Kamari Lassiter Explains Why Texans Couldn’t Simply Double CeeDee Lamb

Dallas Cowboys star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb put together a career performance against the Houston Texans, but cornerback Kamari Lassiter believes the solution to stopping him wasn't as simple as just double teaming him.

Lamb finished Sunday’s matchup with a career-high 17 receptions for 189 yards and a touchdown on 21 targets. His final catch came with 40 seconds remaining, giving Dallas the lead after Houston had taken a 30-27 advantage late in the fourth quarter.

With Lamb consistently finding ways to get open, Lassiter was asked how difficult it would be for Houston to simply double him or have Derek Stingley Jr. follow him throughout the game.

Lassiter explained that Lamb’s ability to move around the formation made that approach more complicated.

“It’s not even so much about that,” Lassiter said. “A lot of his catches were in places where Sting wouldn’t be. Or, I mean, they moved him around.”

Lamb was able to consistently create opportunities from the outside, with many of his receptions coming on short routes before he turned them into significant gains after the catch with his elite YAC ability.

“He had 17 receptions and a lot of them, all of them were on the outside,” Lassiter said. “And a lot of the times he was getting five-yard hitches and turn them into RAC after catch.”

That was a major part of what made Lamb so difficult to contain on Sunday. Rather than needing to consistently win deep down the field, he repeatedly took what the defense gave him and took advantage of Houston's mistakes.

“Whenever you move around like that, I mean, it’s difficult,” Lassiter said. “It makes it difficult.”

Lassiter’s comments come after a rough afternoon for the Texans' secondary. According to Next Gen Stats, he allowed eight receptions for 136 yards on 11 targets against Dallas.

Still, Lassiter did not point toward one particular coverage or player as the reason for Lamb’s performance. Instead, he emphasized the difficulty of defending a receiver who is constantly moving around and finding ways to make plays out of nothing.

For a Texans defense that entered the season with high expectations, the performance highlighted a significant issue that we've seen to start the season. Houston will have to find a way limit opportunities for opposing offense's top playmakers.

Lamb showed how difficult that can be when a player of his stature is consistent being force fed the football and taking advantage of it. The Texans will now have to determine how much of his production came from Dallas’ execution and how much came from mistakes Houston need to correct moving forward.