The Dallas Cowboys’ playoff hopes took a big hit on ‘Thursday Night Football’ with a 44-30 loss to the host Detroit Lions.
It brought Dallas’ three-game win streak to an end despite more than 400 yards of offense. Quarterback Dak Prescott threw for 376 yards — including 121 to wideout CeeDee Lamb. Second-year wide receiver Ryan Flournoy had a career night with nine catches for 115 yards on a team-high 13 targets.
Flournoy’s breakout came amid a quiet game from George Pickens. The Cowboys’ No. 2 wideout had five catches for 37 yards on nine targets.
That drew criticism from Prime analyst and former All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman.
‘George Pickens, throughout the game, especially late in the game, looked uninterested,’ Sherman said. ‘If you want to be the best receiver in the National Football League, you can’t ever be disengaged.’
Pickens responded to Sherman in a since-deleted post on his Instagram story.
It read in part ‘this is a team game… I’m not the only one on the team. stop becoming a analyst and talking about one player when he playing a teams game. Lots of shh has to go right for. Explosive. Plays.’
Pickens went on to say Sherman was nothing without the Legion of Boom, referring to the dominant Seattle Seahawks defenses of the 2010s that featured Sherman and fellow All-Pro Earl Thomas at safety.
‘Don’t speak on me unless you know the game of football As a former player not a… Fan/Analyst that act like double team Is not a thing or certain bracket coverages don’t exist,’ the post continued. ‘Knowing you played ball which Show me you a LEACH WEIRDO [sic].’
When asked for a comment by other users on X, Sherman replied to what Pickens had posted.
‘Kid hasn’t done enough to merit a response from me,’ Sherman wrote. ‘I was working on my 3rd consecutive 1st team All pro and 2nd SB appearance at the same point in my career. Lol I made an ALL-Pro team and SB in SF but that’s the fall off for me.’
Prime will not carry another Cowboys game in the regular season. The Cowboys will be in action on Christmas Day — a Thursday — but the game will be broadcast on Netflix.
Time will tell if that’ll keep the two from more comments.