Dallas is ready to flip the script after last year’s 47-9 beatdown by Detroit. Back then, their most reliable offensive weapon, George Pickens, hadn’t taken a snap for the Cowboys, but now that he’s thriving in Dallas, and opposing defenses are being shredded with his one trick…his slants. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer is in full redemption mode, and he isn’t holding back, even sending a little warning to his counterpart in Detroit concerning the wideout.

According to Cowboys beat reporter Joseph Hoyt, when asked about running the offense and anticipating defense, Schotty was blunt. He straight away signalled that Pickens is running slants on Thursday, no surprises.

George Pickens has become one of the NFL’s most effective receivers on slant routes, to the point where Dallas and league media are literally calling him “almost unguardable” or a “slant god.” His efficiency and success rate on slants have climbed every year and are now elite.

Charting from Reception Perception-type work shows his slant success rate improving from about 69% (2022) to 78% (2023), 82.4% (2024), and reportedly close to the high‑80s in 2025 on the games charted so far.​ Earlier, before the season began, reports indicated a 54.5% burn rate and 72.7% open rate on slants last season, significantly better than what Cowboys receivers produced on those same routes before he arrived (Cowboys’ 45.3% burn rate and 49.1% open rate).

 Despite all these impressive stat sheets for Pickens, it has raised hopes for his boss, Jerry Jones, who seeks revenge for last year’s embarrassing loss.

Jerry Jones is on a mission to settle last year’s score

Jerry Jones has expressed strong motivation for revenge against the Detroit Lions ahead of their Thursday Night Football matchup in Week 13 of the 2025 season, following Dallas’s humiliating 47-9 home loss to Detroit last year on his 82nd birthday, the worst home defeat in his ownership era.​ It seems he hasn’t moved on from last year’s embarrassment with the Lions.

“I can’t get that 40 points that they hung on us out of my mind right here at home,” he said on @1053thefan. 

Well, it’s hard to pin the blame on Jones for speaking bluntly about the loss.

Dak Prescott completed 17-of-33 passes for 178 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions (one in the red zone) and four sacks, while backup Cooper Rush added an end-zone pick; the run game managed just 53 yards on 17 carries (Ezekiel Elliott: 8-17). Dallas scored all nine points via three field goals by Brandon Aubrey (34, 40, 47 yards), converting 0-of-3 red zone trips amid 251 total yards on 65 plays (3.9 yards/play).

The Lions dominated with a physical, fun performance that Jones called a “shocker” and “very humbling,” noting their glee at Dallas’s expense after past controversies like the 2023 overturned touchdown. Jones vowed the Cowboys “won’t forget it,” fueling a redemption narrative now amplified by new weapons like George Pickens.