As the Dallas Cowboys search for answers amid a disappointing 3-3 start that featured a 47-9 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Hall of Famer Troy Aikman didn't shy away from calling out the play of CeeDee Lamb and the receivers on the team.
Appearing on 96.7 The Ticket's The Musers on Thursday (h/t The Athletic's Jon Machota), Aikman said "I think they run terrible routes" as part of a long and detailed explanation about the issues with the Cowboys' wideouts:
"I think the routes are terrible. I think they run terrible routes. And I've thought that beyond this year. I think CeeDee (Lamb) has got to improve in his route running. As a quarterback, if you're not certain where guys are going to be consistently, it's hard to play the position. That's what I see. I see guys lazy coming off the line of scrimmage. Sometimes they run, usually if they do, it's because they're anticipating they're going to get the football on that play, but if they're not, they don't. And it all ties together. I'm not impressed with that part of it.
"I just finished watching the Baltimore Ravens because I have them this week. You put on film of theirs and watch their receivers run routes and they come off the football, so does San Francisco's and Green Bay's and others. But it's hard to play the (QB) position if you're not certain how guys are going to run routes or where they're going to be. And I'm not speaking for Dak (Prescott). Dak may say, 'Hey, I think (their routes) are amazing.' But as a former quarterback watching it, it's gotta get a lot better."
There is no shortage of criticism to go around for the Cowboys right now. They have been a mess on both sides of the ball, with the defense going from the fifth-best unit by points allowed per game last season to No. 30 so far in 2024.
Dallas is 0-3 at home and has been outscored 119-53 in those games. If you include the playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers in January, the Cowboys have allowed at least 44 points in three of their last four home games.
Things aren't much better for the offense right now. They haven't scored more than 25 points in a game since their 33-17 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 1.
Dak Prescott, who signed a four-year, $240 million extension before the season opener, has three multi-interception games in six weeks.
Lamb became the second-highest-paid receiver in the NFL during the offseason when he got a four-year, $136 million extension. He was coming off a career year with a league-high 135 receptions for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Things haven't gone as well for Lamb so far in 2024. He's been solid with 467 yards, but his success rate of 47.3 percent is a drop of 16 points from last season (63.5). The 25-year-old has yet to have a 100-yard game in 2024 after surpassing that mark eight times last year.
Part of the problem for Lamb could be that opposing defenses don't really respect the other receivers on the team. Jalen Tolbert has been the secondary option for Prescott with 290 yards, which is already a career-high for him.
Brandin Cooks has been a non-factor since catching four passes for 40 yards and a touchdown pass in Week 1. He had 51 yards combined in the next three games before landing on injured reserve before Week 5 due to a knee infection.
This is largely the same group of pass-catchers whom the Cowboys had last year. The only major change is that Michael Gallup is no longer on the team after being released and subsequently retiring during the offseason.
The main difference is the offensive line, which has been a mess this season.
Head coach Mike McCarthy and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer don't seem to have adjusted the scheme to account for worse protection up front, so they are running the same bland system they had before and putting even more on Prescott.
The Cowboys don't have any easy, obvious answers to cure all that ails them. Getting Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence back from injuries will boost the defense, but that unit struggling even before they went down.
Whether it's Lamb and the receivers fixing their routes, Prescott doing a better job of protecting the ball, or the offensive line doing a better job all around, the Cowboys need all of these things to get better to have any shot of making the playoffs.
