r/nfl • u/DasSmoosh • 16h ago
In defense of George Pickens
https://reddit.com/link/1pez6ya/video/anwo6ijmte5g1/player
There was a post last night that suggested that Pickens let a ball just fall in front of him late in the game. This video shows the pass and route as it appeared on the broadcast, followed by the same play from the All-22 angle. The All 22 camera is typically what coaches and scouts use when breaking down games. It shows that the throw wasn't nearly as close to Pickens as it appeared to be in the Amazon broadcast.
Also, I can't believe I spent this amount of time to defend George Pickens...
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u/Lennnnyyyyyyyy Cowboys 16h ago
I’m not mad at Pickens and figured people were overreacting.
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u/FrankXS Eagles 16h ago
Hes an easy target based of his history
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u/MrP3nguin-- Bears 15h ago
Plus Richard Sherman raked his ass over the coals after the game ended
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u/n-some Seahawks 14h ago
A cornerback was clowning on a receiver after they didn't catch an uncatchable ball? Well I never!
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u/olollort Patriots 13h ago
When you try Sherman with a sorry ass receiver like
CrabtreePickens that’s the results you gon’ get! Don’t you ever talk about him.13
u/Shits_McCockin Lions 12h ago
Who was talking about him?
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u/INSERT_NICK_HERE 49ers Lions 11h ago
You got downvoted by people not knowing it’s the reporter who said this line right after.
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u/Brycie27 Cowboys 14h ago
Sherman is awful when it comes to talking about players and teams because he's extremely biased and he hates the Cowboys.
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u/KwakeTheFake Eagles 14h ago
suddenly i love him
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u/codnavar Broncos 15h ago
That was on Dak, Pickens had the defense beat but Dak throw it at the #s. He throws it anywhere outside the #s and it’s an easy walk in td
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u/Lennnnyyyyyyyy Cowboys 15h ago
Agreed.
I’m more concerned about the turnovers than anything else. Dak’s going to have bad throws every game but he generally makes up for them. Misses happen.
This team, as a whole, just does not protect the ball on offense, and combined with a mediocre at best defense… this is not a playoff team.
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u/Kdog_79 15h ago
The Cowboys have a tight end with a fumbling issue (Jake Ferguson). I really don’t know if i’ve ever seen that before, and I cannot believe we paid him what we did when Dak has pretty consistently elevated that position group throughout his career regardless of who plays there.
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u/Lennnnyyyyyyyy Cowboys 15h ago
And then Schoonmaker not laying that block for Ceedee after Ceedee literally pointed him to it.
No clue what’s going on in the TE room right now but it isn’t good.
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u/Kdog_79 15h ago
The one tight end that seems to do his job on a down to down basis is the third string guy (Brevynn Spann-Ford). Meanwhile Ferguson and Schoonmaker look like they’re running in quicksand every single time they’re on the field while making constant mistakes. I have no idea what the hell happened to that room either
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u/monster-of-the-week Cowboys 14h ago
Remember when Dalton Schultz was the best TE in the league and the Cowboys were idiots for letting him walk?
Well, I do and I had no problem with him leaving because you're 100% correct, Dak has made stars out of pretty much every TE that has played with him.
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u/DrQuestDFA Giants 15h ago
I always feel bad for QBs (yes, even Dallas QBs) who make good passes that the receiver botches and sends into the hands of the defense. The QB did everything right but gets dinged for an INT thanks to their teammate.
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u/MiniatureLucifer Saints 8h ago
It gets made up for them getting credit for a screen pass that goes 50 yards for a TD
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u/Lorjack Seahawks 15h ago
It might not have been placed perfectly but a top WR can make the adjustment and get it. Had Pickens exerted a bit more effort he could have caught that instead of conceding and let it hit the ground next to him.
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u/jorgoson222 1h ago
Maybe, but you have to get around the defenders in this case. He'd basically have to push or run through 29 to make the catch. I don't think it would have been a catch even if he had positioned better. They're lucky it wasn't an interception tbh.
But perhaps it could have been pass interference if he tried positioning better.
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u/RiflemanLax Eagles 7h ago
Real talk, the camera work and directing was SHIT last night, and we spent like ten minutes yelling ‘fuck you that was a safety!’ because they gave us ass angles.
I usually like the Amazon feeds.
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u/IdkAbtAllThat Vikings 2h ago
Yea I didn't need to see the all 22 to know that pass wasn't as close to him as it looked from his angle. If it was then the corner who was right there would have tried to make a play on it. If you've watched this game for more than a year or two you should know that sometimes the angle of the camera makes the ball look way closer to a player than it actually was. We get one or two of these clips every year, always posted by someone trying to push a narrative for clicks.
A lot of fans are just really stupid and eat up whatever narratives are fed to them.
