FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is always pacing. Dallas' 27-year-old, five-time Pro Bowl receiver enjoys taking a walk up and down the sideline in between drives to clear his head and reset before sitting down to break down the action with his position coach. Dallas' defense gave Lamb a lot of time to get his steps in during the Cowboys' 28-20 "Sunday Night Football'' loss at the New York Giants.
New York converted 82% of its third downs, 9 of 11, with one of those stops being the game-ending knee down. That figure was New York's best third-down conversion rate in a single game since 1978. As a result, the Giants dominated the time of possession (36:40 to 23:20), and the Cowboys had just two drives in the second half.
Both resulted in touchdowns, but Dallas still came up a drive short of victory. "The second half, we scored on the two drives that we did have the ball. So, I feel like it's just making the most of the opportunity we do have.
In this game, you never know when you're going to get the ball back," Lamb said Thursday. "You might get it right back the next play [after coming off the field]. Always being ready for a sudden change, and whatever the game throws.
No one can really just plan out how an NFL football game is going to go. As for us on offense, what we can do is put the ball in the end zone when we get our opps [opportunities]." In those moments, Prescott spends his time reviewing film and preparing for Dallas' defense to get a stop to get him the football back. It just didn't happen in Week 1.
Based on defensive expected points added (EPA)/ per drive in TruMedia, the Cowboys' defense delivered the worst effort by any team in Week 1, and it was worse than all of their defensive games last year. Of the 576 defensive performances since the start of the 2025 season, it ranked 574th. Their seven defensive possessions yielded four touchdowns, one takeaway via fumble recovery, a punt and the game ending.
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