CeeDee Lamb found himself in a bad place on Sunday afternoon. The four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All Pro dropped multiple passes in the team’s epic, 24-21 comeback victory against the Philadelphia Eagles. Lamb had one huge catch, but aside from that had a horrible outing that has caused some nervous nellie fans to envision a world where he’s no longer in the team’s future plans.
That, of course, is spurred on by the ascension of George Pickens, whom the team traded for this past summer and who has had an electric first 11 games of his Dallas career. Pickens went from a question mark because of behavior into a certified top receiver in the league and as he has an expiring contract, some are thinking the Cowboys’ front office will have to decide between he and Lamb as the future of the club’s passing game.
Those thoughts aren’t without merit. It’s very difficult — though not nearly impossible — for teams to pay two receivers at the top of the market. Dallas has also been down this road rather recently, moving away from Amari Cooper as Lamb was approaching his payday at the end of his rookie contract. That pay day saw Lamb sign a $136 million deal. But those are relatively long-term concerns, anyway.
In the immediate is the question of whether or not Lamb will let his recent performance become a legitimate problem, or just a blip on the radar of a career that is on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
If recent history has anything to say about it, Lamb is going to be just fine and fans would be right to expect a major bounce back game this Thursday as Dallas hosts the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving Day.
CeeDee is about to have a monster game on Thursday.
Book it.
— TheCowboysWire (@TheCowboysWire) November 25, 2025
For one, concentration issues aren’t exactly new for the former Oklahoma product. He’s had a handful of games across his career where he’s suffered from inexplicable drops. He absolutely has bouts where his demeanor and body language are issues and clearly has certain games where he gets into his own head a bit too much.
But Lamb has almost always bounced back with standout performances, and aside from the Chiefs defense being top-10-ish against top wideouts, that would be a reasonable expectation for Lamb based on his history.
As recently as Week 1, against those same Eagles, Lamb had his biggest drop issue of his career, letting four catchable passes hit the ground. His reply? A Week 2 performance where he caught 9 of 11 targets for 112 yards.
Lamb had three games in 2024 where he dropped at least two passes.
In Week 12 he bounced back and caught all 10 of his targets for 67 yards. In Week 14 he caught six of seven targets for 93 yards and a score. In Week 16 he caught seven of eight targets for 105 yards.
Fans have to go back to 2022 for his prior games with multiple drops. In Week 4 he rebounded to catch six of seven targtes for 97 yards and a score. He dropped two passes in the team’s wild-card win over Tampa that season, then responded to be the only viable outlet vs San Francisco, catching 10 of 13 targets for 117 yards.
In 2021, Lamb bouced back from two drops in the season opener to catch 8 of 9 targets for 81 yards in Week 2. He did however have a mediocre response to his Week 15 two-drop game, catching four of five targets for just 66 yards.
One has to go all the way back to his rookie season in 2020 to find a true dud after a multiple drop outing. He dropped three passes against Washington in Week 7, catching zero passes for the game. He caught four of five targets the next game, but just for 27 yards.
Not counting his rookie year, Lamb averages 7.5 receptions and 83 yards a game when following his worst performances. Fans should expect a strong bounce back come Thursday.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: History says Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb in line for bounce back vs Chiefs