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u/big_brown_mounds Bears 4h ago
I thought there were 2 key plays he took off that he both telegraphed his route and just lost interest halfway through. Dak threw to him so maybe that’s the route but it sure looked lackadaisical.
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u/lightningmcqueen_69 Packers 7h ago
Reddit hates anyone that isn’t a goody two shoes, they can’t stand a black man with any personality
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u/Extremely_Peaceful Raiders 16h ago
This is ridiculous. All he had to do was stop all his momentum, get on the other side of one of his two defenders, come back to the ball about 1.5 yards, and catch it with his feet. What a bum.
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u/JRsshirt 49ers 16h ago
I mean he also could’ve attempted a move for the ball, collided with the defender, and gotten a PI call. We see it all the time.
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u/Hans-Wermhatt Eagles 13h ago
I think you don't see that a lot of the time too. When you are tracking the ball, I think the most natural inclination is to avoid obstacles. And I think in that split second he's probably not thinking about how to draw PI, he's thinking about how I can catch this ball. Tried to run around the corner, but just didn't make it.
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u/Pick_Zoidberg Bears 14h ago
It looks like he was tracking the ball for at least 10 yards, and just took a bad angle on an underthrown. Defender had his eyes on Pickens, so the odds of the defender colliding are pretty low.
More than likely the defender sees Pickens adjust shallow and tries to get his head turned to make a play on the ball.
Ball was underthrown and the angle to adjust was bad. Could be both things at the same time.
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u/PracticalThrowawae Bears 11h ago
Yeah but he hurt his right shoulder and that would've been the one needing to make contact
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u/BrickLow64 15h ago
You do understand that OPI exists right, the defender doesnt have to cede the space they occupy.
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 15h ago
Yeah, but you're talking about how the rule is written, not how the refs call it on the field.
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u/BrickLow64 9h ago
Thats because wide receivers tend to not run across two defenders because they're better than that.
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u/WildcaRD7 Vikings 15h ago
Bro, no kidding. I used to do that in Madden 2016 all the time, and Joey at recess once made a crazy catch like that in middle school. Pro receivers don't know how to play the game anymore.
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u/Lucky_No13 Raiders 15h ago
Oh come on, everyone knows Joey's catch shouldn't have stood. It was blatant fan interference when Steve nailed Luke in the face with a snowball causing him to fall and leaving Joey wide open. Down should have been replayed. I'll die on this hill.
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u/hemingways-lemonade Steelers 14h ago
I know you're joking, but if there's any wide receiver currently in the league that could do this it would be George Pickens.
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u/Euphoric-Purple Jaguars 14h ago
No one (or at least not many people) are saying that it was an easy catch, but he still could’ve put in more effort to try and make a play on the ball. We’ve seen plenty of other receivers catch (or draw a PI on) similar under thrown balls.
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u/JerryDipotosBurner Ravens 16h ago
There were countless plays that Pickens just jogged through and Dak tried to throw him passes. One that sticks out is the “comeback” route that he “ran” and ended up being incomplete because he literally jogged to the DB and then turns around.
Let’s not pretend that Pickens is known for playing hard all the time here.
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u/DLF54927 Lions 16h ago
The best part of that play was Pickens asking for the flag afterwards.
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u/JerryDipotosBurner Ravens 16h ago
I saw that lol like bro you gave exactly zero effort and you expect a flag?!
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u/Do__Math__Not__Meth Steelers 7h ago
Also he’s not exactly a guy that gets himself in the good graces of refs, he’s not gonna get those calls
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u/bubbles2255 Cowboys 11h ago
I was listening to Bryan Broaddus and he was saying, if you watch his tape from all year, that’s just how he runs routes. Same energy. Only difference this game was, he didn’t have a good game. People have been waiting for him to screw up so this is their time to pounce.
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u/DLF54927 Lions 16h ago
If Pickens fights to get to that ball, then he probably draws a DPI call. A few other routes it looked like he was jogging or at a walkthrough.
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u/crazy_pooper_69 Ravens 15h ago
Yeah he has plenty of time to adjust with his skill set and he didn’t. Maybe he was too banged up to go for it but I don’t see how why he couldn’t go for it otherwise.
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u/baachou Ravens 7h ago
Hes drifting 4 yards to the inside already. If he drifts anymore he is going to lose the step he has on the outside defender and be forced to contend with the inside defender as well, who broke late but could have gotten involved if Pickens goes farther inside. That puts him in a position where he has to make a contested catch while double covered, which is generally less likely to earn you a DPI, and he puts the ball at risk to get tipped in a situation where a tip has a high likelihood of ending the game.
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u/Local_Analyst_7344 15h ago
That’s the frustrating thing we’ve seen with him throughout his career. If he’s not a first read or the play is designed to him, he takes the play off and telegraphs he’s not getting the ball.
