While the NFL dropped the entire 2026 regular-season schedule on Thursday, the Dallas Cowboys knew a few days earlier that they'd be kicking off their campaign on the road with a Week 1 battle at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants.
And as this matchup will be contested on Sunday Night Football, it marks the first of six prime-time games for America's Team, which is tied for the second-most, behind only the NFL-record-tying seven that will be played by the Los Angeles Rams.
While there's no such thing as a guaranteed victory, the Cowboys' odds are looking good, as they've won 11 of the 12 all-time games they've played against the Giants in Week 1 and have also taken nine of the last 10 regular-season matchups against their longtime rivals, the lone loss on the latter being the meaningless Week 18 contest to close out last season.
Regardless of the opponent, however, five-time Pro Bowl wideout CeeDee Lamb was going to be poised to make a little Dallas franchise history, as he needs just 44 receiving yards to move into fifth place on the Cowboys' all-time list in that department.
And the man he's set to pass was one of the other greats to don the famous No. 88 (which Lamb takes very seriously), that being Dez Bryant.
CeeDee Lamb needs 44 yards to pass Dez Bryant on the Cowboys' all-time receiving yards list
From the moment he was taken by Dallas with the 17th overall pick in the opening round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Lamb has been an absolute menace to opposing defensive backs, racking up 7,416 regular-season receiving yards on 571 receptions in 95 regular-season games, good for the most in franchise history and the eighth-most of any player in league history through their first six seasons.
And as mentioned, he's just 44 yards away from moving into the top five on the Cowboys' all-time list.
- Jason Witten: 12,977
- Michael Irvin: 11,904
- Tony Hill: 7,988
- Drew Pearson: 7,822
- Dez Bryant: 7,459
- CeeDee Lamb: 7,416
Barring a serious injury, Lamb should easily move into third place later in the season, as he needs just 573 yards to overtake Tony Hill.
Staying solely focused on the No. 5 slot, though, the Oklahoma State alum has averaged 78.1 yards per game throughout his career. So, if he keeps that pace against New York, he obviously surpasses Bryant. And when you look at how he's done the dozen times he's taken on the Giants, that number bumps up to 81.25 yards per game.
Date | CeeDee Lamb Receiving Yards |
|---|---|
10/11/20 | 124 |
1/3/21 | 43 |
10/10/21 | 84 |
12/19/21 | 50 |
9/26/22 | 87 |
11/24/22 | 106 |
9/10/23 | 77 |
11/12/23 | 151 |
9/26/24 | 98 |
11/28/24 | 39 |
9/14/25 | 112 |
1/4/26 | 4 |
Average | 81.25 |
As you can see, only twice has Lamb failed to hit 44 yards against Big Blue. But that first time in 2021, he still hit 43, which would tie him with Dez. And as for the second time, that was the aforementioned meaningless matchup back in January in which he was only targeted once.
Take that game out of the equation, and his average against the Giants rises to a little over—wait for it—88 yards per game. So, look for Lamb to make a little history come September 13.
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