CeeDee Lamb opens up about what he learned from the playoff loss to 49ers

The Cowboys enjoyed tremendous regular season success last year, but fell short in their home playoff game vs. San Francisco. The loss was a learning experience for many of Dallas’ younger players, including wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who struggled vs. the 49ers and recorded just one catch in that final game of the season.

This offseason, he opened up about what that loss taught him and the entire Cowboys team. He went on a podcast from The Volume, where he was interviewed by Mike Silver. As part of that appearance, Lamb revealed the team knows they need to be more disciplined going forward. “We hurt ourselves with penalties,” he stressed. Then also noted that teams can’t have games with that many mental mistakes if they want to win in the postseason.

Lamb was also struck the heightened level of intensity from the opposition come Playoffs time. He said the 49ers played “with a chip on their shoulder” during their win in Dallas. The veteran club from San Francisco came completely locked in.

The Cowboys wideout went on to explain that the loss to a more focused team taught him that “it’s all about being united and playing together” in the postseason. Dallas was too sloppy, too inconsistent and made far too many mistakes to beat a seasoned core of postseason veterans on the 49ers sideline.

CeeDee Lamb opens up about what he learned from the playoff loss to 49ers

We’re in the dog days of the NFL offseason. A heat wave is sweeping the country while most teams are getting started with summer practices. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy recently got a chance to address media questions. He gave an update on how initial practices are progressing with the new team. Specifically, he was asked how the passing game has looked in training.

“They’ve been doing a lot of work on their own,” the coach said of quarterback Dak Prescott and the receivers. Which is normal. The quarterback needs to have a connection with his receivers in order to field a successful passing unit. And the time to develop that bond, especially with newcomers, is right now.

McCarthy also said that recent practices have mostly been focused on running through the motions rather than playing any real football. Which could explain why Prescott and the receiving corps are getting reps in together outside of team practices. McCarthy says this week is about trying to “finish the install phase” — making sure everyone has the basics of the playbook down before practices ramp up.