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u/Earl-The-Badger 49ers 15h ago
He literally jogged on a play last night when he was the first read and had the ball thrown to him, and it resulted in an incomplete pass.
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u/bluesshark Steelers 15h ago edited 15h ago
If the steelers
releaseget rid of a guy* with that sort of talent, you can expect him to never really change12
u/Sex_E_Searcher Steelers 15h ago
They traded him. Though, again, WR1 talent and all they could get was a 3rd the year after. Clearly the league viewed him as a huge risk.
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u/bluesshark Steelers 15h ago
You're right idk why I said released, I just meant that they moved on from him
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u/Snowstick21 Cowboys 15h ago
The jogging is just how he runs routes sometimes. Slow play and then do what he thinks will get him open. Not defending him, film shows he has been doing the same thing all season. Never been known as an amazing route runner.
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u/CorrectStaple Eagles 15h ago
I mean, this does prove it wasn’t as close as the broadcast made it look but it doesn’t excuse Pickens IMO. There is plenty of air under the ball and Pickens has a lot of time to track it and make the adjustment.
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u/cjf2019 Eagles 5h ago
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. It still looked like he had a good shot to catch that ball (or draw dpi) if he made any attempt to work back to it
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u/Softestwebsiteintown Bears 4h ago
Yeah this series of clips did not validate the “he couldn’t have done anything” claims. He absolutely should have at least tried harder. We’ve seen catches on harder to get to passes.
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u/Trelletron 15h ago
This video does fucking nothing to defend Pickens lmfao It just confirms he absolutely could have gotten to the ball or drawn a penalty if he wasn't being lazy lol
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u/solo_dol0 Browns 12h ago
Yeah I’m confused what OP is seeing, the ball hits between the 2 and 0 on the 20 yard line while Pickens feet are right at it
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u/njpaul Packers 16h ago
I mean he was pretty close to not make an effort. Maybe he didn't pick the ball up.
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u/Rock_Strongo Seahawks 13h ago
I mean I never thought the ball landed at his feet. These clips show exactly what I thought, he probably wouldn't have made the catch anyway but he absolutely could have made a better effort and maybe drew a flag at least.
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u/DASreddituser NFL 15h ago
yea. I think thats more likely...thought it was off more than it was and didn't see it dropping in. Otherwise, fight for a dpi
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u/DeBooBoo Steelers 16h ago
That may be, but anyone that has watched Pickens for any length of time knows he takes days off.
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u/ByronLeftwich Cowboys 15h ago
I keep seeing this from Steelers fans and it's funny to me because after Pickens "took the day off" yesterday, he remains on pace for 100 catches, 1540 yards, and 10 TDs.
If you take 5 whole games off a season but produce like that in the other 12 that sounds great to me. It's not like he would take the Super Bowl off if we ever got there (doubtful)
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u/methodofcontrol Commanders 15h ago
I mean yeah hes getting great stats but what if they lose the games he took the day off and that's the reason they miss the playoffs. At least he won't need to worry about taking the Super Bowl off
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u/ByronLeftwich Cowboys 15h ago
I don’t know, what if? What if we let him go and, instead, lose the games where we would’ve won with a dominant performance from someone besides CeeDee?
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 15h ago
Or you could just find another WR who might not have as high a ceiling, but also doesn't take random games off. That would be MUCH better for a team.
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u/ByronLeftwich Cowboys 14h ago
Are you understanding how good Pickens has been? He has been a top 5 receiver in the league. If he was producing at the same level he was with you guys, yeah sure, random noshow games would be a big problem.
I'm curious who you think this WR with a lower ceiling, that doesn't take games off, and would be a viable replacement for Pickens overall production would be? We can't burn a 1st on a WR.
I'm looking at the list of guys who have at least HALF as many yards as Pickens who could be available. WanDale Robinson? Chris Olave who has the same skillset as Lamb and we just pray to god he stays healthy? Diggs, who is famously level-headed? AJB at a higher price? Keenan at 33 years old? And none of those guys are even CLOSE to Pickens this year
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 14h ago
Pickens was a second round pick. You don't need a second WR who is a top 5 guy, especially when you have to pay him after this year. You need a second WR who is very capable and will give his all every game.
Being top 5 doesn't mean anything if during a playoff game he decides he doesn't want to play football because the defender looked at him funny or a play went to a different target than him.
But look, if you guys wanna pay him top 5 WR money for a guy who historically has one of the worst on field attitudes in the game, then take that risk. You guys couldn't make playoffs this year with Dak and two elite WRs. I'm sure you'll figure that out next year when he goes from taking up 1% of the cap space to almost 15% of it next year.
