PHILADELPHIA — They are who the Dallas Cowboys thought they were, in the everlasting words of former NFL head coach Dennis Green. Their primetime bout against the Philadelphia Eagles saw Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb leading a scorching hot offense in the first half before things cooled, or rather went ice cold, in the second half of the narrow 24-20 loss.
There were several reasons for the inability to find the end zone, or to put up any points, over the course of the final two quarters of the outing, but the headline will revolve around the duplicity of Lamb in Philadelphia.
The All-Pro was unstoppable in the first half, but suffered a total of four drops in the game, two of which came on the potential game-winning drive and, to his credit, he's not ducking any heat from the latter.
"Man, that was terrible," said the record-setting All-Pro receiver. "I can't point fingers at anybody else. I take full accountability and everything else that comes with that. As a player, I've prayed for moments like that, and for the ball to come my way. To not come up with it, it stings a little bit."
On paper, Lamb had a fantastic game: 110 yards on seven catches.
Those numbers came on 13 targets, however, and the drops provided critical to the outcome of the battle. But given what he's proven at his position to this point in his career, there is no reason for the Cowboys to believe Lamb will do anything but sit with this disappointment and use it to fuel what happens next.
"Don't worry about Ceedee Lamb," said head coach Brian Schottenheimer who, in his first game as offensive playcaller for the Cowboys, had the unit humming like a well-oiled machine for much of the game. "Ceedee's going to be fine. What a great player. This was a team defeat and we own that.
"We understand where we can go as a football team. We understand. I love the competition. I thought guys competed their butts off. I thought that was great, but we're all about winning and we didn't win tonight and therefore it's not good enough."
Prescott also doesn't feel the need to pull his No. 1 receiver to the side for a long dialogue of any sort, especially seeing how hard he's already being on himself.
"There wasn't a big, long talk we needed to have," Prescott said. "He took ownership and accountability. He shut me up in the same sense of taking accountability. It wasn't just those plays. There are throws I want back. But it's Game 1, and he's a guy who's gonna make those plays. We're not gonna get down on him or lose confidence in him, by any means.
"He will make those plays [in the future]."
To that point, Lamb himself sounded as if he was equal parts disappointed and seething, seeing opportunities to break the game open when it mattered most literally slip through his fingers on more than one occasion.
So much so that he issued a warning to the entire league.
"I will tell you that if you think I'm not coming back 80 times harder than this — you've got another thing coming," the four-time Pro Bowler said. "... God has a mysterious way of humbling folks, and I did come in with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder. Lesson well learned. I deserve everything that comes with it.
… The [drops] down the stretch really hurt me a lot because I've prayed for those types of things. But, again, it's Game 1. I'll be back. I just hope everybody else is ready."
Up next comes a visit at AT&T Stadium from the New York Giants, a perfect opportunity for Lamb to get back on track, and to try and help the Cowboys avoid falling into the dreaded 0-2 hole to start the 2025 season.
