After a refreshing bye week for me, I am back and ready to try and keep all the Dallas Cowboys fans’ spirits high, and give them something interesting to look at on this Monday afternoon.
The Cowboys are 3-3 as they come out of the bye week with a trip to San Francisco next on the books, who are 3-4 on the season after a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
This season is clearly not off to the start that many had hoped, but one interesting stat is how similar Cowboys star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb’s numbers are compared to his record-breaking season in 2023.
After six games this year, Lamb has 32 catches for 467 yards and two touchdowns. In 2023, at the six-game mark, Lamb had 34 catches for 475 yards and one touchdown.
Repeat of 2023?
Let’s be honest with ourselves here, I don’t think a repeat of 2023 is in the cards for CeeDee Lamb, but he had a career season breaking two records for Dallas, and his numbers were exactly the same as this year.
Lamb was a 2023 First-Team All-Pro who led the NFL in targets (181) and receptions (135) last year. He finished second in the league in receiving yards (1,749) and receiving touchdowns (12).
With how great the Cowboys wide receivers have been throughout their history, just last season, Lamb set the Dallas Cowboys record for catches and receiving yards in a single season.
The previous records belonged to Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, who set them in 1995, so Irvin’s record stood for nearly 30 years.
That is how good Lamb was a season ago, and here we are with Lamb having nearly the same stats through six games in 2024.
Troy Aikman comments
Everyone around the game is noticing that this season just looks bad on all fronts regardless, of how close Lamb is to his stats through six games from a year ago.
A Cowboys legend is even calling them out.
Troy Aikman, who played quarterback for the Cowboys for 12 seasons from 1989 to 2000, took his bluntest shots at the team’s wide receivers for running “terrible” routes.
“I think they run terrible routes,” Aikman said on Dallas sports radio show 96.7 The Ticket on Thursday. “And I’ve thought that beyond this year. I think CeeDee (Lamb) has got to improve in his route running. As a quarterback, if you’re not certain where guys are going to be consistently, it’s hard to play the position,” he said.
He has a point, we see it, he sees it, everyone sees it. Brandin Cooks is still hurt, so that does not help. They are trying to get Jalen Tolbert his targets, but Mike McCarthy’s “Texas coast,” offense from last season looks like burnt toast.
How Can They Fix It?
Look everyone, I am not a coach, so don’t come on here and start calling me an idiot, but maybe go back to pre-motion before every play.
Nobody on the other teams are worried about anyone but Lamb, so scheme him open somehow.
I think they need to call Dalvin Cook from the practice squad, and give Hunter Luepke more opportunities.
At this point, what is it going to hurt? Make someone else a playmaker, and then maybe CeeDee Lamb will pop off again like he did last season. He is going to put up big numbers this season, but this team was a lot better a season ago.
I knew the offense would take a bit of a step back, but the defense, being Mike Nolan bad, is not doing them any favors. Sure, they are hurt, but they had the guys against the Saints and the Ravens, and they still couldn’t stop a cold.