Behind Enemy Lines: Colts face Dallas in a primetime matchup featuring CeeDee Lamb

If the Colts have any hope of upsetting the Cowboys on the road, it starts with limiting the impact of CeeDee Lamb.

The Colts are coming off a thrilling primetime loss against the Steelers. The Colts struggled early offensively and defensively. They responded and even took the lead in the third quarter, but the Steelers and Kenny Pickett were too much, beating the Colts 24-17.

Things don’t get any easier for the Colts. They now have to go on the road to play a Dallas team that is 8-3 and have won 4 of their last 5. The Cowboys has one of the best defenses in the NFL, but in this piece, we will focus on the offensive side and one of the most explosive weapons on their team, CeeDee Lamb.

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CeeDee Lamb has spent his first 2 years considered by most as a great complementary option playing alongside Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. He nearly cracked 1,000 yards in his rookie year with 74 catches, 935 yards, and five touchdowns. The next year he took it up a notch with 79 catches, 1,102 yards, and 6 touchdowns. With Cooper getting traded in the off-season and Gallup starting the season injured, it was now up to Lamb to answer the bell and silence the critics about if he was a true number 1, and he has responded.

CeeDee Lamb is top ten in catches, yards, and explosive receptions (which is catches of over 20 yards or more).

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From a physical standpoint, Lamb possesses every tool you would want in a wide receiver. At 6’2”, 200 lbs., he has the size of a prototypical X receiver, but he has plenty of juice to line up all over. The speed and physicality he plays with are why he’s so explosive as a receiver. Lamb is a threat at all three levels. In the short game, he wins off the line of scrimmage with a great release and changes speed throughout the route, which helps him get separation in and out of his break.

He is also excellent at high pointing the football and making contested catches. A knock on Lamb early in his career was that he dropped too many passes. This year, he’s been targeted 94 times and has four drops. This is a catch from the last game that was ruled out, but 100% should have been a catch.

Aside from those things, the thing that he’s arguably best at is his yards after the catch ability. He has a game-breaking ability from that aspect.

Truly an all-around threat from the wide receiver position; the Colts will have their hands full attempting to slow him down. I’m sure Stephon Gilmore will be up for the challenge, but when they start to move him around, it gets scary. I am terrified by Isaiah Rodgers getting banged up last game and knowing that Brandon Facyson could end up getting matched up with Lamb. Hopefully, the Colts will shade him with help over the top and challenge him on short to intermediate routes to make things difficult on him, as that may be the only way to slow down this Cowboy passing attack.