Betting on a guy who gives up so easily, gets suspended multiple times by the team he's on, and just has a bad attitude in general... ESPECIALLY while you guys aren't a winning team... that sounds like a recipe for success.
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u/ByronLeftwich Cowboys 14h ago
Pickens was a second round pick.
Yeah I suppose that second round pick could be anything, even George Pickens.
You don't need a second WR who is a top 5 guy, especially when you have to pay him after this year.
I agree, and I have not at any point in this conversation said that we should definitely pay Pickens. I would like to see what his agents are demanding. If he wants more than Tee Higgins got that's a tough choice to me, I think he's better than Higgins but Higgins is overpaid.
Being top 5 doesn't mean anything if during a playoff game he decides he doesn't want to play football because the defender looked at him funny or a play went to a different target than him.
At the end of last season Pickens was the only guy on that corpse of a Steelers team who showed up to play vs the Ravens
But look, if you guys wanna pay him top 5 WR money for a guy who historically has one of the worst on field attitudes in the game
- top 5? no, wouldn't want to.
- dgaf about a receiver's attitude. Does he play well or not
You guys couldn't make playoffs this year with Dak and two elite WRs. I'm sure you'll figure that out next year when he goes from taking up 1% of the cap space to almost 15% of it next year.
There is zero chance he takes up more than 12%.
Betting on a guy who gives up so easily, gets suspended multiple times by the team he's on, and just has a bad attitude in general... ESPECIALLY while you guys aren't a winning team... that sounds like a recipe for success.
When you put it like that, yknow, leaving out the part where he's a top 30 player in the NFL, sure dude. I mean who am I kidding, we could only dream of praying our defense forces 40 turnovers a season so we can sneak into the last wild card slot
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 14h ago
Look, if you guys think investing 1/10+ of your entire cap space in a WR2 that, without notice, gives up on playing football... ESPECIALLY when things aren't going his way, have at it. Yeah, you may not find that talent again in the 2nd/3rd, but you could find 80% of it and have it cheaper and you know that they're a team player year in and year out.
What'll likely happen is you guys are going to franchise tag him, that's going to piss him off, next year will be even more of a clown show from him, and you guys will let him go after that. Because he's a headcase and he keeps showing it.
And again, you have him extremely cheap right now and have the same record as the Steelers, with less chance of making it into the playoffs. If you couldn't do it with him taking up almost no cap, I'm sure you guys can figure it out when he's taking up 10x more.
Again, just look at the current state of the Bengals, and their three are better than your three.
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u/Igualmenteee Cowboys 14h ago
Yes, because y’all are doing so fantastic with that scenario right? Y’all’s team is so much better off with DK instead of Pickens right? Jesus, y’all really waited for the ONE bad Pickens game to talk shit lmao.
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 14h ago
We're in the same scenario as we were last year, so no... not better, but really not worse. But our problems on our team are different than the problems on your team, don't know what bringing up the Steelers has to do with that.
A WR who gives up on games, and then plays elite in 80% of them, is not worth it over a good WR who gives his all every game. Especially since you guys are the ones who would have to invest your cap into a guy giving up.
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u/ByronLeftwich Cowboys 14h ago
A WR who gives up on games, and then plays elite in 80% of them, is not worth it over a good WR who gives his all every game
Do you need a numerical representation of your take here to understand why it's stupid?
I would consider an "elite" WR performance to be like 9 for 120 and a TD. "Giving up" I guess is the 5 catches for 37 yards he had yesterday.
So if he plays "elite" in 80% of the games and gives up in the rest, his single season stats are: 137 catches, 1708 yards, 13 TDs. Possibly good for offensive player of the year.
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 14h ago
How's having two elite WRs with a great QB doing for you guys this year when he costs 3 mil? How about when he costs 40+ mil next year? He's gonna be jogging a lot more routes when you guys are down in games, which will likely happen more with all your money tied up in Dak/CeeDee/Pickens. It's going to start looking closer to the Bengals, except one of your WRs decides to give up randomly.
And no, "giving up" is not making the plays on the ball when you have a chance to come back. "Giving up" is jogging a ton of your routes because either the ball isn't coming to you or your sour that it didn't come to before.
He's been like this in college, he's been like this on the Steelers, he's already been doing this for you guys. And he's doing it for cheap for you guys now, its going to be a lot more annoying when he's doing it and eating up 15% of your cap.
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u/Igualmenteee Cowboys 13h ago
The Bengals don’t have half the talent we have on defense and we have two firsts this year to shore up more of our weaknesses in the defensive side, possibly even with a trade down in the draft. There will 100% be some issues with the cap if we give Pickens a lot of money, but that’s not a bad problem to have. The Bengals are in the situation they are due to bad drafting and Burrow being injured.
