 solo) with a tackle for loss.  PFF credited him with 2 stops.  He had no pressures but he only had 2 pass rushes.  Cooper had 7 tackles (5 solo) with a pass defensed.  He also had no pressures and rushed the passer just twice.  Cooper missed a couple of tackles but played well overall.  One of his missed tackles should have been a tackle for loss on a day when the defense struggled to force negative plays and had a hard time getting off the field.  Dallas converted just 5 of 12 third and fourth down opportunities.  McDufie had 2 solo tackles plus a solo tackle on special teams.   

DEFENSIVE BACKS:

Pickens hurt the Packers with 134 yards on 8 receptions and 11 targets with 2 touchdowns.  The Packers gave up 60 receiving yards to Pickens and Jalen Tolbert in the overtime period.  McKinney had 6 tackles (2 solo) and at least one missed tackle.  Nixon had 4 solo tackles and 2 passes defensed.  PFF listed him with allowing 6 of 10 passes for 73 yards and an 82 passer rating allowed.  Hobbs had 7 tackles (2 solo) and a pass defensed.  PFF credited him with allowing 5 of 6 targets to be completed for 56 yards and a 145 passer rating allowed.  Valentine had 3 tackles (2 solo) and a big missed tackle that went for a touchdown.  PFF indicated that Valentine allowed all 6 targets to be completed for 84 yards and a 158.3 passer rating allowed.  Bullard had 2 tackles (1 solo) and allowed 2 of 2 passes to be completed for 21 yards.  The Packers played 4.66 defensvie backs on average per play.  

SPECIAL TEAMS:

Whelan was fine.  He had 2 punts that averaged 41.5 yards.  Both were within the 20.  He also did a nice job on a less than perfect snaps on the field goal that tied the game.  McManus made all 3 of his field goals and 4 of his 5 extra points.  He also led the Packers with 2 solo tackles on special teams, something that is not supposed to happen.  Orzech had only one less than perfect snaps.  The Packers had an extra point blocked and returned for 2 points when Musgrave blocked the ruser on the outside instead of the one on inside.  

Photo courtesy of Kevin Jaira of Imagn Images.

RB: 1.01

TE: 1.37

WR: 2.58

DT: 1.83

DE: 2.17

LB: 2.33

DB: 4.66