Why Lions Need to Worry about Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb

The Detroit Lions need to worry about stopping CeeDee Lamb during their Week 7 contest with the Dallas Cowboys.
In this story:

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has emerged as one of the best pass-catchers in the game today. 

The third-year pro has garnered north of 70 catches, more than 900 receiving yards and at least five touchdown catches in each of his first two seasons in the league. 

Additionally, a year ago, he amassed a career-best 1,102 receiving yards, en route to earning his first trip to the Pro Bowl.

Fair to say, the 23-year-old will be a handful for Detroit's porous secondary to deal with Sunday.

So far this season, Lamb leads all Cowboys receivers with 33 receptions, 409 yards and two touchdowns. 

He turned in a lackluster Week 1 performance, with just two receptions for 29 yards, on 11 targets, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

However, since Week 2 (when Central Michigan product Cooper Rush took over for the injured Dak Prescott under center), he's averaged six catches and 76 yards, while hauling in 63.3 percent of his targets.

USATSI_19253769_168388382_lowres
Bill Streicher, USA TODAY Sports

Lamb has played a big part in the Cowboys going 4-1 without Prescott, their starting quarterback. 

"He’s a competitor. That’s why we stepped up," Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones said about Lamb, during an interview with 105.3 The Fan in Dallas earlier this month. "At a time when we had people like Michael Gallup and Amari Cooper, we didn’t necessarily need a receiver who’s the best player on our board. As we move forward, I feel like he’s only going to get better and even more productive as we go. He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands, and certainly brings a lot of energy to the table. So, it’s great to see him having success out there." 

Now, Lamb is set to square off with the Lions in Week 7, a matchup that likely has the 2020 first-rounder salivating at the mouth.

Through five games, Detroit's defense has allowed the seventh-most yards through the air (1,305), to go along with the 10th-most passing touchdowns (eight) and the second-highest number of yards per pass attempt (7.4).

Additionally, in each of the Lions' past two games, they've allowed a receiver to amass 100-plus yards. It was the Seattle Seahawks' DK Metcalf in Week 4 (149 yards) and the New England Patriots' Jakobi Meyers in Week 5 (111 yards).

I believe that Lamb will put together a similarly productive game Sunday. 

Subsequently, there's no doubt in my mind that Detroit needs to make stopping the former Oklahoma Sooners receiver one of its top priorities.


Published
Vito Chirco
VITO CHIRCO

Vito has covered the NFL and the Detroit Lions for the past five years.  Has extensive reporting history of college athletics, the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Mercy Athletics.  Chirco's work include NFL columns, analyzing potential Detroit Lions prospects coming out of college, NFL draft coverage and analysis of events occurring in the NFL.  Extensive broadcasting experience including hosting a Detroit Tigers podcast and co-hosting a Detroit Lions NFL podcast since 2019.