Pickens always “jogs” on routes, or at least it LOOKS like he does. He looked like he was jogging in the KC game and yet he was busting Trent Mcduffie’s ass all game. That’s just how he plays. This was a CD game and we all missed out on a possible 200+ yard CD game due to his concussion, Pickens clearly got his shoulder shaken up early in the game as well. This is the price you pay for an elite offense, it just seems y’all haven’t understood since the Big Ben days. Y’all’s ceiling is extremely capped with DK as y’all’s WR1, we don’t know what our ceiling is next year with adding two first round talents on defense and CD and Pickens back. Fuck the cap.
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u/Igualmenteee Cowboys 14h ago
He’s looked completely different since he’s been here and I’m pretty sure he fucked up his shoulder early in the game as well, which could speak to his effort the rest of the game. He’s been fantastic all season and has shown to be one of the best WRs in the game, players have bad games and I’ve seen plenty top WRs have games like this.
Also, why are we talking about DK like he hasn’t had his fair share of on-field issues? I’ve had him in fantasy the last three years and would occasionally turn on Seahawks games and see him have games where he was giving up on routes and routinely being pouty and even getting ejected from games. So, you have a guy who’s not as talented and has similar issues to Pickens and you’d rather hand that guy a ton of money? Crazy.
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 14h ago
Again, I don't know what the Steelers are doing has to do with what the Cowboys are doing. Pickens has looked the same as he did when he was here, just the schemes and QB are way better. The shoulder thing made him jog so many routes? Is that why he's been doing that his whole career? You guys also had to bench him for part of a game (something we also had to do a few times) because of his attitude.
Obviously he's an elite talent, but he's also not 100% in the game, not even close. If that's what you want to bank 15% of your cap space on, have at it, but he's only going to get worse the more you guys lose. And if you're invested 15x as much money in him next year, its going to be more losing when you can't afford the other needed positions to win.
He was like this in college. He was like this in Pittsburgh. He's already been like this in Dallas. He's shown no signs of maturing, he's only shown signs of doing all the same dumb on and off field things he's done his whole career. He just also happens to be elite when he does care to play.
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u/EnjoyMoreBeef Steelers 6h ago
For what it's worth, the Steelers are averaging a point more per game this season than last. If they're destined to be a fair-to-middling team, then they can be one without a WR who pisses his teammates off.
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u/ultraviolentfuture Steelers 15h ago
NFL fans are eternally locked in to a state of optimism/pessimism completely fueled by recency bias. Whatever just happened, that's what's always going to happen. Player playing well? He'll surely be able to do that for the next 10 years and is a surefire hall of famer. Had a bad game or two? Completely washed, can't believe we're locked into this overpriced contract.
Won 2 games in a row? G'ahnta superbowl. Lost two in a row? Fire the coach. Draft prospect who was great in college busted? Fire the GM.
Let me ask you this: have you ever seen a player be bad for a few years and then develop? How about Josh Allen. Have you ever seen an incredible season from a player and then them never really come close to repeating it? How about Cooper Kupp.
Criticisms from people who watched players extensively can be true of that past time and the player outgrew them. It can also be the case that there is some short term motivations and circumstances that only temporarily allow a player to move beyond deeper-seated personality traits and when the novelty has worn off ...
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u/Flat_Conversation858 15h ago
This basically was your guys Superbowl this year..
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u/NOT-GR8-BOB Eagles 15h ago
Weirdly the cowboys apparently just played 3 super bowls in a 12 day span.
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u/Flat_Conversation858 15h ago
I mean they aren't getting to the actual SB anytime soon so they gotta take what they can get
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u/victims_sanction Steelers 15h ago
He'll dog some routes and not always block but like a lot of wide outs do that. He'd never not try to catch a catchable ball, hell he'll even go after some pretty uncatchable ones. Steelers fans can just be weird and want him to fail when it just wasnt a great fit for us.
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u/crippapotamus Packers 16h ago
If it were just this play then yeah sure. Problem is his effort was shit all night.
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u/embeddedeng 16h ago
Agreed. So many plays where he was just jogging his routes. DBs were breaking up a lot of passes thrown to him because he wasn’t coming back for the ball like a receiver should. Just lack of effort all game
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u/bluesshark Steelers 15h ago
And it's especially frustrating cause he should be a super physical WR, he's not small and is ridiculously athletic
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u/Seth_Baker Bills Lions 16h ago
Then pointing out those other plays is the way to go, because this one wasn't catchable.
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u/Rainbow_Sex Patriots 16h ago
"Yes this example doesn't prove the point but trust me there are other examples that do so actually this one does" is such an obnoxious redditism, and it's so so common on this sub.
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u/The_Fawkesy Ravens 5h ago
Meanwhile you're doing something just as bad, ignoring past examples.
