The Dallas Cowboys defeated the New York Giants in overtime during their home opener on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington By Amanda McCoy
The Dallas Cowboys gave head coach Brian Schottenheimer his first win in dramatic fashion in a 40-37 overtime victory against the New York Giants in the home opener Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
The Cowboys had to fight tooth and nail to pull out the win against one of the worst teams in the NFL from a season ago.
It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win in the NFL. Through the good and the bad, here are five takeaways from Sunday’s slop-fest:
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott throws the ball against the New York Giants on Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com
Expectations tempered, this team has issues
It’s safe to say that despite losing to the Eagles in Week 1, being in that game against the defending Super Bowl champions up until to the end had expectations rising for what the Cowboys could accomplish this year.
Maybe it’s time to temper those impressions a bit.
Against a team that looked fractured in Week 1 with major structural issues that could have their head coach and general manager looking for jobs in the offseason, the Giants were a real threat to steal a win at AT&T Stadium up until the final-minute heroics.
Poor defense and a slow start offensively put the Cowboys in a tough hole that took everything to dig out of.
Credit where it’s due to win that game
When the Cowboys’ defense put the game on life support time and time again, the offensive playmakers delivered.
Trailing 30-27 with 2:44 to go, Dak Prescott led the Cowboys 71 yards with the aid of running back Javonte Williams, who had a great day with 130 total yards. A touchdown grab from George Pickens — his first as a Cowboy — gave Dallas the lead with less than a minute to go for what seemed like the game-sealing score. That was until the Giants answered with a score of their own.
Dallas Cowboys running back Javonte Williams scores a 30-yard touchdown in the third quarter Sunday. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com
Brandon Aubrey saved disaster with a 64-yard field goal to send the game into overtime and ended it in the extra period with a 46-yard field goal.
When the team was dead and out, it rose to win a wild one.
KaVontae Turpin is safely the WR3
All throughout training camp, observers talked about the increased offensive usage of wide receiver KaVontae Turpin. Sure enough, that has manifested into the Schottenheimer offense through two games, as Turpin tied a career high with four receptions Sunday.
His 10-yard touchdown grab in the second quarter finally gave Dallas some life offensively, and he followed it up with multiple receptions in the ensuing drives before leaving in the third quarter with a neck injury.
Assuming his injury won’t keep him out long, look for Turpin to continue to shine in a Schottenheimer offense that has finally figured out how to maximize his speed and route-running ability.
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver KaVontae Turpin scores on a 10-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com
Slow starts won’t work against better teams
It was a brutal start for the Cowboys’ offense, as it took until the 11:46 mark of the second quarter to register a first down. Back-to-back three-and-outs to start the game allowed the Giants to dominate time of possession in the first half and head to the break with a 13-10 lead.
Fortunately for Dallas, this New York squad is a bottom-tier team in the league. Even with its worst start, Dallas was still able to rebound and steal the game back late. Against other teams around the league, that won’t work — especially on a schedule that will see the Cowboys take on six consecutive 2024 playoff teams in November and December.
The defense has some major pass problems
Fans saw a glimpse of the issues in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles, but the defensive problems were amplified Sunday in a game that saw the Cowboys give up 422 yards through the air.
After a Week 1 performance that had a lot of experts questioning if he should be the starting quarterback, Russell Wilson turned back the clock and diced the Dallas secondary for big gain after big gain.
After giving up a 51-yard pass to Jahan Dotson in Week 1 the Cowboys gave up four more long completions Sunday. Not to mention Wan’Dale Robinson’s touchdown grab from 32 yards out in the final three minutes that could have had him running to Mansfield if he wanted to.
Sure, the secondary was missing DaRon Bland. But his replacement, Reddy Steward, actually played well in his defensive debut with the team. It was starting safeties Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson and cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and Kaiir Elam who were picked apart downfield, along with a heavy dose of poor coverage in the second level.
“I want to look at the film,” Schottenheimer said. “There were definitely some coverage busts, some things I want to clean up. ... We have to be better than that. You can’t give up that many explosive passes.”
On a schedule that features quarterbacks such as Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, Jayden Daniels and more, it could get worse before it gets better through the air.