Stephen A. Smith: Green Bay Packers should be 'embarrassed' by tie vs. Dallas Cowboys

Micah Parsons‘ return to Dallas ended in an anticlimactic 40-40 tie on Sunday, and Stephen A. Smith believes the Packers’ defense is to blame. During Monday’s episode of First Take, Smith tore into Green Bay for its defensive performance against the Cowboys.

“What we didn’t realize is that the Green Bay Packers’ defense was not going to show up,” Smith said. “The last four drives for the Dallas Cowboys, three touchdowns and a field goal. The last four drives, you can’t get a stop. You talking about pressuring Dak Prescott 24% of the time. Ten times you pressure Dak Prescott, seven of those pressures were by Micah Parsons. Where the hell was everybody else at?

“The Green Bay Packers should be ashamed of themselves. I mean, I understand that the first three rounds they spent on offense. The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds, they focused on defense in the draft. I’m looking at them and I’m saying, ‘Damn.'”

In the tie, the Packers allowed the Cowboys to tally 436 yards of total offense. Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott was particularly successful, completing 31-of-his-40 pass attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns, without throwing an interception.

For reference, the Cowboys entered the game averaging 393.6 yards of offense per game. Prescott had thrown three total interceptions in his previous two outings.

Alas, the Packers didn’t squeeze a single turnover out of the Cowboys. Many of Green Bay’s troubles could be traced back to the team’s lack of pressure on Prescott. The Packers only sacked Prescott once and recorded just one tackle for loss.

In contrast, the Packers recorded 10 sacks and 17 tackles for loss through the first three games of the season. Stephen A. Smith claims he barely recognized the Packers’ defense on Sunday evening.

“What happened to this team that showed up against the Lions in the opener? What happened to this team that showed up against the Commanders in Week 2?” Smith said. “Even in the Week 3 loss to Cleveland, you still showed up defensively. It was your offense that didn’t show up.

“Jordan Love and those cats, Romeo Doubs and those boys show up and drop 40 and you can’t win the game? The Green Bay Packers should be absolutely, positively ashamed of themselves.”

With the tie, the Packers are 2-1-1 this season. Green Bay will have a bye this week to reassess its performance before taking on the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 12.