HOUSTON – There was a whole lot of talk in the visitor’s locker room on Sunday about the coverages and, well, non-coverages the Houston Texans deployed against Cee Dee Lamb at Reliant Stadium.
Lamb marked a homecoming – and a big Dallas Cowboys rally – by torching the Texans for a career-high 17 catches for 189 yards in a 34-30 thriller that somewhat avenged his team’s meltdown a week earlier in Rio
.In the same game, which included Dallas (2-2) twice rallying from a double-digit deficit then coming from behind again to get the winning points on Lamb’s 12-yard TD catch with 40 seconds left, George Pickens had all of 2 receptions.
This was some pick-your-poison proposition. The Texans put a lot of manpower into containing Pickens – the other star
wide receiver for Dallas – with rolling coverages at the expense of leaving Lamb typically matched up in single coverage.
“You look up, checking the box score, whatever it is, and GP only has 2 catches,” Dak Prescott, who threw for 335 yards, said. “It’s like, ‘Dang, there’s a reason Cee Dee has 17. If you’re going to play George like that and leave Cee Dee one-on-one and give him those opportunities, we’re going to go to the open guy. And Cee Dee just does a great job of filling the zone, beating his man and getting open.”
The Cowboys needed every bit of this and Lamb – returning to the area where his family relocated following Hurricane Katrina – was so fired up for the mission.
He had a slew of family members in attendance, including his grandmother.
So Lamb didn’t just set a personal record for the most catches he has produced in an NFL game, he also set a personal mark for the number of tickets he purchased – 18.
Exploiting Houston's defense
This is what can happen when you blow up and become one of the NFL most lethal weapons. Lamb attended John and Randolph Foster High in nearby Richmond, Texas, and during his senior year earned All-Greater Houston Offensive Player of the Year honors from The Houston Chronicle. So, coming back, you’d think that made his big game much more satisfying in this place.
“Ideally, not really,” Lamb said to that suggestion when he met with a group of media. “But as the organization, in order for us to move forward, I know it’s not going to be the last one. You see what I’m saying? But personally, yeah. It’s good. I’ve got all my family here.”
Pity on the Texans (0-4), who were victimized by such motivation while blowing one chance after another to secure their first victory of the season. And it had to be so disturbing for Houston to keep Lamb relatively in check during the first half by holding him to six catches for 49 yards.
“We have to play our technique better,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “In the second half it just wasn't good enough. First half, I thought everybody played the coverages the proper way. They were where they were supposed to be, eliminated the explosive plays. The second half, whatever the reason, we did not do our coverages the proper way."
Pickens was targeted just three times but made his pair of connections in the second half count. He hauled in a 53-yarder in third quarter on a deep post, beating Kwame Lassiter for a contested catch that set up one of Javonte Williams’ three short rushing TDs. Prescott said the pass came on one of the few times the Texans didn’t put an extra defender on Pickens. The pick-your-poison thing in full effect.
“I kind of knew that vertically, the deeper my route is, there’s nobody doubling,” Pickens said. “You know what I mean? It’s going to be me and a guy on the ball, so when I kind of saw the ball up, I knew that this was my chance.”
With Lamb in such a zone, Pickens acknowledged that he wondered why the Texans didn’t double his bookend receiver more often.
“Definitely, but I kind of understand why,” he said.
Which, of course, would have created more single coverage for Pickens.
As it turned out, the schemes worked right into the Cowboys’ hands. On two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, Lamb caught seven passes, including gains of 21, 17 and 15, before the 12-yard TD grab.
“Coaches did a great job of moving him around, finding great formations, splits to put him in, that allowed him to take advantage,” Prescott said. “Honestly, I didn’t even realize he had 17 catches until Schotty (Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer) said it at the end of the game. And so that’s a credit to him, being the guy and player that he is.”
Lamb, though, pushed back on all the talk about favorable coverage.
“It wasn’t different,” he told USA TODAY Sports, packing up his bag before leaving the locker room. “They were giving me everything that I was used to. It was like a boxing match. We had that feel-out punch. Understanding what they’re giving me. Be patient. And when my opportunity reveals itself, I’ve got to step up.
“They doubled me a lot,” he insisted.
This was not a contention to win on this day. Not with Lamb being the undisputed Man of the Hour. So let’s go with his flow on this.
If double coverage didn’t work, then what?
“You’re going to have to send another one,” he said.
And then some. Because no answer was good enough to contain Lamb.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texans picked their poison against Cowboys. CeeDee Lamb burned them | Opinion
