The Seagulls were clinical in front of goal, scoring five times through Charalampos Kostoulas, Malick Yalcouyé, Pascal Groß, Lewis Dunk and Yasin Ayari.
• Coventry City: No goals
• Brighton & Hove Albion: Charalampos Kostoulas 31', Malick Yalcouyé 51', Pascal Groß 60' (pen), Lewis Dunk 77', Yasin Ayari 90+4'
Brighton took control after Coventry had enjoyed some promising moments early in the contest. Goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen produced two important saves to deny Jack Rudoni and keep the visitors from falling behind.
The breakthrough arrived in the 31st minute when Kostoulas produced an excellent individual finish. The Greek forward controlled a difficult aerial ball before working his way between defenders and firing into the bottom corner.
Brighton doubled their advantage shortly after half-time. Yalcouyé raced in behind the Coventry defence before calmly finishing past Carl Rushworth in the 51st minute.
Coventry's afternoon then went from bad to worse.
Taiwo Awoniyi was shown a straight red card after catching Maxim De Cuyper in the face with his elbow, leaving the hosts with 10 men. The dismissal was confirmed following a VAR review.
Brighton immediately took advantage of the numerical advantage. Bobby Thomas brought down Kostoulas inside the penalty area, and Pascal Groß stepped up to convert the resulting penalty and make it 3-0.
The fourth goal was the highlight of the afternoon.
Lewis Dunk produced a spectacular long-range strike from around 35 yards, sending the ball into the top corner to complete a memorable goal and put Brighton four goals ahead.
Brighton were not finished. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Yasin Ayari curled another excellent effort into the bottom corner to complete the 5-0 rout.
Coventry's worrying start
The defeat leaves Coventry in serious difficulty after their return to the Premier League.
Lampard's side have now lost all four of their opening league matches without scoring a single goal, making them only the second team in Premier League history to begin a season with four defeats without finding the net. Crystal Palace previously suffered the same fate in 2017-18.
Coventry's goal difference has also fallen to -10, increasing the pressure on Lampard as he searches for a response from his players.
Brighton, meanwhile, continue to impress in attack. Their five-goal haul strengthened their position among the Premier League's highest-scoring sides and underlined Fabian Hürzeler's confidence that the team can compensate for the departure of Danny Welbeck through a collective attacking approach.
For Coventry, the immediate priority is clear: they need their first goal and first points of the season before their difficult start develops into a full-blown relegation battle.