The Green Bay Packers going up against the Dallas Cowboys was always going to be a highly anticipated encounter on Sunday Night Football in Week 4 of the 2025 NFL season. As two powerhouse franchises with a ton of history behind them, fireworks were the expectation when the two teams clashed. However, the stakes were raised multifold thanks to the blockbuster Micah Parsons trade.
After his contract negotiations turned sour with the Cowboys, the superstar edge rusher was traded to the Packers in one of the most shocking moves in recent NFL history. His return to AT&T Stadium in Dallas added another layer of intensity to the game. However, not everyone had their best night on Sunday, with wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks turning in a particularly rough first half against the Cowboys.
What Happened to Dontayvion Wicks?
A fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Wicks has seen his role grow within the offense. Starting off as a minor contributor who started in just six of his 15 games played as a rookie, he remained behind the starting wide receivers in his sophomore season.
However, things took a turn this season, as he saw an uptick in his usage and targets. After adding 996 yards and nine touchdowns through his first two years in the league, Wicks was already up to 95 yards through the first three games of the 2025 campaign.
Unfortunately, when the Packers faced off against the Cowboys, it was a night to forget for the talented wide receiver. Even though quarterback Jordan Love threw the ball 19 times for 172 yards, Wicks wasn’t targeted even once in the first half.
F it Wicks & Golden down there some where 😂 pic.twitter.com/j1b2Xr45ma
— Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) September 29, 2025
As a result, he ended up with zeroes across the board on the stat sheet. With Dallas leading 16-13 heading into the break, it was clear that the Packers needed to call on his number more to have any chance of mounting a comeback in the second half.
After three quarters, Wicks had no receptions and was just targeted once as the Cowboys led 23-20. Even as the game hung in the balance and both teams continued to exchange blows in the fourth quarter, Wicks’ number didn’t get called.
As the scores remained tied at 37 apiece going into overtime, he still hadn’t recorded a reception or any yardage in the game. However, in the extra period, his workload suddenly saw an uptick.
First, it was a four-yard reception, before Love tried to air a long ball on the left side. Unfortunately, Wicks could not catch the ball, as he tried to initiate contact with his defender to try and get a PI call.
The trick didn’t work, and the Packers had to make it count. That’s when they dialled up another reception for the third-year wide receiver, as he added another 15 yards to his tally, to bring his end-of-game total to 19 yards on two receptions.
The drive eventually resulted in a field goal that tied the game at 40, and gave a rare tie as the result. After all the drama surrounding Parsons in the offseason, it was perhaps the most poetic result one could have imagined.