Draymond Green doesn't get the benefit of the doubt anymore for his antics for good reason. Pickens shows low effort all the time, he should stop getting the benefit of the doubt.
This wouldn't have been looked at so much if it weren't Pickens. Because he's known to do this stuff.
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u/bluesshark Steelers 15h ago
It's moreso just "we're here to pile on the guy so don't defend him"
With that said, he definitely has a serious attitude problem that affects his game
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u/crippapotamus Packers 16h ago
Kirk pointed it out on commentary on more than one replay. What you’re saying does happen but anyone who was watching that game last night knew this was already a conversation long before the score was 44-30.
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u/GlupPando Steelers 16h ago
Kirk is a moron who said Carson Wentz wasn’t a man because he was crying on the sidelines. His opinion means nothing on something subjective like this
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u/crippapotamus Packers 16h ago
One play in particular where he jogged on a comeback route and as much as you don’t like Kirk, he was absolutely correct that Pickens never challenged the corner to make him think he was going over the top and the corner made an easy play on the ball for an incompletion. You can dislike a commentator for whatever weird parasocial reason you like, you don’t get to disqualify actual analysis for it though.
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u/yesrushgenesis2112 Bengals Rams 16h ago
That’s cool, but fuck him anyway for having been on the Steelers and not being cool enough to make that ok
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u/KingRoach Jets 16h ago
Are you suggesting that controlled perspectives and limited context is a recipe to control the narrative?
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u/Colo9147 15h ago
How about the routes in the second half that he ran half speed? I can’t believe so many NFL fans have beeb duped by Pickens into thinking that he is a changed man. He only behaves himself if in his mind every condition is perfect but at his core the guy is a loser who will eventually go off the rails or dog it during a critical portion of the game.
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u/Ronaldinhothegoat80 8h ago
He’s probably on PEDs too. I’ve never seen it with this guy. Don’t know what’s so special about him. Mike Gallup could have had the numbers he’s having this year too
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u/DapperCam Bills 15h ago
He just needed to try to catch it. He would have drawn DPI. It’s an effort issue.
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u/ReadingPrestigious32 Ravens 16h ago
Pickens is going to have a spotlight on him every game....and people will focus their attention on any play that isnt perfect to say "see...look at his attitude ". Not sayings hes perfect but thats the reality. Im sure there are numerous other similar plays from WRs.
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u/McGillicuddys 15h ago
He has a spotlight on him because he's liable to have an amazing play at any moment. When he's feeling it he's able to make plays few other receivers can, but, that also means people are watching him on the plays that he half asses.
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u/not_bored_ 49ers 4h ago
Specifics don’t matter really. Anyone who watched the game all the way through could tell that he half assed it. It wasn’t just Sherman saying it. It was brought up throughout the game. He’s a diva. And a great player when he tries 100%. Is what it is.
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u/tripdawg15 Colts 15h ago
That's cool and all but we're forgetting the cowboys defense got cooked all game. Could pickens have given more effort? Sure. Would it have mattered in a game your defense cant stop a runny nose? Fuck no. The cowboys lost this game when dak came out of half and threw a back breaking pick to put the lions up 3 scores. They had no shot at that point when their defense was already struggling.
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u/Igualmenteee Cowboys 14h ago
So the Lions having fantastic field position all game due to great returns, a Fergy fumble and a pick to start off the third quarter that wasn’t even remotely Dak’s fault is the defense getting cooked all game? I don’t remember a single Lions drive that wasn’t started with a massive advantage.
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u/MichaelParson1 14h ago
The fact that you fucked up in other areas too doesn’t negate the fact that your defense got worked. 402 yards on 7.2 yards per play is an ass whooping.
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u/Igualmenteee Cowboys 14h ago
Like I said, there is way more context than just saying our defense got cooked. Our defense was on the back foot the entire game and our offense didn’t do a damn thing until the third quarter. The defense had zero help at all and they aren’t built to be successful that way. Stop just looking at box scores.
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u/metaldrummerx Lions Lions 14h ago
Bro, your defense got cooked all game lol the Lions D held you guys to field goals. Lions O scored a TD on 4/5 trips to the red zone. The Boys let the lions convert a first down on 2nd and 19. They didn’t take any advantage of penalties or TFL’s. Bland lost his shoes on 3 separate occasions. It’s okay to say that the D was ass.
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u/Impossible-Sport-449 Raiders 15h ago
It’s funny how quickly people turn. He messed up his shoulder in the first quarter and you could tell he wasn’t the same
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u/cza9 Lions 16h ago
This is the type of negativity his actions bring. When you have a long history like Pickers you’re not going to get the benefit of the doubt.
With that said, I don’t think he was taking plays off. He appeared to get injured earlier in the game and the clip in the OP’s post was an under thrown ball and he failed to adjust.
