The Dallas Cowboys made a bold choice by trading away Micah Parsons just before the 2025 NFL season began. Whereas most Cowboys fans felt that the season was sunk, Packers fans felt that he was the missing piece to their Super Bowl run.

In Week 4, the two teams faced off in a primetime Sunday Night Football matchup in a game that felt like it meant a lot more than wins and losses. Oddly enough, neither team won nor lost, as the game ended in a 40-40 tie. This is better than a loss, obviously, but the result was rather unsatisfying.

Dallas was just a few plays away from pulling off a seismic upset that would have both flipped the NFC on its head and, in a skewed way, proved Jerry Jones right. But these three players held them back from achieving this.

These 3 Cowboys deserve blame for unsatisfying tie vs. Packers

1. Jack Sanborn

Sanborn led the Cowboys with 11 tackles, six of which were solo, and also contributed one pass defended on Sunday. But don’t let the stat sheet fool you.

Anyone who watched the game saw a player who is simply too slow to keep up with the pass-catchers in today’s NFL.

He was constantly targeted in the middle of the field and gave up receptions, hence his high tackle count. Cowboys fans cannot wait to get DeMarvion Overshown back, who should immediately supplant Sanborn despite his connection with Matt Eberflus. The Cowboys’ defensive coordinator needs to seriously consider benching Sanborn moving forward.

2. Marist Liufau

Liufau did not have the worst game overall, and he absolutely rocked Packers rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden on a punt return. But he made two pivotal errors at crucial points in the game, which sank the Cowboys’ chances of winning.

One was his unnecessary roughness penalty on Green Bay running back Emanuel Wilson, which gave the Packers a first down instead of a 3rd-and-6 with just over two minutes left in regulation.

He could’ve easily pulled up, but didn’t, and the rest is history. Liufau also missed a crucial tackle on the same drive just seconds earlier, further buoying the enemy’s chances of saving the game.

3. DaRon Bland

Bland and the cornerback room as a whole struggled on Sunday against Green Bay. Jordan Love completed 31-of-43 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, and all three of those scores went to Romeo Doubs.

Doubs was primarily being guarded by Bland, who looked a bit rusty after missing the previous two contests with a foot injury.

If just one of his three scores turns into a field goal, we’re talking about a Cowboys win, but they didn’t, and Dallas ended in a tie.

It stands to reason that Bland will improve as he gets his legs back underneath him, but Matt LaFleur did what any smart coach would do: he picked on Bland in his first game back from injury and he had success doing so.