It was the big question for the Cowboys of the last few weeks, at least on the offensive side of the ball. Wide receiver George Pickens, who had established himself as an elite receiver after a hot start that last for most of the season, dropped off drastically in the past two weeks in losses to the Lions and Vikings, leading to questions about what, exactly, happened to him in that span.
Pickens averaged 95.2 yards on 6.1 catches per game in the first 13 weeks of the year, but in Weeks 14 and 15, that dropped to 4.0 catches and just 35.0 yards. The Cowboys are fortunate to have No. 1 WR CeeDee Lamb on board, and a breakout year from Ryan Flournoy, but the Pickens problem is one that coach Brian Schottenheimer is trying to decipher.
With the Chargers. who feature strong cover corners and one of the best overall coverage units in the game, on top for Week 16, the Cowboys are still being tabbed to get Pickens back putting up big numbers again on Sunday.
George Pickens ‘Should Yield Explosive Gains’ for Cowboys
That’s according to Pro Football Focus, which tabs Pickens’ projected matchup against Cam Hart, who takes frequent gambles that often result in big plays–for the offense as well as the defense. PFF writes that Hart is a “daredevil cornerback” and that for Pickens, “The matchup should yield explosive gains and/or touchdowns.”
The site writes: “Hart commits aggressively to making plays on the football, yielding extremely volatile coverage results. This is a bounce-back spot for Pickens, who PFF Matchups projects to face Hart on 14.85 receiving snaps. …
“Among Cowboys pass-catchers, Pickens’ 97 first-read targets are first. His 16 centerfield targets thrown 10-plus yards downfield and between the painted numbers also rank third.”
George Pickens Getting More Double Coverage
While the deep analytics suggest that Pickens should make hay for the Cowboys going against Hart, the team is not entirely leaving that up to the defense. One of the big problems Pickens has had in the past two weeks has been the level of double-team coverage he has been getting.
“Double coverage,” Pickens said when asked why his numbers have tailed off. “It’s really that simple. Just double coverage, like I said, offensively all we can do is try to execute at a high level, no matter what that is. They probably just watched film over the last few, four, five games—however many games that was.
“But definitely not that just because those coverages been in the game for a while. Double-covering a few receivers over time—you know, Randy (Moss), a lot of great receivers over time.”
Cowboys Receivers Benefitting
The Cowboys, in general, are a lot less worried about Pickens and his production than most others are, including Pickens himself. he points out that, in his absence in the box score, CeeDee Lamb (three straight 100-yard games) has been outstanding, and Ryan Flournoy has been very good, as well. The Cowboys scored 28.0 points per game in their last two losses, which were more on the shoulders of the defense than the offense.
Pickens described the looks he has been seeing and how they benefit the other receivers on the team: “Just playing, keeping a guy inside and keeping a guy outside, or keeping a guy over the top and having a guy underneath, just on one side of the field—which is a product of, CeeDee is going crazy, Flo is going crazy. Which is, super proud of them guys.
“I get super happy because they put in the same work that I do. If I can, schematically, get them open or vice-versa, doing the same thing, it’s always a plus.”
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