Cowboys: CeeDee Lamb's silly answer to reporter carries obvious truth
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb saw his historic streak come to an end on Sunday's win over the Carolina Panthers but he was still all smiles during his postgame interview. Perhaps the fact that he still got six catches for 38 yards and a touchdown (and a 7-yard rush!) helped his postgame mood. More […]
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb saw his historic streak come to an end on Sunday's win over the Carolina Panthers but he was still all smiles during his postgame interview.
Perhaps the fact that he still got six catches for 38 yards and a touchdown (and a 7-yard rush!) helped his postgame mood. More than likely, though, it was a 33-10 win that put the Cowboys 7-3 for the year.
His touchdown of the day, which he scored from the five-yard line on third and goal by running a smooth corner route to the back of the end zone, was a key play on Sunday's week. Easy six points as Dak Prescott delivered a perfect ball.
Lamb's insight into the scorning play was blunt and silly but it should be taken as an obvious truth by NFL defenses.
"They were in Cover zero, touchdown," Lamb said with a wide smile. It was all of his insight into the play.
His face was almost one of disbelief at the Panthers' choice of coverage in that situation.
Cover Zero is a man-to-man pressure look that provides no safety help for defenders. It means everyone is playing man coverage while everyone else is blitzing. In this case, six rushers went after Dak Prescott before he delivered the touchdown pass.
Where does CeeDee's silly response come from? Well, he's one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Playing him one-on-one in such a high-stakes situation is certainly controversial. And blitzing Dak? That will rarely work out.
In fact, Prescott did a great job pre-snap of identifying the blitz and bringing in tight end Jake Ferguson to protect, which gave him a six vs six look to have enough time to find Lamb.
Entering Week 11, Prescott had the second-highest PFF passing grade against the blitz, boasting the highest completion rate among qualifying NFL quarterbacks. Per many Next Gen Stats' metrics, he's also been the best against man coverage this season.
NFL foes should take note of Lamb's postgame message. Man coverage and blitzing isn't the way to slow down the Cowboys' offense and it could prove a serious mistake to challenge them like that. The Panthers quickly paid the price, allowing a touchdown when they rolled the dice.
The problem with facing him and CeeDee? Zone doesn't appear to be much of an option, either. When the New York Jets decided to face them almost with nothing but zone looks for most of the game, 10 of 11 catches for No. 88 came against zone coverage.
I guess that's what having a true WR1 (and using him as such) means for the Cowboys. Defenses can pick their poison, but they'll still have to pay.
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