EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — George Pickens dropped two passes in the first half of the Dallas Cowboys‘ 28-20 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday night, and Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said he is not worried about it.
“Early season football is different. You know, it’s unique,” Schottenheimer said. “I mean, you look at some of the scores around the league. It’s, you know, some sloppy football all over, some sloppy offense, sloppy defense. I don’t make too much of it with George. I mean, you know, he’s going to make those plays more times than not.”
Pickens caught 3 of 6 targets for 28 yards and drew a 38-yard pass interference penalty on a deep ball in the second quarter that set up the Cowboys’ first touchdown drive. CeeDee Lamb caught 5 of 8 for 44 yards and a 1-yard touchdown on third-and-goal.
Dak Prescott Says He Is Not Backing Off
Dak Prescott was 22-of-34 for 175 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. He said both receivers came to him about the drops before he could bring it up.
“Those guys had some uncharacteristic drops. I know they’re upset about it immediately,” Prescott said. “They came and made a comment about it and then moved on, as they should. We’ll get back to it. A lot of confidence in those two guys. Not going to stop throwing it to them, shy away from them, not going to get down on them. Their resume and who they are speaks enough.”
Asked how quickly the pair can get back to what they showed in training camp, Prescott did not hesitate.
“You’ll get back to that,” Prescott said.
CeeDee Lamb Says The Dallas Cowboys Came Out Slow
Dallas ran 52 offensive plays and scored on three of seven possessions. The Cowboys gained 37 yards on their first two drives and punted both times.
“I just felt like we came out slow originally,” Lamb said. “They came out their hats on fire. I mean, they did a good job of being excited, you know, for the first game of the season, and, I mean, it showed.”
Lamb said the Cowboys had to do more with what they got.
“I wouldn’t say we were expected to be out there more or less. It’s just more so when we do get our opportunities, we do have to make the most of it,” Lamb said. “It don’t matter how many ops we get. Say 52 plays, we got like 20 points. It’s not enough.”
He said Dallas has to finish drives.
“We’ve got to be able to convert a little more on third downs,” Lamb said. “We’ve got to end more drives with seven instead of nothing.”
Dallas converted 8 of 11 third downs and went 3-for-3 in the red zone. The Cowboys held the ball for 23:20.
Two Possessions In The Second Half
Told during his postgame availability that Dallas had two possessions in the entire second half, Lamb had not known.
“Oh, I ain’t know that,” Lamb said. “That’s crazy. That’s crazy. Good to know.”
The Cowboys scored touchdowns on both, a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ran 6:22 and a 9-play, 74-yard drive that took 2:05.
Dallas hosts the Washington Commanders on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
