CeeDee Lamb had a disastrous performance against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Kickoff Game. The star receiver, who is considered one of the best players in the NFL, had three dropped passes in the Dallas Cowboys' first game of the year. All of those drops were costly, and two of them came in the final quarter of play. Had it not been for his miscues, the Cowboys very well may have walked away with a victory.
Instead, the Cowboys are currently the only team in the league with a loss, and the entire football world is blaming Lamb. The four-time Pro Bowler already took sole accountability for the loss. So are drops something to be worried about when it comes to Lamb going forward, or will the receiver figure it out and return to his normal status as a reliable superstar?
Fans have nothing to be worried about with CeeDee Lamb
Wins are hard to come by in the NFL, especially in the stacked NFC East. It would have been beneficial for the Cowboys' playoff push if they were to start the season out right with a victory, especially after the controversial Micah Parsons trade. The loss and Lamb's poor performance are not the end of the world, though.
The Cowboys had some impressive flashes. Notably, their offense looked potent in the first half before the weather delay and before Lamb literally dropped the ball. The team scored in each of their first three series, and they were up 17-14 at about the midway point of the second quarter.
Javontae Williams was a standout in the first half. He was able to punch the ball into the end zone twice to start the game, which was a positive sign for Cowboys fans because he looked more like his rookie self than the player he looked like after suffering a devastating knee injury with the Denver Broncos. Williams broke a number of tackles and ran the ball with intensity.
Lamb also looked great to start the game. The receiver had multiple big-gain plays in the first two quarters as he was tearing through the Eagles' defense. That wasn't an easy feat to accomplish as Philadelphia's defense was arguably the best in the league last year. And they certainly had confidence coming off a Super Bowl championship.
In the third quarter, lightning strikes in the area delayed the game for over an hour, and that seemingly threw Lamb off his game. Drops have not historically been an issue for the Oklahoma product. In fact, he had just seven dropped passes all of last season. Despite the late-game blunders, Lamb still finished with seven receptions and 110 yards.
A couple of his dropped passes were far from easy grabs. And Lamb should return to his dominant and reliable self by Week 2. He has a proven track record, including a league-leading 135 reception season two years ago as well as 101 catches last year in a season in which the Cowboys had a revolving door at quarterback.
The Cowboys as a whole had a couple of positive takeaways despite the loss, too. In addition to Williams' performance, the passing defense was effective despite the loss of Parsons. DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs were able to completely shut both DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown down. The star receiver duo combined for just 24 receiving yards. Lamb far outproduced his receiver peers even with the costly drops.
