To say it was a rough Week 3 for the Dallas Cowboys would be putting it lightly. The secondary never showed up, Rome Odunze pretty much got whatever he wanted, the Bears wore out the Cowboys' defense in the third quarter and CeeDee Lamb went down with a high-ankle sprain.
According to ESPN's Todd Archer, Lamb is expected to miss 3-4 weeks but either way, the Cowboys shouldn't be careless with this at all. Lamb's injury put Jake Ferguson in the spotlight, and some might argue for worse.
Ferguson quietly had one of the games of his career with 13 receptions, which is the most he's had in a single game. Dak Prescott depended on Ferguson a ton after Lamb went down, but most of those yards were empty calories thanks to so many checkdown passes. In the fourth quarter, Ferguson looked completely worn out as he headed for the sideline. Lamb's injury is concerning, but the way the Cowboys were overworking Ferguson is almost as concerning with the way he looked late in the game.
Lamb injury should force for less checkdowns and more deep balls
The majority of Ferguson's routes were checkdowns from Prescott, even when the game was clearly slipping away from Dallas, this style of play clearly wasn't going to work. The Cowboys need more long plays like KaVontae Turpin's 37-yard grab in the fourth quarter. Even Ryan Flournoy got involved, getting a couple of grabs when the game was already decided.
Brian Schottenheimer is clearly going to design a more diverse offense that gets everybody involved while Lamb is out of the lineup. Even in garbage time, Brevyn Spann-Ford made a remarkable catch and run down the far sideline, even hurdling a defender, but it got called back thanks to a penalty.
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Schottenheimer needs to emphasize throwing the ball more than 10 yards down the field. Throwing a checkdown to your tight end on 3rd-and-11 won't do you much good, and it feels like the same pattern was on repeat, with Ferguson getting a bunch of touches but not much to show for it with 82 yards on 13 receptions.
Lamb missing a few weeks is crucial right now with the Cowboys at 1-2. Ferguson cannot afford to be exhausted again like he was late in the Bears game, and if the tight end from Wisconsin makes 13 catches the next time, it better be for at least 125 yards or more.
Prescott and Ferguson have an amazing connection, but it's up to Schottenheimer's play-calling to see that the connection actually does damage out there, rather than just complete the bare minimum requirements.