The most anticipated game of the NFL season has arrived, the Green Bay Packers and Micah Parsons travel to play the Dallas Cowboys. To make things even more enticing, it’s a Sunday Night Football game where football fans everywhere will be watching.
That might not be good news for the Cowboys and Jerry Jones. The Cowboys traded away their best player, and now he comes back a month later in hopes of sticking it to Jones for how his time ended in Dallas. Parsons’ inclusion on an already good defense is one of the reasons to hate playing the Packers in Week 4.
This game could get ugly. A nationally televised game with an elite player seeking revenge against an owner who is among the most disliked people in the sport could bring fireworks. Unfortunately for Jones, this looks like another opportunity for his team to get embarrassed. The Packers have enough ways to make Jones’ team look silly; here are three of the reasons to hate the Week 4 opponent for the Cowboys.
Micah Parsons’ return
There’s no easy way to put it, Parsons is coming to wreck the Cowboys’ offense on Sunday night. He might not like that he has to sack former teammate Dak Prescott, but it’s likely that he will at least once, maybe more.
In three games this season, Parsons has 1.5 sacks, six quarterback hits and a tackle for a loss. This is all while going to a new team and despite not practicing at all in training camp. Parsons didn’t start the season with his usual playing time, but his snap count is rising, and he should be ready for even more time on the field against the Cowboys.
To make matters worse for the Cowboys, their offensive line has been hit with injuries. Parsons will get to feast on a group that is missing two of their starters and has two of the worst pass blocking tackles in the league.
Offensive tackle island rate and pass block win rate when on an island pic.twitter.com/vVu5O58d0W
— Timo Riske (@PFF_Moo) September 22, 2025
A rough scenario for the Cowboys’ offense, expect Parsons to have his best game since joining the Packers.
Stingy defense all-around
The headlines will be about Parsons returning to Dallas, but he’s not the only piece of the defense that makes Green Bay good on that side of the ball. The Packers have great players at every defensive level, and they’re playing like one of the best units in the league.
Through three games, the Packers are allowing the fewest points per game in the NFL at 14.7, while being ranked third in the league in rushing yards allowed (64.3) and total yards a game (232.3). This comes despite playing some of the best offenses in the league, the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders were their first two opponents this year.
The Cowboys present a challenge with their passing game and improved rushing, but the offensive line will need to find a way to slow down a Green Bay pass rush that ranks fifth in the league with 10 sacks. Parsons is an elite pass rusher, but it’s defensive end Rashan Gary leads the NFL in sacks with 4.5.
Matt LaFleur’s passing offense
The last two games for the Cowboys have exposed their passing defense as the worst in the league, allowing 288 ypg through the air. Dallas has also allowed seven passing touchdowns, which is next to last in the league, all of which have come in the last two weeks.
When the Giants’ passing game with QB Russell Wilson ate your defense alive, it was time to worry, and it got even worse when the defense allowed four wide open scores against Caleb Williams running Ben Johnson’s offense. Now comes along the Packers’ offense with Matt LaFleur ready to scheme up some big plays.
The Packers are in the middle of the league with their passing attack thus far, but the last time LaFleur and offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich faced the Cowboys, they embarrassed a defense with much more talent than Matt Eberflus’ current unit.
12. Not this terrible Dallas defense leaving Luke Musgrave wide open for another long TD pic.twitter.com/1Vlajq5hh7
— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) January 15, 2024
In the 2023 Wild Card playoff game between the two teams, QB Jordan Love threw for 272 yards and three scores on just 21 passing attempts. That contest looked an awful lot like the last two games for the Cowboys’ defense, with the Packers having guys running wide open on blown coverages.
The LaFleur-Stenavich duo can draw it up with the best of the league and they’ll find ways to get open receivers against the porous Dallas defense.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: 3 things the Cowboys should hate about playing the Packers in Week 4
