DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - The Dallas Cowboys offense sputtered throughout Sunday night's 19-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The quarterback, offensive line, offensive coordinator and running backs all played a role in the mess that we all witnessed in prime-time.
But the receivers were the biggest eyesore on offense. And the leader of that group, CeeDee Lamb, was nowhere to be found on Sunday. The former first-round pick was set to become the team's featured player on offense this season, but he was anything but that in Week 1.
Lamb finished the game with two receptions for 29 yards on a whopping 11 targets. Yes, some of the targets were errant throws by quarterback Dak Prescott, but Lamb's individual performance was poor.
During his appearance Monday on 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones was asked if the team's wide receiver core is good enough right now.
"I think we've certainly got to step up and do better. The passing game goes hand and hand between the quarterback and the receivers," Jones said on the K&C Masterpiece. "We've got to be better there. CeeDee (Lamb) has got to improve and work his way into being the No. 1 receiver. We think we can."
In his postgame interview, Lamb spoke about what went wrong on offense and said they have to get better.
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"We didn't score. That was it. We couldn't get anything going, couldn't be consistent enough I feel like we got to work on its week one kind of have to find ourselves," the third-year wideout said. "We had some plays where we had momentum and then there were some plays that when we lose it on self-inflicted wounds. We had flags of course, other than that we just gotta be better."
Before he exited the game with a fractured right thumb, quarterback Dak Prescott expressed his surprise that he and Lamb struggled to get on the same page for most of the night.
“We should be able to [get connected],” Prescott said. “And that’s on me a little bit and just us getting on the same page. Yeah, he’s a helluva player and he’s a guy that needs the ball. We’ve got to get it to him more, and it starts with me.”
The issue now becomes that Dallas must get more out of Lamb and the rest of the receiving core while working with backup quarterback Cooper Rush for the foreseeable future, as Prescott will miss the next six-to-eight weeks with that thumb injury.
The Cowboys will get some help at the position with Michael Gallup set to make his return in the next couple of weeks.
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