Pittsburgh Steelers fans have had a hard time coming to grips with the team's decision to trade George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys before the 2025 season... and it's easy to understand why. The 2022 second-round pick has been electrifying this season—stringing together an All-Pro-level performance in his fourth NFL season.
But there's a reason why the Steelers had to move on from Pickens... and it was on full display on Thursday Night Football.
Against the Detroit Lions on TNF, Pickens looked like the player we saw in Pittsburgh last year. When he wasn't getting the ball early and often, the talented wide receiver shut down. He displayed lackluster effort both as a blocker and a receiver.
This led Pickens to the worst performance of his season with the Cowboys. In a monumental, must-win game against Detroit to give Dallas a realistic shot at a playoff berth, Pickens let his team down. The fourth-year receiver earned just 37 yards on nine targets (4.1 yards per target). Meanwhile, quarterback Dak Prescott earned just a 25.9 passer rating when throwing in Pickens' direction on TNF.
Football fans got the perfect reminder of why the Pittsburgh Steelers traded George Pickens
Steelers fans have had to listen to the national media all season about how foolish Pittsburgh looked for trading an elite talent like George Pickens for just a third- and a fifth-round pick. And to their credit, Pickens has looked phenomenal for most of the season. However, with CeeDee Lamb banged up and with the team counting on him in the biggest moment of the season so far, Pickens disappeared.
When Pickens knew he wasn't getting the football, his effort was pitiful. This was on full display on the all-22 film after the game. The young receiver seems to try harder when he knows the ball has a chance to come his way. But when he doesn't think he's getting the football, his entire body language changes.
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After the game, fans and NFL analysts on social media were quick to criticize Pickens for his noticeably poor effort during the broadcast of the Cowboys vs. Lions game.
This undesirable performance comes just two weeks after Pickens missed the Cowboys' team bus for Dallas' game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
When it comes to George Pickens, the talent was never in question; it was the effort and the character. This is what caused the Pittsburgh Steelers to trade their star receiver in the first place... and it only took one ugly outing for fans to be reminded of why he had to go.