Javonte Williams’ one-yard touchdown run gave Dallas its clearest offensive answer Sunday night. It also exposed the larger problem: one productive goal-line sequence is not the same thing as a credible running game.
The Cowboys lost 23-13 to Green Bay at Lambeau Field, finishing with 48 rushing yards on 15 attempts. Williams carried 11 times for 41 yards, Dak Prescott added 7 yards on two carries, and Tyler Goodson had two carries for no gain. Dallas never produced a run longer than eight yards.
That is too little efficiency to make the ground game a meaningful counterweight, regardless of how often it appears in the play count.
The third-quarter touchdown drive showed what the run can contribute when it is connected to the rest of the offense. Dallas began at the Green Bay 46 and faced fourth-and-2 at the Packers 38. Prescott found CeeDee Lamb for 17 yards, moving the ball to Green Bay 21 and keeping the possession alive.
Williams then gained 4 yards, Prescott hit Brevyn Spann-Ford for 6, and Williams added runs of 8 and 2 before finishing the drive from the one-yard line.
Williams supplied 15 rushing yards on those four carries. His 8-yard run was the longest Dallas rushing play on the drive; Lamb’s 17-yard catch remained the possession’s biggest gain. That distinction matters because the touchdown drive worked through complementary contributions rather than pretending the running game suddenly became dominant.
A difficult fourth-down conversion created the opportunity, the short throws helped advance it, and Williams’ carries handled the final stretch.
The sequence was useful precisely because it was ordinary in the best sense. Williams converted the opening run from the Packers 21 into a manageable second down, then broke the 8-yarder from Green Bay 11 to the 3. After a 2-yard gain, Dallas stayed with him at first-and-goal from the 1.
The result was a touchdown and a possession that did not require Prescott to solve every problem through the air.
Most of the night offered less. Williams opened the game with an 8-yard run, lost 2 on the next carry and later added 4 from the Dallas 49. In the second quarter, he gained 5, 4 and 2 yards on consecutive attempts, with the final carry converting third-and-1 from the Green Bay 41.
Those plays helped Dallas stay on schedule in spots, but they did not create a sustained threat. Goodson’s two carries produced no net yards, while Prescott’s longest run was 7.
The halftime deficit changed the menu. Green Bay led 17-0, and Dallas had every reason to lean more heavily on Prescott once the game demanded a faster response. A 54-pass night was not created in a vacuum.
Still, the deficit also reflected an offense that had not built enough stability before catch-up football became unavoidable. Dallas ran 70 offensive plays, gained 303 yards and collected 24 first downs, but only four of those first downs came on the ground.
