CeeDee Lamb questionable to return to TNF in Week 5

Lamb’s day was inches from being one of the top fantasy outings for any player this season, with the talented veteran unable to get his second foot down in the end zone in the third quarter, forcing the Cowboys to settle for a field goal. Even so, Lamb has now seen double-digit targets in each of his previous four games and five of his last six, averaging 13.8 targets per game in that span. His production in Week 9 also marked the third time this season in which Lamb has gone for more than 150 yards, handily leading the league in targets while trailing only Jaxon Smith-Njigba in yardage. Lamb and the Cowboys get a more difficult matchup against the 49ers in Week 10, where Lamb will remain an elite WR1 at home.

Lamb’s most memorable play from this game was evading three tacklers on a screen to finally find a first down. He had two of Dallas’ six red zone targets but turned them into just one catch for four yards. Arizona’s aggressive defense simply clouded Lamb and dared the other receivers to win. He’ll remain on the WR1 line next week against the hapless Colts.

It wasn’t a clean game for the alpha wide receiver by any stretch, who committed two drops and caught only five of his team-leading 12 targets. Despite the poor efficiency, Lamb made the plays he needed to when it mattered most, scoring from nine yards out on a fade to the back corner of the end zone and from 16 yards out on a similar play to the opposite sideline. Lamb has now seen 56 targets in his previous four games, with 12 or more in three of his last four. That level of volume keeps him in elite company near the top of rest-of-season wide receiver rankings in fantasy circles, where he will remain ahead of a Week 8 matchup against the Cardinals at home.

Lamb was targeted relentlessly against the match-zone-based Green Bay defense but suffered through an up-and-down connection with quarterback Dak Prescott on his way to middling fantasy returns. The Cowboys managed under 100 yards in the first half and were victimized by two Prescott interceptions deep in Green Bay territory, leading to a game environment that required 55 Prescott dropbacks. Even with a second consecutive middling-to-poor performance from a fantasy first round pick, Lamb is still pacing for a 1,500-yard, 11-touchdown season, plenty to provide a solid return on investment for fantasy managers that used their top pick on his services. Lamb could be busy again in Week 7 against the inside-funnel nature of the Philadelphia defense, where he will once again be a fantasy WR1.

Lamb played through a quad bruise last week but exacerbated the issue and left the game late in the fourth quarter. The injury is not believed to be serious and a full practice today means Lamb isn’t at risk of missing Week 6. Despite burning fantasy managers with two catches for nine yards last time around, Lamb remains one of the best fantasy football wideouts in play this week.

Lamb was on the field for a few more plays in Thursday’s loss to the Buccaneers after his injury was announced. Rapoport reports that Lamb is believed to be dealing with a quad bruise, which is not believed to be serious. Lamb and the Cowboys now have over a week to rest up before facing the Packers on Sunday Night Football in Week 6. Barring an unexpected development, we would expect Lamb to be good to go for next week’s game against the Packers at Lambeau Field.

He simply could not be stopped the way the Texans were playing defense. Lamb feasted on the sideline and against zone coverages — his longest catch went just 30 yards — and he had the go-ahead touchdown with less than 30 seconds left that had FOX’s Greg Olsen wondering why any defense would play him that way when he’d been that productive over the course of the game. He’d never managed more than 17 targets in a game before today. Obviously he won’t do this again, but Lamb has delivered for those who lucked into him in the late first-round mix and will again be a plug-and-play alpha WR1 against the Bucs on Thursday night.

That makes it back-to-back games of 100-plus yards for Lamb. Lamb didn’t officially find the end zone on this one, but he did come up with a catch on a two-point reception in the third quarter to cut the Ravens’ lead to 24-21. He came up with a few big plays in the fourth quarter, with his biggest being a 49-yard reception on a drive that ended with a KaVontae Turpin rushing touchdown to briefly give the Cowboys the lead. Despite being out-targeted 11 to 8 by George Pickens in this one, Lamb has looked like the unquestioned WR1 for the Cowboys through the first three weeks. He’s totaled 15 receptions for 265 yards and two touchdowns over the last two weeks and is a high-end WR1 in next week’s game against the Texans.

Lamb caught three passes on the Cowboys’ opening drive, picking up gains of 15 and 23 yards before connecting with Dak Prescott on a three-yard score. Lamb gave the Commanders fits all day, but strung together another massive drive late in the fourth quarter when he hauled in a 35-yard pass from Prescott, who went right back to him five plays later for a 24-yard touchdown on a pass Lamb had to fight to come down with. Lamb has now scored in each of his first two games this season and will be firmly on the WR1 radar in next week’s game against the Ravens.

Although he lead the team in both targets and receiving, Lamb got off to a slow start while committing an early drop. He would score from one yard out in the second quarter after a Javonte Williams touchdown was ruled short of the goal line and also draw a defensive pass interference penalty in the second half that would lead to a Williams score, but the Cowboys simply had problems creating the chunk plays that ruled the roost in 2025. Better days are likely ahead for the perennial WR1, which starts in a Week 2 home showdown against another divisional opponent in the Commanders.