HOUSTON — George Pickens caught two passes on three targets for 75 yards Sunday while the Houston Texans sent extra coverage his way all afternoon. One went for 53 yards and the other for 22 on the winning drive, as the Dallas Cowboys won 34-30 at Reliant Stadium.
George Pickens Calls Double Coverage ‘Engineering Victory’
Pickens also drew a pass interference penalty on cornerback Kamari Lassiter at the 8. On the other side, CeeDee Lamb caught 17 passes for 189 yards. Pickens’ phrase for it was engineering victory, the same one he used earlier in the week.
“Yeah, most definitely because, like I said earlier in the week, it’s engineering victory. So when you’re doing that and it’s part of the plan and then you never know what a defense will do, they’ll probably switch it up, double him,” Pickens said. “So it’s definitely engineering victory. So it was pretty good.”
Lamb, Pickens, and KaVontae Turpin all give a defensive coordinator something to worry about. Pickens understood why Houston kept leaving Lamb alone.
“Oh, not really. I mean, definitely, but I kind of understand why, because it’s me and him and Terp and a lot of other guys that schematically that the defensive coordinator got to worry about,” Pickens explained.
The 53-yarder came in the third quarter with Dallas down 23-13. Pickens caught it over Lassiter to the Houston 11, and Lassiter was then called for pass interference against him on third down, giving Dallas a first down at the 1. On fourth-and-goal from the 3, a holding call on Lassiter gave the Cowboys a new set of downs, and Javonte Williams scored to make it 23-20.
“I kind of knew vertically, like the deeper my route is, there’s nobody doubling me. It’s going to be me and a guy on the ball, maybe two guys,” Pickens said. “So when I kind of seen the ball up, I knew this was my chance to.”
Blocking a few times sets up those big plays, as Pickens sees it.
“Super, super. Just because you block a few times, it’s going to set up those big plays,” Pickens said. “So just definitely playing football.”
The flag he drew came with Dallas down a little.
“Oh, it felt super good. I feel like at that time we needed that too, down a little bit,” Pickens said. “So definitely making a play for a team always makes me happy.”
Dak Prescott Explains How Pickens Changes The Numbers
Houston brought a defender to Pickens and kept two safeties over the top, according to Dak Prescott. The one time the Texans left Pickens one-on-one, the safety bit, and Pickens also beat the coverage on a slant-and-go on the two-minute drive.
“You’ve got to choose what you want to do, and then we’re going to attack it from there out. And, yeah, they always brought a guy to George, made sure two were over the top, were clouding him to that extent. Still able to get a couple of big plays,” Prescott said. “The one time they did leave him one-on-one, the safety bit on. I mean, it was just a great play design. Able to bomb it to him. He makes a hell of a catch, and then that two-minute drive, still even rolled to him on the slant-and-go. Found a window for him and made it happen.”
“But, yeah, I mean, if you’re going to do that, you’re leaving the numbers in favor of CeeDee. And if you want to play CeeDee like that, the numbers are in favor of GP,” Prescott continued. “And then if you want to play both of them, you’re leaving guys like Terp, Flo, and [other] guys that I’ve got a great rapport with one-on-one, and we’re going to attack you however we can.”
Brian Schottenheimer Says Texans Had Plan To Take Pickens Away
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer went back to the film Monday at The Star in Frisco. Houston has two good corners, and a fourth-quarter double move to Pickens did not connect because the protection broke down.
“You know, Houston, they have a very good defense, and they’ve got two really good corners. There were a couple other plays where he got loose and was on the backside of a read. But, no, George Pickens is really good, and they had a plan to take him away and did a nice job of taking him away,” Schottenheimer said. “Although, if we hit the double move in the fourth quarter, we need to protect a little bit better. You add another 60 yards to George’s total.”
“But again, like I said last night, that’s the beauty of our offense. We’ve got two elite, elite number-one receivers. If you want to focus on taking one away, the other one’s probably going to have a day,” Schottenheimer continued. “Maybe not like CeeDee did yesterday, because that’s unusual, but he should have a really good day.”
Wide receiver Ryan Flournoy said the receivers and Williams open things up for one another.
Lamb’s day was super fun to watch, according to Pickens, and he got to see it from the field while he was blocking.
“No, it was great. Definitely just the looks we was getting, just definitely giving the ball every time. He’s breaking tackles. So it was super fun to watch,” Pickens explained. “And then I’m on the field blocking, so it’s always fun to be in there while he’s doing it.”
Between plays, the receivers stayed on the next snap.
“Just kind of really focused. I feel like when we kind of went down, we were more focused on, let’s make the next play, let’s make the next play, no matter how good the play that we made was,” Pickens said.
Pickens did not think Houston was more physical than other teams. He credited the Texans’ front, including Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.
“No, I wouldn’t say that, actually. I would say the front more of, what is it, […] Anderson, a few other guys. But they definitely got a good front,” Pickens said. “Oh, Danielle Hunter, they definitely got a good front there.”
Pickens Makes Bold Claim About Cowboys Receivers
Houston’s secondary is regarded as one of the best in the NFL. Pickens put the Dallas receivers ahead of it.
“Yeah, one of the best in the NFL, definitely, because if they consider themselves the best and then we do what we do, I definitely feel like we’re the best in the NFL,” Pickens said.
A couple of fans were jawing with Pickens after the 53-yarder. He always does it on the road.
“Oh, yeah. Definitely away game I always jaw with the fans because they’re there wanting their home team to win,” Pickens said. “And when a call [doesn’t] go their way, this is your chance to kind of troll them a little bit.”
Getting to 2-2 instead of 1-3 gives Dallas something to build off.
“Yeah, definitely. Morale booster and then something to build off of, definitely,” Pickens said. “So a win, definitely build off of it and try to keep going from here on out.”
Dallas hosts the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday, Oct. 8, at AT&T Stadium, with kickoff at 7:15 p.m. CT on Prime Video.
