GREEN BAY – The Packers by no means played their cleanest game Sunday night.
But in beating the Cowboys 23-13 at Lambeau Field, for all their flaws, the Packers truly triumphed as a team.
What does that mean? It means teammates were picking one another up to help erase, or at least mitigate, mistakes.
When receiver Matthew Golden was flagged for taunting after a 37-yard reception in the first quarter, backing up what would've been a first-and-goal to the 24-yard line, running back Pierre Strong Jr. got the offense right back into scoring position with a nifty catch-and-run to convert on third-and-13.
When quarterback Jordan Love threw an interception late in the first quarter with the score 7-0, safety Evan Williams intercepted Dak Prescott six snaps later to keep the Cowboys off the scoreboard.
When Golden dropped a deep ball that should've been a touchdown, Love converted the next third down with a 13-yard keeper to maintain pressure on the Dallas defense.
And when Golden barely missed what would've been a spectacular, back-shoulder TD catch along the right sideline, Love went right back to him on the next snap along the left sideline to convert on third-and-6. The 21-yard completion down to the 2-yard line helped the Packers get into the end zone anyway.
There were more examples, as those were just in the first half.
In a perfect world, the miscues don't happen. But as Head Coach Matt LaFleur says often, football is an imperfect game. In this instance, one gaffe didn't derail the positive momentum the Packers kept building throughout the contest, because other guys – or in some cases the same guy – picked up the slack.
"That's what we talk about. Stuff happens in a game," Love said. "We want to make every play, and if we don't, guys have got to respond. Guys have to go out there and make that next play. It's all about that next play."
It was a good sign for a team whose final total of 23 points wasn't entirely satisfying, as LaFleur thought the Packers would have to score 30 to beat the offensively explosive Cowboys.
But there again, an outstanding effort from the defense made those 23 points plenty on this night. It's a team game.
To that end, the Packers also got a nice contribution from receiver Savion Williams in his first appearance of the season after coming off injured reserve.
Williams had a modest 41 yards from scrimmage (32 receiving, nine rushing), all but three in the first half as the second-year pro got five touches on the Packers' first two scoring drives worth 10 points. LaFleur referred to Williams providing "a huge spark," the type that can help offset the season-long loss of Jayden Reed.
Defensively, cornerback Carrington Valentine came off the bench when rookie Brandon Cisse exited with a stinger, and he made four tackles, broke up a pass, and had an interception unfortunately wiped out by a penalty on a teammate.
That kind of depth will come in handy as this long season continues to unfold.
The drops and penalties were certainly frustrating, but if there's one thing that remains the largest concern it's the struggles with the running game.
The Cowboys came in with the league's worst run defense, but the Packers still couldn't run the ball, posting just 57 yards on 26 attempts, a paltry 2.2 per rush from five different ball carriers, including Love.
"You want to have a complementary game," Love said. "You want to have a run game going that can be dominant, and it's not where it needs to be right now."
As for whether the return of Josh Jacobs from the commissioner's exempt list this coming week can help cure what ails the run game, LaFleur said "time will tell."
"It is critical in today's football to be able to run the football at a decent level," LaFleur said. "It's just hard on the pass game when you're totally reliant on that. We'll keep hammering it."
It's the one area nobody's stepped forward to compensate for the deficiency, not in a traditional fashion anyway. It feels like the final piece to an offense that has dealt with injuries, stabilized the line and incorporated newly arrived personnel at various spots through the season's first six weeks.
If the Packers can find a way to pick up the slack on the ground, they could be ready to take off.
"We've definitely managed to be able to stay the course on offense and execute," Love said. "But I still think there's so much more out there for us as an offense."