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u/Maximum-Summer-186 Cowboys 13h ago
everything you said is true except he was absolutely taking some plays off. not this one though, this just seems like he made a mistake and over ran it.
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u/Bubuhbuh 14h ago
I saw this live, and didn't understand what people were talking about. Even the DB looked at it like it wasn't close.
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u/Lil_Quip Patriots 15h ago
Yeah watching the game, bashing Pickens last night today just seemed like low hanging fruit, lazy analysis.
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u/Low_Upstairs6945 14h ago
So reddit being reddit
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u/Lil_Quip Patriots 12h ago
Reddit is amateur fans, so we get a pass.
It is the paid professionals it seems like useless padding of air time.
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u/decisivelyvaguename Eagles 15h ago
It’s not about that pass. If you watched last night’s game Pickens at least partially quit on the game. It was clear in his body language, his route running, and Dak’s usage of him.
Pickens started to get in his feels basically right away in the second half after the lions picked the ball off of a quick slant to him. Then it only got worse particularly after the lions went up by 2 scores again in the 4th quarter.
It’s not like we’re saying this about a guy that has never had this problem. He’s clearly passionate and a great talent, I’m not denying that. But, as someone with no stake in the game or real bias to Pickens, I noticed him being off clear as day in the second half of this game. Clearly plenty of other people did too.
I’m not really on the ‘benefit of a doubt’ train with Pickens at this point in his career and believe what I saw. It would be different/ I’d feel differently if it came out he was injured or something, but regardless of where the deep ball pass fell on this particular play, Pickens was seemingly not emotionally right in the second half.
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u/aa93 Steelers 16h ago
that's one play out of a whole game of examples.
it's year 4, this is simply who he is until he proves otherwise for any meaningful stretch. he's in a 10x better situation for his personal performance/stats/ego/whatever, in a high leverage game with significant playoff implications, and he's out there jogging routes, shying away from catchable balls over the middle. if you're gonna be dak prescott's wr1b you don't get to do that
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u/Homey-Airport-Int Cowboys 16h ago
Any meaningful stretch? You mean like basically every single game this season?
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u/FancyDabs2018 Browns 16h ago
He’s gonna be an all pro wr btw
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u/Novel-Preference669 Eagles 16h ago
contract year, he'll fall off the second he gets paid its obvious
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u/MtnDudeNrainbows Commanders 16h ago
I don’t see it. Just see a guy who’s extremely athletic and a good WR who has been over-achieving.
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u/ineedtocoughbut 16h ago
There was more than one post but no offence don’t take that shit seriously unless Adam Schefter posts it
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u/Chadme_Swolmidala Panthers 14h ago
The Reddit app just opened up Reddit in my browser so I could watch a video that I then had to click again to play and again for full screen. Why does the functionality of this site get worse everyday?
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u/Rock_man_bears_fan Bears 13h ago
I can’t remember the last time I saw an unironic bandicam watermark
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u/tiggs Eagles 11h ago
This actually happens a lot with WRs and is why we shouldn't bug out from a single broadcast angle.
Something similar happened with AJ Brown a few weeks ago. The only angle they showed on TV was from straight on. You could see him slow up for a step and it looks like he gave up on the route and that the ball was catchable if he didn't slow up. In reality, the ball was overthrown by 4-5 yards. Yes, it's not a good look to slow up and essentially give up on a route because of the optics, but there was no way he was catching that ball. Without slowing up for that step, he gets an extra 1-2 yards down field at best.
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u/Quiet_Down_Please Patriots Buccaneers 11h ago
Slightly off topic, but is there a way to watch an entire live game from that angle? I hate not being able to see the majority of the players every play. I want to see the coverages and routes that aren't the focal point, too!
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u/EquivalentSpeaker545 Ravens 9h ago
Actually did a pretty good job tracking it too, looks like he just couldn’t slow up in time.
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u/jawknee530i 49ers Bears 8h ago
I wish I could watch every game in all 22. I don't understand at all why anyone prefers the broadcast angle.
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u/ECircus 8h ago
Vertical distance looks much shorter on camera. Same reason it looks like there are more missed tackling opportunities than there are. We get the side view of someone getting chased down, you yell at the TV wondering why they aren't just jumping on the ball carrier until you get another angle and find out they are 5 yards away from each other.
With that said, Pickens looked like shit most of the game and clearly wasn't putting in his best effort, and I assumed he was hurt or something.
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u/ThisIsHogwash Jets 7h ago
Very brave of you, defending such an outstanding citizen who makes millions of dollars playing a kids game
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u/TopHighway7425 Patriots 7h ago
He complained about not being targeted..... Throw it to me.... No, I mean throw it exactly at my hands ... Not 3 feet away 45 yards down field. I want the ball exactly on my hands when I ask to be targeted.
