By Moses Joshua 
With George Pickens dominating on one unstoppable route, Dallas isn’t hiding its plan—and Detroit’s defense has been put directly on notice.
The Route No One Can Seem to Stop
The Dallas Cowboys offense is rolling with confidence, and at the heart of its recent surge is wide receiver George Pickens, who appears to be playing the best football of his career. In Dallas’ Thanksgiving victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, one route in particular carved through Steve Spagnuolo’s defense with ruthless efficiency—the slant.
Pickens was nearly automatic on the play as Dak Prescott repeatedly found him in rhythm, especially in the fourth quarter when the Cowboys needed to bleed the clock and close the door. On third downs late in the game, the slant became the weapon of choice—and Kansas City had no answer.
That performance sparked immediate discussion around the league about how defenses might take that route away. But earlier this week, Pickens dismissed the idea outright, confidently stating that there’s simply nothing a defense can do to stop him from running it.
Schottenheimer’s Message to Detroit: It’s Still Coming
With the Detroit Lions looming in Week 14, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer poured fuel on the fire with a blunt, confident message aimed directly at Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard.
“Well, I’d say this, he’s going to run slants in this game,” Schottenheimer said. “I’ll just put that there. Kelvin Sheppard [Lions defensive coordinator], he’s going to run slants. That’s part of the deal. If they want to play him, they can. I think that executing something that the defense knows is coming, I think is really cool.”
Rather than disguising or misdirecting, Schottenheimer openly declared the plan. The message was simple: Dallas will run the slant, Detroit knows it’s coming, and the Cowboys believe it won’t matter.
Pickens and Lamb: A Nightmare Combination
What makes Pickens even more dangerous is the constant presence of CeeDee Lamb on the opposite side of the field. With two legitimate No. 1 receivers, Dallas forces defenses into impossible decisions.
Bracket Pickens, and Lamb eats one-on-one coverage. Double Lamb, and Pickens thrives underneath. The Cowboys saw that balance on full display against Kansas City, where even elite corners like Trent McDuffie struggled containing Lamb.
When defenses shift coverage deep to handle the big-play threats, that’s where the slant becomes devastating. With space opened underneath, Pickens turns short routes into chain-moving weapons that quietly break a defense.
And Dallas doesn’t stop there. Even beyond the receiving threats, the Cowboys can lean on their run game with Javonte Williams, giving them yet another dimension to punish overcommitted defenses.
Detroit’s Challenge at Ford Field
Schottenheimer made one thing perfectly clear—slants will be part of the plan at Ford Field. The question now is whether Detroit can do what recent opponents have failed to accomplish: disrupt the timing, jam the release, and knock Prescott and Pickens out of rhythm.
With playoff positioning at stake and momentum building on both sides, the Lions face a direct test of discipline, communication, and physicality in the secondary. Dallas isn’t bluffing. The slant is coming.
Now, it’s up to Detroit to prove it can stop what everyone already sees.