‘The Most Complicated’: CeeDee Lamb Breaks Down 195-Yard Day, Reversed Fumble In Dallas Cowboys’ Win Over Indianapolis Colts

INDIANAPOLIS — CeeDee Lamb caught 10 passes for 195 yards and a 44-yard touchdown Sunday. Replay also overturned an 11-yard touchdown catch, another review turned a 48-yard catch into a lost fumble, and Lamb was flagged three times in the Dallas Cowboys’ 27-23 win over the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Lamb was targeted 16 times. With 21 seconds left in the first half, his 44-yard touchdown down the right sideline came one play after a 22-yard catch on third-and-1, and it sent Dallas to halftime ahead 17-7.

As a leader on the offense, Lamb said, he feels he has to be better in some realms. He was going straight to the film to figure out what he could have done differently.

“This is the most complicated that I’ve had,” Lamb said. “… Up and down. Up and down. But at the end goal, though, the end goal is always to get the win. So like now, I just got to go look at the film and figure out what I can do better.”

“I kind of have an idea, but just being in that position, obviously, I want to play flawless. But in the reality of things, that’s not going to happen,” Lamb continued. “I may miss a play that I feel like I could have made, and that’s just me being hard on myself and having that next-play mentality.”

Early in the fourth quarter, on third-and-12 with Dallas ahead 20-17, Lamb caught a 48-yard pass from Dak Prescott and was ruled down at the Indianapolis 13. The Colts challenged, and the ruling was reversed to a fumble that Indianapolis recovered at its 9. The numbers looked crazy, Lamb said, but they could have been more.

“Before the review, obviously, I thought I was down because I felt … I don’t know who it was,” Lamb explained. “I think it was a linebacker. He had hit me in my back as I was trying to make a move, and I went down, right? But I used my arm with the ball, which obviously I feel like I shouldn’t have. But when you’re in a moment of moving around, I guess when you’re in a situation, you’re not really thinking.”

“But obviously, I know now not to use the ball to keep my balance. But I also thought I was down by contact,” Lamb added. “Clearly, the refs had it out for me this week.”

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said the call came down to Lamb’s wrist as opposed to his forearm, and Dallas was pretty clear it would be a turnover. Indianapolis did not score on the ensuing possession, which ended with a forced fumble by Quinnen Williams.

“That’s who CeeDee is as a competitor. He said, ‘Hey, I owe you one.’ I said, ‘You don’t owe me anything, dude.’ Great player, great effort,” Schottenheimer said. “They blitzed us a lot, and that was a cover zero, where they came an all-out blitz. Great job finding the ball. Great job recognizing he wasn’t down. But the rule is the rule.”

Prescott said Lamb and George Pickens, who was inactive with a hamstring injury, run the receivers room and have elevated the talent in it. Dallas moved Lamb around more with Pickens out, including into the slot on the final drive.

“Just what I expect from those guys, honestly. I mean, that’s how they practice. That’s how they approach the game. That’s how detailed they are in everything that they do. Trust me,” Prescott said. “CeeDee, after the game, tells me I owe you about 60 yards and a touchdown, and that’s the standard that he sets for himself that we have, and the expectations.”

CeeDee Lamb Questions Offensive Pass Interference Calls

Lamb was called for a false start in the second quarter and for offensive pass interference twice. The first interference call took away an 18-yard catch on third-and-6 before halftime, and the second wiped out a 13-yard catch on third-and-2 one play before the fumble.

The officials did not give him an explanation on the interference calls, Lamb said. He has let defensive backs touch him first plenty of times before creating separation.

“There’s been plenty instances where I let the DB touch me first, and then I create separation,” Lamb said. “So like I’m just kind of confused, if I don’t create separation, I just let him hold me. Are they gonna call the hold?”

Dallas was penalized 14 times for 153 yards. Lamb said the Cowboys stop themselves, then he acknowledged that the line contradicts itself.

“Like I feel like if we play games to where we’re not shooting ourselves in the foot, for example, me jumping offside, I’m at false start, like two, three PIs. Those are big, man,” Lamb said. “Those are big momentum, and every single time it’s happening on big plays. So you got to tighten those small things up, details, and just be great.”

Ryan Flournoy, Dak Prescott Back Lamb After Reversal

Ryan Flournoy, whose 46-yard catch set up the winning touchdown, sat with Lamb on the bench and looked at the tablet after the review. The official play-by-play credited Colts linebacker No. 58 with forcing the fumble.

“We were just talking about just how bad of a call it was. I felt like I had a front-row seat too,” Flournoy said. “I felt like 58 hit his leg, and then he went down, and the ball touched the ground. I just thought it wasn’t a fumble. That’s what we was talking about.”

Lamb entered Sunday leading the NFL with 92 targets, and Flournoy said he takes after what he watches from Lamb full-time. The two talk about wanting to reach the Hall of Fame.

“It’s inspirational. Just see that that’s possible. Like me and CeeDee talk all the time on what we want to do in this league and what we want to be,” Flournoy explained. “Obviously Hall of Famers, and just to see him work towards that and me watching that full-time, and taking after that, like I know I could do that too, and just inspirational.”

Lamb also had a 31-yard catch on second-and-10 midway through the fourth quarter that set up a 50-yard field goal try. Looking ahead to San Francisco, Lamb pointed to the history between the teams and the players the 49ers have on defense.

“We needed a dub going into it. We all know that, and then we know what we got going on,” Lamb said of next week’s game. “Just the history of the game, the guys that they have over there on defense, and the prep. I mean, it’s gonna take a lot of preparation, a lot of execution. We can’t have as many flags because [they] have a really good offense too.”

Dallas, now 4-5, hosts the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Nov. 15, at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.