Brian Schottenheimer didn’t spend Sunday night reaching for the panic button after the Cowboys opened the 2026-27 NFL season with a rough one at MetLife Stadium.
Dallas came out flat against the NFC East rival New York Giants and never really found its footing. The defense couldn’t generate stops, and the whole performance had the feel of the ugly unit the Cowboys were trying to leave behind from a year ago.
For Schottenheimer, the loss landed hard. He called the showing “humbling” and made it clear the team didn’t come close to meeting the standard it set entering the year.
“As a football team, we were pretty poor,” Schottenheimer said following the game. “This is a humbling business, and we got humbled tonight.
That’s what I told the guys. We lost mile one of a 17-mile marathon, and we have to be better, and we will be better.”
The head coach didn’t hide his frustration, and he also pointed directly at the Cowboys’ young players after the defeat. Still, he’s not treating one bad night like a season-breaking event. Dallas has plenty of new faces, and Schottenheimer said that kind of group needs time to settle in.
“This one feels pretty bad just because at the end of the day, we just didn’t perform the way we’re capable of playing. We didn’t play defense the way we’re capable of playing. We didn’t play offense in the first half the way we’re capable of playing.
“We’re not going to panic. This is a long season, and we know we’re not going to go undefeated.”
Now comes a big week for Dallas. The Cowboys have to sort through what went wrong against New York, clean up the issues that showed up right away, and come back with a sharper effort in Week 2. The problems were broad, from a lack of discipline to the sluggish start, and there’s no hiding from how much better the next outing has to look.
That next test comes against a division opponent again, with the Washington Commanders set to visit AT&T Stadium. Washington gave the Philadelphia Eagles a serious push in Week 1, so this won’t be a soft landing spot for Dallas. And after dropping the opener, the Cowboys can’t afford to begin the season 0-2 in the division.
Kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m. ET on FOX.
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