Why is Dak Prescott having trouble connecting with CeeDee Lamb early in the Cowboys season?

FRISCO – The connection between Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb seems muted. It's not like they haven't been here before.

With the Cowboys set to face the Detroit Lions on Sunday in Week 6, Lamb's numbers are down given his skill set and salary.

Lamb has the second-highest average salary ($34 million) for a receiver in the NFL. After five weeks, he had 25 catches (tied for 15th in the NFL) for 378 yards (ninth) with two touchdowns (tied for 23rd).

In the second half of the game, the connection between Lamb and Prescott was almost broken.

Lamb was targeted 16 times with no touchdowns. He has four catches for 25 yards.

“Thank you to those defensive coordinators,” Prescott said. “It’s the NFL, they’re not going to allow you to come in early or late and hit them with your fastball.”

So what's going on?

In the first half of games, Lamb sees more one-on-one coverage and takes advantage of it. But in the second half of games, he sees a safety shadow hanging over him, forcing Prescott to look elsewhere.

Lamb also said he was seeing cloud cover. It is a football term in which a cornerback plays off-field or in a pressing lineup and drops back in a zone assignment with wide safeties.

The defense throws thunder over Lamb and Prescott, forcing poor or no connections.

It's always been part of the NFL.

“What happens is we get out early, and obviously nobody wants to see that in the second half of the game,” Lamb said. “They do a great job of adjusting at halftime, bringing in two (defenders) and nine times out of 10 I get a cloud. “Kudos to them, they do a great job of stopping the bleeding but we still win . That's cool.”

The numbers support the attention Lamb is receiving to contain him.

According to NexGen Stats, contrary to press coverage, Lamb has seven catches for 136 yards with one touchdown on 34 routes. In off-coverage, with a retreating defender and sometimes a safety blocking his path, Lamb was targeted six times, with three catches for 26 yards on 62 routes. This season, Lamb has a target rate of 37.5% in tight windows, compared to 16.6% last season.

The defense is after Lamb.

“Yes, a lot more,” he said. “They started early too. They don't play. It's cool. I have to find different ways to be effective in the game and I understand that and when my time comes, I best believe it will be big.”

Some of the chemistry issues could also be attributed to Lamb's contract denial, which didn't give Lamb time to work on the subtle changes on offense during training camp.

Last season, Lamb got off to a slow start. After five weeks, he had 27 catches for 358 yards and a touchdown. It all culminated in a Week 5 loss at the 49ers, when he received four balls for 49 yards. Lamb expressed his displeasure with how he was used, which led to a fireside chat with coach Mike McCarthy and Prescott.

Lamb also felt pressure to perform well in order to earn a new contract. Veteran receiver Brandin Cooks, who is considered a mentor to several receivers, also spoke with Lamb.

In the next game against the Chargers, Lamb excelled with seven catches for 117 yards and a win.

Fast forward to this season: During last week's win over the Steelers, Lamb was seen on the sideline asking Prescott to throw a “jump ball” after the quarterback missed a throw to the receiver. The pass was intercepted in the end zone. Lamb talked to Prescott on the sidelines about a specific shot he wanted. Prescott agreed with Lamb's assessment of the play that a jump ball was required instead of a back-shoulder throw because Lamb had a height advantage over the cornerback covering him.

Ahead of this week's contest against the Lions, the quarterback and receiver appeared amused when asked about the sideline discussion. Prescott joked that reporters need to learn to read lips.

Lamb confirmed what lip readers wanted to know: He said, “Jump ball.”

The Cowboys don't believe the lack of connection is anything serious. In the win over the Steelers, receiver Jalen Tolbert had a breakout game with seven catches for 87 yards, including a season-high game-winning touchdown reception.

Prescott targeted nine players in the win. Whether Lamb gets more attention should give other players a chance to produce in the passing game.

“We’re trying to take that stress away from him so people don’t double down on him,” receiver KaVontae Turpin said. “We try to take advantage of our chances if they double him, we win our one-on-ones, and if we continue to win our one-on-ones, they will have no choice but to stop doubling.”

When you look at the lack of production between Prescott and Lamb, the second half numbers naturally come into focus.

“I don’t think there’s really any reason for this,” McCarthy said. “I just think that’s how these games go. I mean, the inefficiency of the offense is the starting point. Obviously CeeDee is an outstanding player. I don't think it's, you know, outside of Captain Obvious that they're putting coverage on him wherever he goes, especially when he's the No. 1 receiver. He sees a lot of cloud coverage, and obviously at the start of the (Steelers) game they had a form of cheat coverage that was a little different.”

Prescott and Lamb went through this. The Lions could be the perfect opponent for a breakout game.

Last season, Lamb set career highs in catches (13) and yards (227), including a 92-yard touchdown reception, in a win over the Lions.

The game was marred by a tackling error by the Lions.

Not the Cowboys' problem, and Prescott noted that the referees had missed a penalty on the previous play.

“I remember this time last year we had a lot of questions and after the bye week, all of those questions were answered,” Lamb said. “I hope that will change, but yeah, I have no doubt.”

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