The rivalry between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys stretches back to some of the NFL’s most storied moments, beginning with the Ice Bowl. The series has featured Hall of Fame coaches Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson, and an array of Hall of Fame players including Bart Starr, Jerry Kramer, Paul Hornung, Forrest Gregg, Reggie White, Brett Favre, Charles Woodson, Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, Bob Hayes, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith. The matchup has also included likely future Hall of Famers Aaron Rodgers, Zack Martin and Jason Witten.
Micah Parsons’ return to Dallas produced dramatic action but no winner when the teams played to a 40-40 overtime tie on Sunday Night Football in Week 4 of the 2025 season. The clubs combined for touchdowns on six consecutive second-half possessions. Dak Prescott’s 28-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens put Dallas ahead with 43 seconds remaining, and Jordan Love helped the Packers respond by setting up Brandon McManus’ 53-yard field goal to force overtime. After Brandon Aubrey’s 22-yard kick gave Dallas the lead in extra time, Love converted a fourth-and-6 to Matthew Golden and McManus drilled a 34-yarder as time expired. The result produced the NFL’s highest-scoring tie since regular-season overtime began in 1974, according to ESPN Research.
The teams met in the 2023 wild-card round with Dallas at 12-5, unbeaten at home and widely favored, while Green Bay entered at 9-8 with Jordan Love in his first season as the starter. Dak Prescott threw two interceptions, including a pick-six that helped build a 27-0 Green Bay advantage, and Love recorded his first playoff victory.
Mike McCarthy’s 2022 visit to Lambeau Field marked his first trip back since the Packers dismissed him in 2018. The Cowboys led 28-14 entering the fourth quarter but fell 31-28 in overtime. McCarthy later said he regretted making the homecoming a focus, noting, “I thought it was important for me to talk about Green Bay at the beginning of the week with the team. I regretted it.”
The rivalry has produced memorable finishers. In the 2016 divisional round, Jared Cook’s 36-yard toe-tap reception from Aaron Rodgers on third-and-20 with three seconds left was upheld after review, setting up Mason Crosby’s 51-yard field goal to send Green Bay to the NFC Championship. Two years earlier, Dez Bryant appeared to haul in a fourth-down sideline pass from Tony Romo to the Packers’ 1-yard line in the 2014 divisional game, a play later known as a catch that wasn’t when officials overturned the reception and deprived Dallas of a potential go-ahead score in the final minutes.
