GREEN BAY, WIS. · SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2026
Green Bay did its damage early, protected it late, and left Lambeau Field with the kind of Sunday night win that travels. Jordan Love passed for one touchdown and ran for another, Trey Smack added three field goals, and the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 23-13 on Sunday night in Week 6, according to Reuters. The Packers led 17-0 at halftime, improved to 4-2 with their third straight win, and continued a run of dominance in this rivalry that now stands at 8-1-1 over the last 10 meetings with Dallas, Reuters reported.
Love completed 23 of 41 passes for 276 yards with one interception, Reuters reported, and his favorite target all night was Matthew Golden. The receiver finished with six receptions for 104 yards and one touchdown, including the 9-yard scoring catch that capped Green Bay's opening possession and put the Packers ahead for good. It was the start Dallas never recovered from: a 14-play, 90-yard drive on the game's first series, finished by Love finding Golden for the early 7-0 lead, according to the Packers' own game recap.
The first half turned on takeaways. After Love was intercepted on Green Bay's next possession, Dallas drove deep into Packers territory with a chance to answer — and Evan Williams intercepted Dak Prescott at the Green Bay 3-yard line, Reuters reported. The Packers responded with a 73-yard drive that ended in Smack's 25-yard field goal with just under six minutes left in the half, pushing the lead to 10-0. Dallas threatened again before the break, but Brandon Cisse picked off Prescott for a second time, and Green Bay cashed that one in too: a nine-play, 77-yard touchdown drive, aided by a 37-yard pass interference call, finished by Love's 1-yard sneak with 23 seconds left in the half, Reuters reported. Our halftime coverage had the scene as the Packers took that 17-0 lead into the locker room.
Dallas pushed back, but the cushion held
Prescott completed 34 of 54 passes for 258 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, according to Reuters. Dallas finally got on the board in the third quarter, when Javonte Williams scored on a 1-yard run to cut the lead to 17-7, with Prescott keeping the drive alive on a fourth-down completion to CeeDee Lamb. Green Bay answered the only way it needed to — with Smack. The kicker connected from 44 yards in the third quarter and again from 29 yards in the fourth, restoring the margin to 23-7 and finishing a perfect 3-for-3 night from 25, 44 and 29 yards, according to the scoring summary reported by Packers Wire.
Dallas made the final minute interesting without ever making it truly tense. Prescott threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Flournoy with 44 seconds remaining, but the two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score at 23-13, Reuters reported. Green Bay recovered from there and ran out the clock for a win that was more controlled than the late score suggested.
Winning without a running game
The strangest number of the night belonged to the winners. Green Bay, which entered the game last in the league in rushing, managed just 57 yards on the ground at 2.2 yards per carry, Reuters reported. Dallas was not much better, running for 48 yards at 3.2 per carry. On a night when neither team could lean on its backs, the game belonged to the quarterbacks, the kickers and the defenses that forced mistakes — and Green Bay won all three phases of that equation. Love accounted for both Packers touchdowns, Smack accounted for nine points plus two extra points, and the defense turned two Prescott interceptions into 10 first-half points.
The penalty flag was the night's other constant. The game featured 22 penalties — 11 by each team — with Dallas drawing 108 penalty yards and Green Bay 96, the Associated Press reported via TSN. Green Bay also left points on the field: Golden dropped a potential 43-yard touchdown, and other scoring chances ended in Smack field goals instead of touchdowns, the Associated Press reported. That the Packers still won by double digits, on the road to 4-2, says plenty about where this team is in mid-October. For the rest of Sunday's NFL picture, see how the Bills held off the Raiders 33-30 at Allegiant Stadium and how the Saints beat the Giants 34-27 at MetLife, and follow the full slate at our Sports desk.
The defensive performance came with a cost on both sides. Dallas receiver KaVontae Turpin left with a rib injury in the first quarter and Dee Winters hurt his ankle in the second quarter, while Green Bay cornerback Brandon Cisse — who had one of the two interceptions — left with a stinger in the second half, the Associated Press reported. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer was blunt afterward about where 2-4 leaves his team, saying Dallas put itself in a hole and the only way out is to work and find solutions without repeating mistakes, according to the Associated Press. Green Bay also awaits the return of three-time Pro Bowl running back Josh Jacobs, who comes off the commissioner's exempt list Monday after missing the whole season so far, the Associated Press reported — a potential boost for a rushing attack that produced just 57 yards on Sunday night.
Up next, Dallas falls to 2-4 and heads to Philadelphia on October 26, while Green Bay travels to Detroit next Sunday, according to the Associated Press schedule notes. Three straight wins, three straight opponents held to 14 points or fewer, and a quarterback who keeps answering on Sunday nights: the Packers head into that divisional trip playing their best football of the season.
