IRVING, Texas — Only two games into a new season and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Bradie James already finds himself in an all-too familiar spot.
James was standing at his locker the day after a loss trying to explain what's going wrong.
After missing the playoffs in the 2008 season that started with Super Bowl expectations and ended with a blowout loss in Philadelphia, there has already been a big letdown in front of the largest regular-season crowd in NFL history.
"Even though it's the second game of the season, it's an adverse situation," James said Monday, only about 13 hours after a 33-31 loss in their inaugural game at Cowboys Stadium on a last-play field goal by the New York Giants.
"It'll be a crying shame if we just fall apart right now," James said. "We've just got to bounce back, pick ourselves up."
Sure, it would have been nice to christen the nearly $1.2 billion showplace with a victory over the defending NFC East champion in front of 105,121.
But the concerns facing the Cowboys (1-1) certainly aren't about where they play.
Tony Romo, who made such a conscious effort during the off-season to eliminate turnovers and silly mistakes, threw three interceptions a week after a nearly flawless opener. All three led to touchdowns for the Giants, the last a long heave when Romo didn't realize a defender was even deeper than his receiver.
The Cowboys are the only defense in the league that hasn't forced or a turnover or recorded a sack.
A week after Dallas gave up 450 yards in the season-opening victory at Tampa Bay, the Giants had 427 yards even though running back Brandon Jacobs was stifled by Dallas. Jacobs got 31 of his 58 yards on one run.
"Anytime you have one, it seems like the worst loss ever, and I still feel that way right now," Coach Wade Phillips said.
Things are doubly tough for Phillips, who is his own defensive coordinator.
"I lost twice, once as a head coach, once as a coordinator," he said.
Phillips said the defensive plan has been to be aggressive man to man, but he is already talking about making adjustments, though he wasn't specific about what they might be.
Except for field goals on the Giants' opening drive of the game, and their last two, the rest of New York's 24 points were set up by the interceptions and former Arkansas Razorback Felix Jones' fumble on a kickoff return.
Romo apologized after the game for how badly he played and said he'd be better.
Teammates said Romo, who probably had his worst game as Cowboys starter with only 127 yards and a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten, didn't owe them any apology.
"He's going to take it very hard, but he's going to respond in a very positive way,"center Andre Gurode said. "We're going to rally around the guy. We're going to pick the guy up and we're going to tell him it's not his fault, and we're going to more forward for this."
Romo isn't the only player who has stood up and accepted blame for the loss. Cornerbacks Terence Newman and Orlando Scrandrick acknowledged bad play on their parts - New York had two 100-yard receivers after a 13-game stretch without any - as did several other players.
Maybe all that off-season talk about accountability in a locker room rid of Terrell Owens is going to be true.
"The scapegoats are gone," James said. "Everybody can see when somebody makes a mistake. When they make a mistake, that's when it needs to be said. It doesn't just need to be said, it needs to be meant. That's the only way we can progress and move forward."
Dallas has a little extra time before another primetime showcase in the new stadium, Monday night against Carolina (0-2).
More time for Romo to watch film and overcome his frustration with himself, more time for Marion Barber to heal from a quadriceps injury sustained on his last carry, and more time for the Cowboys to remember it's only going to be Week 3.
"I don't want to be standing here next week and the week after that doing this same speech," James said. "I'm not going to sit here and say it wasn't a big deal, but in essence it was really just a Week 2 game, and we have more to go. ... It's not December. It's early."
Sports, Pages 15 on 09/22/2009