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Why is Dak Prescott struggling to connect with CeeDee Lamb early in Cowboys’ season?

Lamb has the second-highest average salary for a receiver in the NFL, and he’s produced just 25 catches through the first five games.

FRISCO — The connection between Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb seems muted. It’s not like they haven’t been here before.

As the Cowboys enter a Week 6 contest against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Lamb’s numbers are down considering his skill set and the salary he commands.

Lamb has the second-highest average salary ($34 million) for a receiver in the NFL. After five weeks, he’s produced 25 catches (tied for 15th in NFL) for 378 yards (ninth) with two touchdowns (tied for 23rd).

In the second half of games, Lamb’s connection with Prescott has been nearly disconnected.

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Lamb’s been targeted 16 times with no touchdowns. He has four catches for 25 yards.

“Credit to these defensive coordinators,” Prescott said. “It’s the NFL, they’re not going to allow you to come in and beat them with your fastball early and late.”

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So what’s happening?

In the first half of games, Lamb is seeing more one-on-one coverage and he’s taking advantage. But in the second half of games, he sees a safety shading over him, forcing Prescott to look elsewhere.

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Lamb also said he’s seeing cloud coverage. It’s a football term when a cornerback plays off or in a press alignment and drops back in a zone assignment with safeties deep.

Defenses are providing thunderstorms over Lamb and Prescott, forcing bad connections or none at all.

It’s always been part of the NFL.

“What happens [is] we pop off early on and obviously nobody wants to see that in the second half of the game,” Lamb said. “They do a great job of making halftime adjustments, bring two [defenders] and nine times out of 10 I’m getting cloud. Kudos to them, they’re doing a great job of stopping the bleeding, but we still win. That’s cool.”

The numbers support the attention Lamb receives to contain him.

According to NexGen Stats, Lamb has seven catches for 136 yards with a touchdown in 34 routes against press coverage. In off coverage, with a defender backing away and sometimes a safety shading his way, Lamb has been targeted six times with three receptions for 26 yards in 62 routes. This season, Lamb has been targeted 37.5% in tight windows compared to 16.6% last season.

Defenses are coming after Lamb.

“Yeah, a lot more,” he said. “They started early, too. They not playing. It’s cool. I got to find different ways to be effective in the game and I understand that, and when my time comes, best believe it will be big.”

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Some of the chemistry problems also could be attributed to Lamb’s contract holdout, which didn’t give Lamb time to work during training camp on the subtle changes in the offense.

Last season, Lamb got off to a slow start. He had 27 catches for 358 yards and one touchdown after five weeks. It all reached a boiling point in a Week 5 loss at the 49ers, when he had four receptions for 49 yards. Lamb expressed displeasure with how he was used, and it led to a fireside chat with coach Mike McCarthy and Prescott.

Lamb also was feeling the pressure of performing well in an effort to earn a new contract. Veteran receiver Brandin Cooks, considered a mentor to several of the receivers, also talked to Lamb.

The next game against the Chargers, Lamb exploded with seven catches for 117 yards in a victory.

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Fast forward to this season: During the win over the Steelers last week, Lamb was seen on the sidelines telling Prescott to throw a “jump ball” after the quarterback misfired a throw to the receiver. The pass was intercepted in the end zone. Lamb talked to Prescott on the sideline about a particular throw he wanted. Prescott agreed with Lamb’s assessment of the play, that instead of a back-shoulder throw, a jump ball was required because of Lamb’s height advantage against the cornerback covering him.

During the buildup of this week’s contest against the Lions, quarterback and receiver seemed amused when asked about the sideline discussion. Prescott joked that reporters need to learn how to read lips.

Lamb confirmed what lip readers wanted to know: He was saying, “jump ball.”

The Cowboys don’t believe the lack of connection is anything serious. In the win over the Steelers, receiver Jalen Tolbert had a breakout game with a season-high seven catches for 87 yards, including a game-winning touchdown reception.

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Prescott targeted nine players in the victory. Whether Lamb gets more attention, it should open the door for other players to produce in the passing game.

“We’re trying to get that stress off him so people don’t double him,” receiver KaVontae Turpin said. “We try to take advantage of our opportunities when they do double him, we win our one-on-ones, and if we keep winning our one-on-ones, they won’t have no choice but to stop doubling him.”

Of course, when viewing the lack of production between Prescott and Lamb, the second half numbers become a focal point.

“I don’t think there’s really any reason,” McCarthy said. “I just think this is how these games go. I mean the inefficiency of the offense is the starting point. Obviously CeeDee is a featured player. I don’t think it’s, you know, outside of Captain Obvious, they’re setting the coverage to him wherever he goes, especially when he’s the 1 receiver. He’s seeing a lot of cloud coverage, and obviously they had a form of cheat coverage early in the [Steelers] game that was a little different.”

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Prescott and Lamb have been through this. The Lions might be the perfect opponent for a breakout game.

Last season, Lamb set career highs in catches (13) and yards (227) — which included a 92-yard touchdown reception — in a victory over the Lions.

The game was marred by a tackle-eligible error by the Lions.

Not the Cowboys’ problem and Prescott noted the referees missed a penalty on the previous play.

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“I remember last year, we had a lot of questions around this time and post bye week all those questions were answered,” Lamb said. “I’m hoping that will change, but yeah I have no doubt.”

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