The Dallas Cowboys traded for George Pickens precisely for games like this one, and he completely let them down.
The Cowboys desperately needed a win against the Lions on Thursday night, not just to continue their three-game win streak, but to notch a head-to-head victory against a team they’re competing with in the very tight NFC Wild Card race.
With star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb ruled out of the game after a brutal collision with the ground following an all-out effort to catch the ball, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott was looking for the same level of effort from his sole remaining star receiver to keep pace with a Lions offense that Dallas’ defense seemed utterly unable to stop.
That didn’t happen.
Trailing 44-30, but with the game still very much in reach with over two minutes remaining, the two-minute warning, and two timeouts, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer dialed up a homerun play for Pickens that, if caught, would likely cut the lead in half.
Was the pass perfect? No, not perfect. Was it a pass well within the ability of one of the league’s elite receivers to catch if he even made a modicum of effort to do so?
Absolutely!
Nor was that the only example of Pickens’ apparent disinterest. This next example, on a play near the sidelines, seems to have drawn the ire of Dak Prescott.
Pickens is clearly not running hard on this play and doesn’t sell the comeback, making it easily defendable.
After the game, Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football analyst Richard Sherman laid into Pickens.
“George Pickens, throughout the game, especially late in the game, just looked uninterested,” Sherman said. “Uninterested in playing football. That’s what you can’t have. If you’re going to be a superstar, if you want to be the best receiver in the National Football League, you can’t ever be disengaged. It doesn’t matter if the game’s going your way or not going your way.”
The video backs Sherman’s point. Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones also expressed his frustration with Pickens, though in a far more diplomatic way.
“He didn’t have the game that he’s been having. But effort? I would be very careful going there with him,” Jones said. “This guy, he’s explosive with his temperament, and I say that in a positive way. I don’t think so much it was effort, but I don’t necessarily have a good explanation as to why he didn’t show up more, especially against the backdrop that they were limited in their secondary.”
That’s probably as close to blasting a multimillionaire star receiver as a modern owner is going to get.
Pickens finished with just five catches for 37 yards, his lowest output since the season opener against the Eagles. He also had two critical penalties: a facemask and an offensive pass interference call.
Last night’s effort aside, Pickens has posted career highs in receptions (78), targets (114), yards (1,179), and touchdowns (eight) so far this season.
If Dallas (6-6-1) is going to have any chance at the playoffs, it will need the pre-Week 14 George Pickens to return quickly.
