CeeDee Lamb licking his chops as the Cowboys prepare for the Lions

Coming off a dramatic 20-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys are now set for another high-profile matchup in Week 6 as they welcome the Detroit Lions to AT&T Stadium.

This serves as somewhat of a revenge game for the Lions, who essentially had a victory snatched away from them in a memorable clash between the two teams last December.

For those who've forgotten, Detroit, trailing 20-13 late in the fourth quarter, marched 75 yards down the field in just 1:18 and pulled within one when Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown connected for an 11-yard score with just 23 ticks left on the clock.

In true Dan Campbell fashion, the Lions went for the win on a two-point conversion and seemingly had victory in hand when Goff completed a pass to offensive lineman Tyler Decker. But the celebration was short-lived, as Decker was ruled to be an ineligible receiver, even though video evidence clearly showed him talking to the official ahead of the play.

The Lions got two more cracks at the conversion, failing on both, and the Cowboys escaped with a 20-19 victory.

For most, the controversy will always be what's most remembered from this game. And for good reason. But for CeeDee Lamb, what should stick out is the fact that this was the best individual performance of his career, one in which he set personal bests in receptions and receiving yardage.

And while it will take quite a bit for the three-time Pro Bowler to duplicate last year's performance, he should be salivating to face a Detroit defense that's struggled to defend the pass this season.

CeeDee Lamb lit up the Lions last season and should do so again in Week 6

It didn't take Lamb long to get going against the Lions last December.

On the Cowboys' first offensive possession, he recorded a 31-yard reception, only to see his effort ultimately wasted as the drive ended with a Dak Prescott interception.

But after the Dallas defense forced a punt, Prescott and Lamb hooked up for a 92-yard touchdown on the third play of the ensuing possession, giving the Cowboys a 7-3 lead.

When all was said and done at the end of the night, Lamb had recorded 13 receptions for 227 yards. As mentioned, both were career highs, and this marked the first (and still only) 200-yard game of his career. Lamb matched the 13 receptions the following week against Washington, going for 98 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-10 win.

Lamb has yet to even reach 100 yards through the Cowboys' first five games of this 2024 campaign, although he did come close with a 98-yard effort in the Week 4 win over the New York Giants. But the First-Team All-Pro has to be licking his chops as he prepares to face the Lions for the third time in his career.

While the Detroit defense has been one of the best in the league thus far against the run, allowing the fourth-fewest rushing yards per game (90.8), it's been among the worst against the pass, allowing 258.2 yards per game, the sixth-most in the NFL.

As the Lions completely retooled the cornerback room during the offseason, bringing in veteran Carlton Davis to man one side and drafting Alabama's Terrion Arnold to cover the other, Lamb won't have it quite as easy as he did last December. However, while the Detroit secondary is improved from an overall standpoint, it still has plenty of problems.

In three of their first four games, the Lions have allowed a receiver to reach the 100-yard mark, the lone exception being their Week 3 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Both Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson topped out at 64 yards for the Cards that day.

Otherwise, Cooper Kupp had 110 yards in Week 1, Chris Godwin went for 117 in Week 2, and DK Metcalf amassed 104 in Week 4.

Again, it'll take a lot for CeeDee Lamb to do what he did against Detroit last December, but it seems like a lock that he'll hit the century mark for the first time this season on Sunday afternoon.

More Cowboys news and analysis