CeeDee Lamb had a career-high 17 receptions against the Texans on Sunday. His final catch was the most important.
With just 43 seconds remaining, the Cowboys trailed 30-27 and faced a 2nd-and-10 from Houston’s 12-yard line.
Dallas came out in a 3x1 formation, with George Pickens as the X receiver to the left, Jake Ferguson inside to the right, CeeDee Lamb in the slot, and wide receiver Ryan Flournoy on the outside:
The Texans’ coverage response was somewhat puzzling to say the least. Lamb, to that point, had 16 receptions. And yet Houston didn’t seem to be dedicating any extra attention to him.
Lamb broke it all down in a post-game interview from the locker room with Devin McCourty:
“I saw he (Jalen Pitre) was outside leverage.”
“I was watching how the safety was guarding the tight end […]. I was watching the mannerisms of the safety.”
Lamb was referring to safety Reed Blankenship here. His positioning and body language indicated that he was playing man coverage on tight end Jake Ferguson:
This was important because it told Lamb that if there was going to be any safety help, it wasn’t going to come from Blankenship on his side of the formation.
“And then I looked outside and saw the corner. And then I looked at my guy […]. And I saw the leverage and the mannerisms again. Saw it was man.”