The Dallas Cowboys suffered their third loss of the season on Sunday, falling 30-27 to the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.
Once again, the Cowboys’ defense struggled as quarterback Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense did their best to pick up the slack. Prescott finished the game with 261 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions on 25 of 34 passing.
A significant chunk of those passing yards went to wide receiver George Pickens, who finished the loss with nine catches for 168 yards and a touchdown.
Pickens has been excellent as the Cowboys’ No. 1 receiving option with superstar wide receiver CeeDee Lamb missing each of the last three games with an ankle sprain.
Lamb was listed as questionable to play in Week 6, but was ultimately ruled out. There’s optimism that the four-time Pro Bowler could return for the Cowboys’ Week 7 matchup against the Washington Commanders.
Prescott talked about Lamb’s impending return during his postgame press conference on Sunday.
"We got a lot of great players. We got guys getting healthy and coming back. That's only gonna make this team better and more explosive. We gotta keep our heads down and keep working,” Prescott said, via team insider Jon Machota of The Athletic.
“(CeeDee Lamb) gets back and he gets healthy, good luck on how teams are going to play us.”
Before suffering his ankle injury early in a Week 3 loss to the Chicago Bears, Lamb had reeled in 16 catches for 222 yards and no touchdowns through his first two games of the 2025 season. Through 15 games in 2024, he had 101 catches for 1,194 yards and six touchdowns.
After Sunday’s loss to the Panthers, Prescott and the Cowboys’ offense rank No. 2 in yards per game (387.5) and No. 4 in points per game (29.7). The Dallas defense ranks near the bottom of the league in both of those statistical categories.
Prescott was asked what gives him confidence in the Cowboys’ defense moving forward.
"That we go against them every day. It's an iron sharpens iron mentality,” Prescott said. “I understand the players and pieces they have over there. You see them getting better. They're getting better."
The Cowboys will kickoff against the Commanders at 4:25 p.m. ET next Sunday.
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