CeeDee Lamb accepts blame for his drops in Cowboys' loss to Eagles: 'I need to catch the damn ball'

The 2025 NFL season kicked off Thursday night between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles. In what was a rollercoaster matchup that featured an hour-long lightning delay in the third quarter, Philadelphia held off Dallas 24-20 to open the season with a win.

It seemed as if Dallas was possibly driving to take the lead with 3:02 remaining in the fourth quarter, but disaster struck for wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. After quarterback Dak Prescott hit tight end Jake Ferguson for a five-yard gain on first down, Prescott delivered a beautiful deep pass to Lamb that would have been at least a 40-yard gain.

Lamb, however, suffered his third drop of the game, costing his team what would have been a massive catch in clutch time. He commented on his drops post-game.

“That’s terrible,” Lamb said postgame via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “I can’t point the finger at anybody else. I take full accountability and everything else that comes with it. As a player, I train for moments like that and the ball to come my way. I need to catch the damn ball.”

Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb on his drops: “That’s terrible. I can’t point the finger at anybody else. I take full accountability and everything else that comes with it. As a player, I train for moments like that and the ball to come my way.”

“I need to catch the damn ball.”

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) September 5, 2025

The drops didn’t stop with his third of the game, however, as his fourth of the game ended up icing the game away for Philadelphia. Although it was a much more difficult catch, Lamb was unable to make a 4th & 3 grab, which would have put Dallas at the Philadelphia 25-yard line.

This was a difficult one to come down with for Ceedee Lamb. Might not be an official drop. But Lamb has had a nightmare second half.pic.twitter.com/JnLe3zdh4L

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 5, 2025

The Eagles would ultimately take over on the Dallas 44-yard line and seal the game away with a Jalen Hurts first down run. While Lamb still hauled in seven catches for 110 yards, it will be the drops that many come away from this game thinking about.

Dallas fumbled a major opportunity to open the season with a win and put the Micah Parsons drama behind them, as Eagles defensive superstar Jalen Carter was ejected before the first offensive snap of the game for spitting on Prescott.

Per Tom Pelissero at the NFL Network, the National Football League will be reviewing Carter’s spit to determine if a further penalty is needed, specifically a suspension of any kind. That said, Pelissero noted that last night’s ejection did essentially already serve as a one-game suspension with him not actually participating in the 24-20 win last night for the Eagles over the Cowboys.

Lamb will have a chance to redeem himself in Dallas’ second game of the season at home against the New York Giants on Sept. 14.