By admin 
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Dallas Cowboys have finally reached the point where they just need to play someone not named the New York Giants. And that’s a terrible position to be in, given that New York was a 3-13 team before winning a meaningless season closer here in January, then following up with a 28-20 upset of Dallas to kick off the 2026 season Sunday night.
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If you were looking for massive changes on defense that have been promised for more than six months, they did not materialize. The Giants outgained the Cowboys by 150 yards, controlled the clock for more than 36 minutes and made a hero of new coach John Harbaugh in his NFC debut.
It was way too much of the same ol’ same ol’ for Dallas although it did seem to reach a new level of absurdity when new coordinator Christian Parker’s defense showed it absolutely could not stop a simple swing pass to running back Devin Singletary. New York used it for gains of 13, 7 and the final 9 yards in a four-play sequence that gave the Giants a decisive 28-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Dallas never recovered.
“I thought overall as a football team, we were pretty poor,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “They were the more physical team tonight. That’s certainly not our standard. That’s not how we see our identity playing. I mean we’re turning guys free in the flat. We don’t push three different times to the [expletive] flat route, excuse my language. We have to coach the young players better.”
While the Dallas defense made September heroes of Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo and Isaiah Likely and Malik Nabers and, yes, Singletary in the flat, the Cowboys’ offense does not get a pass for this opening loss. The possession of the night came with just inside two minutes to go in the first half. It was a 7-7 game and a Giants fumble recovered by cornerback Shavon Revel gave Dallas the ball with 1:50 to play.
It was go time. It was money time for Dak, for CeeDee, for Pickens and Company.
At least that’s what the recent offensive history and their salaries say it should have been. But Pickens had a huge drop (one of two) on what would have been at least a 30-yard gain down the right sideline. The Cowboys recovered from that to get one first down, but shortly thereafter, Prescott found himself under duress on a third-and-5. He heaved the ball down the field (trying to throw it away, Schottenheimer said) but found Giants safety Jevon Holland instead.
Now one can make the argument that a third-down interception – especially a fairly long pass – is no different than a punt one play later. But not in this case. If Dak gets sacked, the Giants have to burn a timeout. If he throws an incompletion, at least it gives big-legged punter Bryan Anger a chance to pin New York deep and take another six-seven seconds off the clock.
Prescott’s pass actually covered just 19 yards. A punt would have pinned New York at least 25 yards deeper and given them only about 40 seconds left in which to score.
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It was a terrible mistake for an 11-year veteran to make, and the Giants took advantage to not only score the go-ahead touchdown, but then drive another eight minutes at the outset of the third quarter to make it a 21-7 hole for the Cowboys.
Things change in a hurry in the NFL. We all understand that. But the Giants were the worst team in the division a year ago. How much better are Harbaugh and Likely – the former Ravens – going to make this team along with all the other new faces on defense? Maybe a lot. Maybe just a little. For now, they’ve taken down the Cowboys again, and that never used to happen in Prescott starts.
So where does Dallas turn?
Maybe the home crowd will inspire a more consistent effort on both sides of the ball next Sunday. The Cowboys committed killer penalties, none worse than the inexplicable taunting display by Javonte Williams when he caught a pass wide open to cut the score to 28-20. Schottenheimer said Dallas was going to go for 2 in that spot with 5:21 to play. But the 15-yard penalty on Williams – who had been no factor in the running game all night -set the ball back where the Cowboys’ only choice was a long extra point try. Brandon Aubrey pushed it right, creating the 28-20 score.
And that remained the final as the Dallas defense could not get off the field.
This was worse than inauspicious. The head coach chose to see it as a ‘Mile One’ loss in a 17-mile race, but for all the talk that this team was going to look so much better than the 7-9-1 disaster of a year ago, it all seems like hot air at the moment.
Yes, the Cowboys will get more chances. They will also play better teams, and if that doesn’t start next week against Washington, it surely should when Baltimore and Houston appear next on the schedule.
Lots of clubs lose in Week 1. The Rams, practically everyone’s Super Bowl choice, looked awful in Australia in losing to the 49ers. Five other playoff teams from a year ago lost on Sunday. Denver might lose Monday night.
But some of those teams have a recent track record that establishes their credentials. The Cowboys are still trying to prove this was a more successful offseason than most. It didn’t look anything like it at MetLife Stadium.
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