Jordan Love’s one-yard quarterback sneak was the final piece of Green Bay’s second-quarter touchdown, but the Packers had already been handed a much shorter route to the goal line. Late in the half, Bland was called for interference with Green Bay already facing first-and-goal. The ball moved from the Dallas 2 to the 1. Love then went straight ahead for the score.
That flag was the visible end of a sequence that began 37 yards away. Dallas’ 23-13 loss to Green Bay at Lambeau Field was not decided by penalties alone, but the Cowboys cannot treat those late-half infractions as administrative clutter. One erased a third-down stop. The other removed the last difficult decision at the goal line.
Work backward from the sneak. Green Bay had reached the Dallas 2 after Love’s incomplete pass to Matthew Golden was followed by a 21-yard completion to Golden. Before that, Pierre Strong Jr. had gained 4 yards to the Dallas 23. The Packers were moving, but Dallas still had a chance to make the possession earn its touchdown. Bland’s one-yard penalty changed that calculation immediately.
The larger gift came at 1:01. Green Bay faced third-and-8 at its own 36 after an incomplete pass. Joey Porter Jr. was called for defensive pass interference on a throw toward Bo Melton, and the 37-yard enforcement carried the Packers to the Dallas 27 with a new first down.
Instead of punting or attempting a difficult conversion, Green Bay was suddenly in position to keep the drive alive deep in Cowboys territory.
The Packers still executed from there. Strong gained 4 yards, Love missed Golden, and Love then found Golden for 21 yards to the Dallas 2. But a third-and-8 incomplete pass had become a fresh first down, and a goal-line penalty had turned first-and-goal from the 2 into first-and-goal from the 1.
Neither call needs to be relitigated to be judged costly. Dallas supplied Green Bay with territory and downs at precisely the wrong moments.
The penalty comparison also prevents an easy excuse. Both teams were flagged 11 times. Green Bay’s penalties totaled 96 yards; Dallas’ totaled 108. The Packers committed offensive holding that erased a Love scramble in the second quarter, and a delay-of-game penalty pushed back a goal-to-go attempt before Trey Smack’s field goal. Flags disrupted both teams. Dallas’ were simply more expensive because of when they arrived.
The Cowboys also created their own scoring problems. After Dee Winters intercepted Love, Dallas moved to the Packers 17. A Lamb reception took Dallas to the Packers 19.
Goodson then gained 2 yards, and an incomplete pass left third-and-eight at the 17. Prescott’s pass intended for Lamb was intercepted by Evan Williams at the Packers 3. That possession did reach the red zone, but it ended before Dallas could turn the field position into points.
The later interception followed a different path. George Pickens caught a pass to reach the Packers 23, but an offensive holding call erased Goodson’s 9-yard run. After a neutral-zone infraction by Green Bay changed first-and-20 at the Packers 33 to first-and-15 at the Packers 28, Prescott threw toward Lamb.