ARLINGTON, TX — Don't let his last name fool you, because CeeDee Lamb is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Fact is, there's nothing sheepish about how he attacks the game of football, having proven last season he's ready to step into the limelight as WR1 for the Dallas Cowboys.
The rain in New York literally dampened the offensive performance by Dallas in Week 1, though the defense and led them to a 40-0 shutout of their division rival, but that was not the case against the Giants' roommates.
"It felt good to get in a rhythm and toss the ball around a little bit," said Lamb following the 30-10 victory that was jump-started by the Cowboys' offense scoring a touchdown on a 12-play drive to start the game.
On Sunday, the connection between Lamb and Dak Prescott was intergalactic — especially impressive given the absence of Brandin Cooks due to a knee injury. Prescott was surgical, completing 31 of his 38 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns, narrowly missing a shot at four touchdowns if not for a rare sailed pass.
Lamb had already reeled in 106 receiving yards by halftime, and finished with 143 receiving yards on 11 catches (on 13 targets), only eight yards shy of surpassing his career-high of 150 yards set in Week 10 of the 2022 season against the Green Bay Packers.
He's now the first receiver in Cowboys history to have four 10-catch games in his first four seasons, and is tied with Dez Bryant for fifth in number of 10-catch games overall.
And he did it against a secondary headlined by Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed.
Prior to Week 1, Lamb was asked if he feels he's in the same echelon as players like Justin Jefferson, Cooper Kupp and Ja'Marr Chase, to which he smiled and delivered a succinct reply.
"I'm there," he said. "I'll show you."
And so he has, but there's still a lot of football to be played, so Lamb isn't hanging his hat on anything just yet. The bottom line is the Cowboys are taking it all one opponent at a time.
"I'm just going out there and playing football," Lamb said. "I know what I'm capable of doing, and the things that I'm pretty good at. The show ain't over. I'm still going. I'm proving it to myself and proving it to my guys that I'm one of The Ones also."
And something that would make his defensive counterpart Trevon Diggs smile is the fact Lamb is also tied with Stefon Diggs for third-most games with 10 or more catches since 2022.
There was clear improvement in what the Cowboys did offensively in Week 2, and playing indoors certainly helped, but there were also opportunities for improvement — one example being the inability to punch it into the end zone on a 1st-and-goal from the one-yard line.
It wasn't the only time they struggled to walk away with a touchdown after marching the ball down the field, lending to a career day by rookie kicker Brandon Aubrey, who had 16 points in the contest.
"On the offensive side of the ball, we know we've gotta get in the end zone more and not necessarily end up with three," said Lamb. "We love the points, but we need to capitalize for seven."
That said, the Cowboys have now outscored their first two opponents to the tune of 70-10 unlike in at least two instances last season, they're not letting up when they have a big lead. They've become a boa constrictor of sorts, in that the bigger the lead, the more air the squeeze out of the opposition — until there is no more air at all.
It's largely been led by the defense to this point, but it feels inevitable that the offense will eventually match serve, given the number of weapons they have and the fact they've yet to play with a full deck — Tyler Smith having missed both games and Brandin Cooks sidelined against the Jets — and that would make this year's version of the Cowboys that much more special.
They're sending a message to all who are watching, as Lamb readily admits.
"We're here to dominate," he said. "We're not here to play around. We understand what's at stake, week in and week out, and we're constantly preparing ourselves to be the best team that we can be — offense, defense and special teams. Every week that we come out here, we wanna be better than last week."
Next up will be the Arizona Cardinals, who relented on a 20-0 lead against the Giants in Week 2 to suffer a 31-28 loss on the very field at State Farm Stadium that the Cowboys will visit in seven days.
Lamb and the Cowboys offense has to see that as an opportunity for them to ratchet up their offensive production over this week, which was better than the week prior.
It's definitely building in the right direction, and that direction is up. Lamb will continue to be a huge reason why that's the case.
Don't let the wool fool you. There's a dog in there.
