FRISCO, TX — It was an embarrassing loss for the Dallas Cowboys in Week 15 at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, and things won't get any easier with their next AFC East opponent. This week, they'll head to South Florida to visit the Miami Dolphins, and CeeDee Lamb understands as well as anyone what challenges this trip presents.
"A lot of playmakers, a lot of speed," said Lamb on Thursday. "We have speed, they have track runners. Very excited. Looking forward to it."
It's no secret the Dolphins are turbocharged on offense, but while that's what headlines their roster — e.g., Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle and De'Von Achane — the defense is quietly a problem as well. When Lamb takes the field in Miami, he'll likely get a heavy dose of former All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
"Jalen has been doing it for a while," Lamb said. "He has had plenty of success. Coming in, it should be very exciting. I'm looking forward to it.
"We should get a lot of reps together."
It's paramount that Lamb, with the aid of quarterback Dak Prescott, delivers a big day for the Cowboys' offense, along with others like Jake Ferguson, Brandin Cooks and others. Their woes on the road are now well-documented, and it's one of the few items they've yet to check off of the task list of narratives that has attached itself to them in 2023.
"I feel like just knowing who you are as a team, knowing your identity and staying true to it," said Lamb of how the Cowboys can overcome their struggles in away games. "I know some things happen along the road in the journey, but it's all about bouncing, recovering and responding the right way. Finding an answer, the answer is going out there and winning on the road. That's the answer.
"To be who we are and what we want to accomplish, we have to start one play at a time, one quarter at a time and one drive at a time. Taking care of our responsibilities, protecting one another, and being explosive."
Thanks to the Seattle Seahawks handing the Philadelphia Eagles a third consecutive loss, both the Eagles and Cowboys sit at 10-4 on the season heading into this coming weekend, and with both the NFC East throne and one of the top seeds in the NFC still up for grabs.
"Obviously this game has a lot of things riding on it," said the All-Pro wideout. "We understand that. We know that. For us, being the players and the ones that's going out and having to do that, we have to basically take a step backward and look and realize the position that we're in and everything that we wanted at the beginning of the season is still in front of us. This is definitely a playoff type of game.
"We wouldn't rather [another] position than [this] because we don't want walk-offs going into the playoffs, and then go to the playoffs and get in and out. I feel like this is a test for us, and it's all on how we respond."
This is a team that, under head coach Mike McCarthy, has not suffered a two-game losing streak since November of the 2021 season. They'll need to keep that streak alive in Week 16, especially given what happened in Week 15.
Don't expect the Dolphins to make it easy, though.
