2:20 AM in Paris. The City of Light was asleep. The Cheeseheads? Not all of them.
PARIS, FRANCE — Ladies and gentlemen, while most of Paris was peacefully sleeping, a handful of deeply committed, possibly unwell individuals were preparing to watch the Green Bay Packers take on the Dallas Cowboys.
Kickoff: 2:20 AM.
That’s not a football game. That’s a medical condition.
Some of us stayed awake. Some set alarms. Some fired up questionable streaming services while praying the Wi-Fi would hold.
And the rest? Sensible people who woke up to the beautiful news:
PACKERS 23. COWBOYS 13.
BONJOUR, DALLAS. AU REVOIR.
Jordan Love Came to Work. Dallas Apparently Did Not.
The Packers opened Sunday night like a team that had somewhere important to be.
Three scoring drives. 240 yards. Seventeen unanswered points.
Jordan Love was dealing. Fourteen completions, 190 passing yards, a touchdown through the air, and another on the ground before halftime.
17-0.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Paris, a Packers fan was celebrating quietly in his apartment because screaming “GO PACK GO” at 3:30 AM is apparently frowned upon by French neighbors.
Ridiculous country.
The Defense: Dak Prescott’s Paris Vacation Has Been Canceled.
Dak Prescott dropped back 54 times.
FIFTY-FOUR.
That’s a lot of opportunities to make a mistake. And our defense was happy to assist.
Evan Williams? Interception.
Brandon Cisse? Interception.
Fourth down? NON.
Another fourth down? ABSOLUMENT NON.
Dallas crossed midfield six times and managed just 13 points all night.
The Packers defense was tighter than a Parisian café table for two.
And unlike the Cowboys, it actually delivered.
The Drops: Can Somebody Please Catch the Football?
Now, before we start planning the Super Bowl parade down the Champs-Élysées, we need to discuss something.
THREE DROPPED TOUCHDOWNS.
Matthew Golden dropped two. Christian Watson dropped another.
Ninety-two yards of potential touchdowns, just floating away into the Wisconsin night.
Jordan Love was throwing beautiful footballs. Gorgeous footballs. Footballs that deserved to be framed and displayed in the Louvre.
And somehow, nobody wanted to take them home.
We could’ve scored 30-plus.
Instead, we got field goals and elevated blood pressure.
At 4 AM in Paris, that’s a dangerous combination.
Twenty-Two Penalties. TWENTY-TWO.
Eleven for each team. Over 200 yards of flags.
At one point, the referees were throwing so much yellow laundry that I thought I’d accidentally switched over to Paris Fashion Week.
Holding. Pass interference. More holding.
A complete runway collection of terrible decisions.
And yet Dallas still couldn’t take advantage.
Incredible. Truly inspiring incompetence.
Final Thoughts: Sleep Is Temporary. Beating Dallas Is Forever.
Was it pretty? Not entirely.
Did we leave touchdowns on the field? Absolutely.
Did the defense play like 11 angry men who’d just been told the boulangerie was out of croissants?
YOU BET THEY DID.
And here’s the beautiful thing about being a Green Bay Packers fan in Paris.
Some of us watched every snap through the night. Some caught the highlights over their morning espresso. Others opened their phones before work and discovered that the Cowboys had once again made the world a slightly better place.
Different time zones. Same ridiculous devotion.
PACKERS 23. COWBOYS 13.
America’s Team?
That’s adorable.
GO PACK GO. ALLEZ LES PACKERS.
— Titletown Europe | Paris, France
Where the coffee is strong, the kickoff times are criminal, and the Green Bay Packers are always worth losing a little sleep over.
