It's Sunday Night Football between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys; of course, there are too many storylines to count. While the leading story is the revenge factor for Micah Parsons and Kenny Clark, others are focused on Jordan Love correcting last week's mistakes or how Dak Prescott can keep up offensively.
Well, Prescott's job was certainly made more difficult this week, as CeeDee Lamb will be unavailable for the next few weeks due to a high-ankle sprain. That leaves George Pickens as the Cowboys' top target in the offense.
Pickens has experience as a WR1 from his time in Pittsburgh. But everything about that experience is what should excite Packers fans the most heading into the Week 4 contest.
George Pickens' past as a WR1 should give Packers confidence in matchup with Cowboys
Certainly, Pickens has shown growth in his short time in Dallas. Fitting in as a number two without quite as much attention, both on and off the field to a degree, the fourth-year wideout out of Georgia has found the consistency and open space to be much more reliable for the Cowboys than he was for the Steelers.
However, last week, Pickens, 24, showed some regression in both consistency and maturation. Sure, he caught a touchdown one-handed against Chicago. But he also dropped a catchable ball that bounced into the hands of a Bears defender and subsequently crashed out on the sideline, slamming his helmet into the ground.
George Pickens visibly frustrated after a pass went off of his hands and was intercepted by the Bears. pic.twitter.com/0sJlK5Sf5i
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 21, 2025
For all of his talent, Pickens has a short fuse that can prove to be counterproductive to his goals. He's been known to take plays off if he won't be getting the ball or if he doesn't have the angle to punk a defensive back as a blocker. Too few targets, too many drops, and Pickens begins to crack.
So far in Dallas, those antics have been largely kept to a minimum outside of the most recent outing. But a great deal of credit for that goes to Lamb's impact on the offense, which makes it easier for Pickens to be productive. Without Lamb taking the WR1 role, Pickens isn't as primed for success.
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In Pittsburgh as the WR1, Pickens made his name by making absurdly impressive catches on the sideline, but he otherwise failed to create separation from coverage and far too often dropped the much easier passes.
Without much help around him in Pittsburgh, his outbursts stacked up, and his production came with a ceiling. For the next few weeks, he'll be in a situation in Dallas's offense that isn't too dissimilar.
Of course, as he proved last week, he can have a strong performance and still have a sideline meltdown. There's no denying his overall talent, and for that reason, Green Bay should respect what he brings to the table.
But the Packers' defense must also take advantage of his shortcomings by giving him more attention in coverage and baiting him into those immature mistakes he's prone to making.