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Lamb's Torrid Career Start Has NFL's Head Spinning

Second-year receiver is off to the third-best 25-game start by a Cowboy
Richie Whitt|
Lamb's Torrid Career Start Has NFL's Head Spinning
Lamb's Torrid Career Start Has NFL's Head Spinning

The Dallas Cowboys torched the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday in AT&T Stadium. CeeDee Lamb initially and immediately sparked the fire that ultimately spread into a record-setting, 43-alarm blaze.

Desperate to douse the nightmarish performance from a week earlier, the Cowboys needed a quick start. Cue Lamb, who on the second play took a quick pass from Dak Prescott in the slot and sprinted 37 yards down the sideline.

Six plays later he caught a 13-yard pass for a 7-0 lead. Just before halftime, he hauled in a 9-yard toe-dragger to push the margin to 28-3.

With Michael Gallup back from a seven-game calf injury, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore exploited the luxury of moving Lamb into the slot. The Falcons' attempted to single-cover the speedy second-year receiver, with disastrous results.

Lamb finished with six catches, 94 yards, two touchdowns and one giant jump-start that commenced one of the biggest blowout victories in the Cowboys' 62-season history.

While Lamb befuddled the Falcons' secondary, he also sent the NFL's social media team into a tizzy.

The league's media machine went to work in the wake of Dallas' 43-3 win, attempting to capsulize just how impressive Lamb has been - not just against Atlanta, but early in his career.

Result: It boasted Lamb as being the first Cowboys' receiver to amass 1,500+ yards and 10+ touchdowns in his first 25 games in the NFL.

Wow!

But, um, wrong.

Amari Cooper had more catches, yards and touchdowns than Lamb in his first 25 games as a Cowboy. But if the league is pin-pointing the receiver's first 25 games in the NFL, we'll obviously cut it some slack as Cooper played his first 52 in Oakland as a Raider.

Alas, the NFL should probably Google a guy named Bob Hayes. In his first 25 NFL games - all as a Cowboy - he revolutionized the wide receiver position by producing a whopping 2,092 yards and 24 touchdowns, both easily topping Lamb's output.

The best 25-game starts by receivers in a Cowboys uniform:

PLAYER                 C      YDS       TD

Bob Hayes         100   2,092      24

Amari Cooper    132    1,914      14

CeeDee Lamb    121    1,661      12

Dez Bryant           96    1,357      15

Drew Pearson      72    1,255       3 

Michael Irvin        66    1,203       8

Jason Witten        92      997       6

Tony Hill               34      584       5

This is not to knock Lamb's speedy ascension as one of the NFL's elite weapons. He's Top 10 this season in 20+-yard catches (13), receiving yards (726) and touchdowns (6).

He's not afraid to go over the middle. You can hand him the ball as a running back. He's dangerous as a punt-returner. Of his first 25 games, he's had Prescott at quarterback for barely half of them (13). And he plays in a talented receiving trio that features Gallup and Cooper, whose first 25 games in Dallas take a back seat to only Hayes.

Lamb's career is off to an impressive start. Just not quite as fast, however, as the NFL would have us believe.

Published
Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

Richie Whitt has been a sports media fixture in Dallas-Fort Worth since graduating from UT-Arlington in 1986. His career is highlighted by successful stints in print (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), TV (NBC5) and radio (105.3 The Fan). During his almost 40-year tenure, he's blabbed and blogged on events ranging from Super Bowls to NBA Finals to World Series to Stanley Cups to Olympics to Wimbledons to World Cups. Whitt has been covering the NFL since 1989, and in 1993 authored The 'Boys Are Back, a book chronicling the Dallas Cowboys' run to Super Bowl XXVII.

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