The Dallas Cowboys‘ three-game surge came to a screeching halt in Detroit, and the architect of their recent success may have been the one holding the blueprints to their demise. For three weeks, the George Pickens slant route was Brian Schottenheimer’s unstoppable weapon. Against the Lions, it became the very play that sealed the Cowboys’ fate.

The Dallas head coach, ahead of the Lions game, had revealed plans to continue with this strategy, and the Lions were prepared as they restricted Pickens to five catches for 37 yards, his second-worst performance for the Cowboys.

Furthermore, Pickens was centrally involved in one key interception during the first play of the second half as he ran a slant. Here, Lions cornerback Amik Robertson broke up the pass, causing the ball to pop up in the air and deflect directly into the hands of Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes. This immediately led to seven points for the Lions, contributing to Dallas’s overall 3-0 turnover deficit.

Schottenheimer’s public commitment to the slant route echoes similar coaching blunders, like when former Seahawks OC Darrell Bevell called for a pass on the goal line in Super Bowl XLIX, a predictable play the Patriots were ready for.

But this performance may feel like a misnomer for Pickens and the Cowboys, as the former Pittsburgh Steelers star has had 19 receptions for 292 yards on slant routes, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, through Week 13. The second-highest slant yardage total behind Pickens is 166 yards. Further, for the star wide receiver, his four receptions for 73 yards on slants against the Kansas City Chiefs were the most yards gained by any receiver in a game this season on slant routes.

However, the issues with the slant runs weren’t Pickens’ only problem against the Lions, as several experts called out the wide receiver for his lack of commitment in the clash. Particularly, former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman highlighted these issues during his post-game show appearance.

Richard Sherman calls out George Pickens after the defeat in Detroit

Against the Detroit Lions, George Pickens had to shoulder significant responsibility as fellow star wideout CeeDee Lamb was benched in the third quarter after suffering a concussion. But Pickens lacked sharpness on his routes and wasn’t as impactful as he had been in prior weeks. Hence,  former Buccaneers cornerback Richard Sherman, during Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football show, had a few choice words for the Cowboys’ wide receiver.

“He 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.”

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Hence, now the onus is on George Pickens to prove the critics wrong by delivering an impactful performance against the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas’ next opponent, at AT&T Stadium.