'Same Old' Cowboys: Top 10 Takes On Debacle Of A Debut At Giants - Whitt's End

Long-time Dallas Cowboys insider Richie Whitt offers his Top 10 Takes in reflection of Sunday night's Week 1 game at the New York Giants ...

Drops. Gaffes. Penalties. Taunts. And a 2026 defense that looked eerily similar to 2025’s defense.

My Top 10 Whitty Observations on the Dallas Cowboys’ ugly, 28-20 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium:

10. FAMILIAR FOLLIES – After a dismal 2025, the Cowboys vowed to overhaul/fix their defense. They hired 34-year-old Christan Parker, the youngest defensive coordinator in franchise history. They used their first two draft picks on defense. And they entered this one with only three starters from Week 1 a season ago.

But, wow, did this look hauntingly "same-old/same-old'' familiar.

Penalties. Blown assignments. Having 10 men on the field and being forced to burn a timeout. Yuck. The Giants converted 9 of 11 third downs, punted only once all night and scored 28 points.

Somewhere, former Cowboys’ coordinator Matt Eberlflus surely cracked a wry smile at this defensive debacle.

9. SAD SEQUENCE – It started with Dak Prescott’s bad decision to attempt a throwaway that was intercepted late in the first half, and ended with three secondary miscommunications that led to a gift Giants’ touchdown.

When DaRon Bland and Dee Winters jumped an underneath route, it left New York tight end Isaiah Likely wide-open for a touchdown and a 14-7 halftime score.

Bemoaned NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth about the Cowboys’ defense, “What are they doing out there?!”

8. OVER-HYPED – I admire DeMarvion Overshown’s talent and respect his comeback, but … why does it rarely show up in positive, tangible plays?

The linebacker consistently goes for grand-slam homers so he can steal the spotlight and perform an exaggerated celebration. But too often he doesn’t hit a simple single.

Case in point: On New York’s first drive, Overshown delivered a launched, diving hit on quarterback Jaxson Dart, but it was three yards out of bounds and resulted in a 15-yard penalty that led to a touchdown and a 7-0 deficit. More vanilla, less Neapolitan, please.

Oh, and fewer injuries, perhaps? He left in the fourth with a hammy.

7. NUMBING NUMBERS – Under Brian Schottenheimer the Cowboys are 2-8 when trailing at halftime … They fell to 11-2 all-time in Week 1 against the Giants … Prescott fell to 14-4 against New York and 37-11 against the NFC East.

6. DEPRESSING DEFENSE – The Giants scored touchdowns on four of their seven drives. The other three: 1 punt, 1 fumble, 1 end-of-game kneel-down. Yikes.

5. SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT? – George Pickens had two ugly first-half drops, the worst of which might have been a touchdown as he got behind the Giants’ secondary and both hands on a beautifully thrown ball by Prescott.

Which begs the question, why the heck was Pickens wearing such a dark-tinted face shield on his helmet?

This game, as a reminder, was played at night. My fear is that Pickens was doing it just for style, to be ultra-cool incognito. Nothing dope about dropping passes.

4. BAR-HUMBUG – Much was made by DFW’s local pom-pom waving media this summer about the ferocious and violent play of rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham.

The “Barhammer,” they exclaimed! (Yes, our own Mike Fisher is the guiltiest of parties!)

Like the rest of the defense, the rookie from Michigan produced only a whimper. And on one particular play, he gave an embarrassing lack of effort. Giants’ running back Devin Singletary caught a swing pass at the 9-yard line, with Barham in the vicinity, and with an angle, at the 2-yard line. But Singletary scored without being touched to put New York up 28-14, as Barhammer only jogged – and then literally stopped – in his general direction.

Alarming.

3. SILVER LININGS – Because it can’t all be bad news, T.J. Bass seemed to hold up as a replacement for the injured Tyler Smith at left guard.

The Cowboys averaged 3.8 yards per carry and Prescott was harassed, but wasn’t sacked, by the highly regarded Giants’ pass rush. Rookie Caleb Downs had one impactful play when he crushed Dart on a blitz.

2. TERRIBLE TAUNTING – Always makes me a tad queasy to see Javonte Williams wearing Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett’s No. 33. But Sunday night he was downright nauseating.

On a swing pass from Prescott, the running back deliberately slowed down before the goal line and held the ball out toward Giants’ defenders before finally scoring the touchdown.

I don’t have enough ink in this laptop to explain how stupid a play that was.

First, his team trailed in the fourth quarter, so wasting precious seconds was inexplicable. But mostly, you’re playing – and trailing - the lowly Giants. A team that last year went 4-13. The 15-yard penalty pushed the extra point to almost 50 yards, and kicker Brandon Aubrey pushed it right to keep Dallas trailing by eight.

The defense never got the ball back – New York melted the final 5:21 – or else Williams’ bonehead play would have been a bigger storyline.

1. SWORD MIGHTIER THAN THE PEN? – I dunno, maybe Schottenheimer should worry less about stuffing cute little colored pens in his visor and concentrate more on getting his team ready to play football.

The Cowboys committed nine penalties, surrendered 394 yards and didn’t produce an offensive play longer than 17 yards.

Schottenheimer and his rah-rah vibe is now 0-2 in season-openers.