George Pickens is not perfect, but the Cowboys’ loss in Detroit isn’t on him | Opinion
Shortly after the Cowboys’ 44-30 loss to the Detroit Lions concluded Thursday night, former three-time first-team All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman — now a co-host on Prime’s “Thursday Night Football” coverage — had some passionate words for Dallas wide receiver George Pickens.
“The big story here is George Pickens,” Sherman said. “Throughout the game, especially late, he just looked uninterested in playing football. That’s what you can’t have. If you want to be a superstar or the best receiver in the National Football League, you can’t ever be disengaged. You can’t just disappear in these games.”
In the loss, Pickens hauled in five of his nine targets for 37 yards, his lowest yardage total since his first game with the team in Week 1 when he had 30 yards. In the second half, poor route running stood out, which could justifiably be labeled as bad effort.
Considering that was one of the reasons the Pittsburgh Steelers were willing to part ways with him this past offseason, it was a notable occurrence — especially after he could have had an increased role when CeeDee Lamb went down with a concussion.
While Pickens did take accountability for his lackluster outing, he also answered Sherman’s comments.
“Definitely for myself, personally, you can’t disappear,” Pickens said. “As a reporter or whatever [Sherman’s] job holds, and he played ball, he has to understand the type of defense they played as well.
“They were sitting on the slant. I still caught a slant contested, they said it was [pass interference] on me. Caught a slant later in the game. Two of those slants just didn’t go our way, whether it was the call or play. A lot of stuff just didn’t go our way.”
Was Pickens needed in this ballgame? Absolutely. Did he not provide the effort that was needed? It’s fair to say.
However, for Sherman to say Pickens is “the big story” in this game is way off. Let’s run through all the things that harmed the Cowboys’ playoff chances Thursday night.
Defensive woes reappear
After a three-week outing that had everyone thinking the unit was bouncing back after a bottom-of-the-league first half of the season, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus’ group reverted to the woes it faced before Quinnen Williams and DeMarvion Overshown showed up.
As Detroit put together 408 total yards behind strong performances from running back Jahmyr Gibbs, quarterback Jared Goff and wide receiver Jameson Williams, the Lions averaged 7.2 yards per play. When the Cowboys’ offense cut the lead to one possession on three occasions in the second half, the defense couldn’t respond. To finish the game, the defense allowed seven consecutive Lions drives without a punt or turnover.
In the pass rush department, the Cowboys defensive line generated pressure early. On Goff’s first six dropbacks, the Cowboys generated pressure four times. On the following 29 dropbacks, the number was the same: four pressures.
“When we needed it, we just couldn’t get a stop,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “The complementary football was just not what it’s been the last couple of weeks. When you play like that against a good team on the road, it’s tough to come up with a win.”
Not so special teams
For the first time since Lions wide receiver Tom Kennedy was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2019, he was brought to the podium in the postgame press conference room for a kick return performance that saw him average 40 yards per return on three tries. His running mate, running back Jacob Saylors, had five returns of an average of 28.2 yards.
The 261 kick return yards allowed were only the fourth time that a team has given up that much in the last decade in the NFL. It paved the way for the Lions’ offense to have its average starting field position on its own 44-yard line. Against a team with that many weapons, that’s unacceptable.
Staying in the special teams department, returner KaVontae Turpin had a crippling mistake for the third game in a row. In the first quarter, he was flagged for an invalid fair catch signal. It’s a penalty that veteran returners would maybe have happen one time. It was the second game in a row it’s happened for Turpin.
It backed up the Dallas offense deep in its own territory and almost resulted in a safety. What it did pave the way for was a short field for the ensuing Detroit drive that ended in a quick touchdown to jump the lead out to 17-6.
“Turpin knows better than that,” Schottenheimer said. “That’s pretty simple, just don’t do it. If you put the hand up, don’t run.”
George Pickens has earned some grace
Sit back and think, would the Cowboys even have had a shot at the postseason coming into the month of December if it wasn’t for Pickens?
His 1,179 yards are second in the NFL, and he proved to be a reliable target when Lamb was out with a high ankle sprain for three games earlier in the season.
Now, should big-time players show up in big-time games? One hundred percent. Did Pickens do that? He did not. He’s on a long list of Cowboy culprits from Thursday night, but he is far from the reason the result ended the way it did.
Call back to the Pittsburgh concerns. The issues with tardiness to meetings have carried over, per team sources, and his effort on Thursday night was indeed reminiscent of his time in the Steel City.
But don’t act like the 2025 version of George Pickens is the same that donned the black and yellow for three seasons. The numbers, the impact and his teammates would tell you differently.
“I’m sure George would tell you this wasn’t his best game,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “When you’re playing the way that he’s been playing, when you’re the type of player that he is, I’ll be the first to say that it’s hard to do that week in and week out. But I think George can, I know George believes he can, and I think he would just say that this game wasn’t up to his standard.
“I know he’ll own it, and I know he’ll be better.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2025 at 1:40 AM.
