Dak Prescott played through a shot to the ribs at Lambeau and puts the Cowboys’ 2-4 start on the offense

Dak Prescott never considered leaving Sunday night’s game at Lambeau Field, even after a hit to the ribs left him gasping, and after the Dallas Cowboys fell 23-13 to the Green Bay Packers he aimed the blame squarely at his own side of the ball.

The loss was the second in a row for Dallas and dropped the Cowboys to 2-4, two games under .500 with a Monday night trip to Philadelphia next on the calendar. Prescott finished 34 of 54 for 258 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, and the offense did not score until the third quarter.

The hit and the interception that followed

In the second quarter, Green Bay linebacker Zaire Franklin drove into Prescott’s midsection, and the quarterback was slow to get back to his feet. Jon Machota reported that Prescott checked his tablet on the bench after the series while several staff members went over to look at him. On the very next snap, Prescott threw one of his two interceptions.

Afterward Prescott confirmed the blow had taken his breath away, but he made it clear that sitting out was never an option. “I wasn’t coming out of the game,” he said. Asked whether the pain had anything to do with the throw that followed, he would not take the opening: “I’m not a guy of excuses.”

Dak Prescott said he got the wind knocked out of him when he took that shot to his ribs. “I wasn’t coming out of the game.”

Did that impact his INT on the next play: “I’m not a guy of excuses.” pic.twitter.com/K5aQVPgXUK

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) October 19, 2026

Both of his interceptions came in the second quarter with Dallas inside Packers territory. Evan Williams picked one off at the Green Bay 3-yard line, and rookie Brandon Cisse took another away after CeeDee Lamb slipped on a route with the Cowboys at the Green Bay 28. Those two empty trips helped the Packers carry a 17-0 lead into halftime, the first time this season the Cowboys had been held scoreless in a first half.

Prescott: the defense did its part

Prescott credited the defense for keeping the game within reach and said the offense had failed to match that effort. He described the night as deeply frustrating, said the answer begins in the film room, and stopped short of calling for changes. He told reporters every player in the locker room was capable of fixing it and that the Cowboys had put themselves in this hole, so the only way out was one game, and one win, at a time.

Dak Prescott: “Very frustrating. But we got to fix it. And all the guys in that locker room are capable of it.

“We put ourselves in this position. We just got to take it one at a time. We just got to go get a win.” pic.twitter.com/qAeYyQN6RR

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) October 19, 2026

The numbers support his read. Dallas averaged about 34 points a game from Week 2 through Week 4 and has scored fewer than 17 in each of the last two. On Sunday the Cowboys converted 5 of 13 third downs, came up empty on two fourth-down tries in Packers territory, and reached the end zone only twice: a 1-yard Javonte Williams run in the third quarter and a 6-yard Prescott throw to Ryan Flournoy with 52 seconds left. The two-point try to Lamb failed.

Lamb caught nine passes for 70 yards, George Pickens added six for 73, and Flournoy finished with seven catches for 40 yards.

What comes next

The Cowboys visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, October 26, at 8:15 p.m. EDT, with the NFC East still wide open. Prescott’s ribs will be worth watching when Dallas returns to practice this week; the team has not announced an injury designation. The full result and scoring are in the Game Center.