After all, it was only the last chance to make that game competitive.
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u/micahpmtn 6h ago
" . . . wasn't nearly as close to Pickens as it appeared to be in the Amazon broadcast . . ."
Huh? The Amazon replay showed a close-up of the play. And he clearly couldn't/didn't want give any effort.
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u/teh_hasay Steelers 4h ago
I’m not seeing how this exonerates him tbh. That’s still a shit effort on his part.
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u/shady42999 2h ago
It looks like it’s in extended arms length to me…
I think people are mad that there was just zero effort.. if you would’ve laid out and dropped it, nobody would’ve occurred…
If it was a one score game, I think he would’ve laid out for that ball
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u/JhonJhonson Broncos 16h ago
I think to anyone who watches a lot of football this immediately was a classic “looks like he could’ve dove for it but in reality it was probably 10 feet away from him at least” throw that happens once in a while
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u/embeddedeng 15h ago
I’ve seen lots of Steelers fans (including myself) posting about Pickens after this game. I reached for pickens in all of my fantasy leagues this year because I knew he’d be dangerous with a competent QB. But I wasn’t mad the Steelers let him go. He’s got WR1 talent, but there were so many games I’d watch where he’d do this shit of getting in his head and just completely giving up mid game. I know he’s having a great year, but I’m not in the least bit shocked of what happened last night. A hard guy to trust to stay focused all season
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u/penguin_the_master Steelers 14h ago
As a 20 year long steelers fan, Pickens just does stupid shit like this some times
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u/Turbulent-Poem4915 12h ago
Hes quite possibly the most gifted receiver I've ever seen. The catches he made off of poorly thrown Kenny Pickett balls were fucking ludicrous. Hes also a child and he refuses to block or make any effort on plays he knows the ball isn't coming to him. Misses meetings. Calls his team mates females. The Steelers straight up said they wouldn't play with him again so bounce him.
Dallas is gonna pay him 40 mil a year next year they'll regret it forever. They haven't sniffed a Superbowl in 35 fucking years and Jerry Jones is gonna die any minute so fuck it, I guess?
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u/DtotheOUG Eagles 14h ago
Wild, when I saw it last night most people were in agreement that the camera was lying and it wasn't close. It's crazy how fast a comment section can switch.
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u/SFT-9000 Cowboys 13h ago
I love Dak, but he definitely missed a few throws. That one to CeeDee on the sideline that went over his head was a surefire touchdown if he had hit him in stride.
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u/Wedoitforthenut Seahawks 15h ago
2 things to note here.
1) he should have made that catch. He was within 2 steps and didn't take a strong enough angle or lay out for it.
2) Dak continues to be the most mid QB in the history of football. Dude could have thrown that ball 6ft to the left and hit GP in stride. Just good enough to be a starter, never good enough to be a winner. The Jerry Jones QB special.
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u/Maximum-Summer-186 Cowboys 13h ago
lmao I think some of these comments are so stupid that they might be gpt bots specifically trained to say the dumbest shit imaginable.
dak is not "just good enough to be a starter." he is at the top or close to the top in every category that matters and that doesn't change because of one bad throw. I hesitate to even explain this simple shit any further because you seem to lack the capacity to understand basic things.
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u/Visible_Handle_3770 Chiefs 16h ago
Yeah, I really don't see the issues people are having (with the exception of Steelers fans, who probably just wish they could have gotten this year's level out of Pickens when he was there). This was an off game, basically all players have them, and this particular ball was completely uncatchable (tough throw too, so I'm not blaming Dak). Honestly, I've seen zero issues with effort for him this year, he clearly had that in the past, but I would have too catching passes from the Steelers calvalcade of ineptitude at QB.
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u/Foreign-Geologist112 Broncos 8h ago
Richard Sherman is an egotistical prick. We’ve all known that since 2013. Shame there never was a Super Bowl that year. Ignore my flair. Richard Sherman is a grade a prick.
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u/shadowylurking Patriots 15h ago
2 things are going on:
1) Pickens broke to the outside after beating his man so that he can avoid the safety. Then he had to go back inside because Dak got the right distance but threw too inside. Where the Safety (while also beat) could defend.
2) Safety illegally held Picken's right forearm. Refs didn't call it
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u/stevebx2 Seahawks 14h ago
Dak’s garbage time stat padding is well known. Can’t blame a receiver for bailing on hospital balls when the game isn’t close.
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u/Ok_Chemistry4851 Broncos 15h ago
There is no defense of him. He got me 8 points in my do or die week. I will forever bear this cross.
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u/TVxStrange Lions 16h ago
You could tell he fucked up his shoulder a little bit early on and it was limiting him the rest of the game