The Dallas Cowboys have a worrying trend on offense, and it revolves around wide receiver George Pickens. Simply put, they aren’t getting him involved.

Quarterback Dak Prescott and head coach Brian Schottenheimer were both asked about it after a painful overtime loss against the Arizona Cardinals in which the offense stopped producing toward the end of the game. Neither had a real answer. That’s frustrating, because it’s painfully obvious where Dallas should start.

Prescott and Schottenheimer don’t have an answer

Unlike Brian Schottenheimer (more on that later), Prescott didn’t dodge the question. Instead, he admitted the evident truth: they don’t have an answer. 

“If I had the answer, we would get him involved,” Prescott said. “I’m not trying to be rude or whatever it is, but he made some plays. Anytime the ball went his way, he came up with them. He had the one, unfortunately came back for a holding. There was another [play], I just tried to give him a chance.” 

Asked the same question, Schottenheimer pointed to the big play that was called back for a penalty. He added that the passing game didn’t have many answers in general. Whether it was intentional or not, it came off almost as an excuse. 

Listen, I understand where Prescott is coming from. If he had the answer, the Cowboys would get Pickens involved. Fair enough.

But the answer is so simple you might laugh: Play him more.

Pickens was on the sideline when it mattered most

Pickens finished with 42 snaps, a 57% snap share. That’s below Ryan Flournoy. That’s below tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford. And it’s only slightly above James Mitchell, a practice squad elevation who logged 31 snaps.

For a wide receiver making $27 million, that’s a very low snap count. And one that’s hard to justify, at that. 

Last week, I pointed out that Pickens played very little against the Philadelphia Eagles because Dallas wanted Flournoy in as a run blocker. Blocking is an area in which Pickens hasn’t been effective since he arrived. At the time, it worked. The Eagles played a lot of light boxes, and Javonte Williams went off for 155 yards.

This game was different. Williams averaged 2.3 yards per carry, and the backup running back averaged only two. The Cowboys still kept Pickens off the field on the biggest stage of the game.

Late in the fourth quarter, Dallas got the ball back at the Arizona 20 with a little over two minutes left. The Cardinals were out of timeouts. One first down, and the game is over.

How many snaps did Pickens play on that series? Zero.

• First-and-10: A jumbo package with six offensive linemen and two tight ends, including Mitchell. No Pickens, and no CeeDee Lamb either. The run went for no gain.
• Second-and-10: 22 personnel with Spann-Ford and Mitchell at tight end, fullback Hunter Luepke, and Williams. No Lamb, no Pickens.
• Third-and-16: 11 personnel this time. Still no Pickens. The Cowboys handed it off, essentially giving up on the drive to live and fight another one.

So yeah. Want Pickens involved? How about playing him more? 

Line him up in the slot and put him in motion

The second fix is just as obvious. We’ve written about it this season, and if we know about it, the Cowboys should know about it too.

Dallas barely lines Pickens up in the slot. He had two snaps there in this game, according to Pro Football Focus. Just last week, his touchdown against Philadelphia came from the slot on a fade. The Cowboys matched Eagles CB Quinyon Mitchell against a tight end out wide, which freed Pickens up one-on-one against a safety. One week later, they refused to move Pickens around. 

Additionally, the Cowboys put Pickens in motion exactly zero times. That felt particularly relevant in this game, especially because Arizona’s game-tying touchdown at the end of regulation came off motion. Cardinals WR Michael Wilson started out wide and motioned inside at the snap. He was wide open against middle linebacker Shemar James, who was gaining depth but not enough. Safety P.J. Locke couldn’t get there in time to help.

Wilson started as the No. 1 receiver on the play and ended up as the No. 3 receiver because of the motion, and he was schemed open. Meanwhile, Dallas barely uses motion at all. The Cowboys rank among the last teams in the NFL in every motion statistic, pre-snap or at the snap. So yes, I would start there.

Something to watch with Pickens

It should hurt Cowboys fans to hear their quarterback say the team doesn’t have answers. Schottenheimer pointing to the penalty almost felt like an excuse, a way of saying they did get Pickens involved. They didn’t, and they haven’t done it consistently enough this season.

Then there’s the contract piece. Pickens knows he’s playing in a contract year, and he’s trying to raise his value for next offseason. To his credit, he has done a great job of avoiding frustration and the attitude that earned him a reputation with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But the longer Dallas goes without getting him involved, and without playing him as much as it should, the more I question whether this becomes an issue. It hasn’t yet, and that’s because Pickens has handled it well. It’s worth keeping an eye on.