GREEN BAY – Two more and the Packers' record book would've had a brand-new entry.
Green Bay and Dallas combined for 58 first downs in their 40-40 overtime tie Sunday night. That's just one off the highest combined total in the 100-plus-year history of Packers football.
The Packers and Lions combined for 59 first downs in the 2011 regular-season finale (Jan. 1, 2012), a game won by Green Bay, 45-41, when backup QB Matt Flynn threw a franchise-record six TD passes.
That's also the last time the Packers played a game in which both teams hit the 40-point mark.
The 58 first downs tied with two other games for the second-highest combined total in franchise history.
The Packers and Vikings combined for 58 in Week 12 of 2013, a game that also ended in an overtime tie, 26-26, and was QB'd by Flynn when he came off the bench to replace another backup, Scott Tolzien.
The Packers and Jets also combined for 58 in Week 16 of 2018, a 44-38 overtime victory by Green Bay that was helmed by interim head coach Joe Philbin.
On Sunday night in Dallas, Green Bay had 32 of the 58 first downs. That's the Packers' highest total since the aforementioned Jets game in '18, when Green Bay had 35.
The 32 is tied for the third-highest total in team history with three other games, while 37 is the franchise record. That occurred at Philadelphia in Nov. 1962, a game the Packers won, 49-0.
The other games with 32 first downs by Green Bay were an overtime tie (14-14) at Tampa Bay in Oct. 1980, an overtime loss at Atlanta (47-41) in Nov. 1983, and a home victory over Chicago (26-10) in Oct. 2016.
One last thing … amidst this discussion of games with near-record first-down totals, three overtime ties are included – Sunday night in Dallas, 2013 vs. Minnesota and 1980 at Tampa.
The Cowboys hadn't had an overtime tie since Thanksgiving Day in 1969 against San Francisco, which was the second-longest no-tie streak in league history.
