Jerry Jones sounded like the conductor of the George Pickens hype train after the Dallas Cowboys’ Monday night win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Pickens caught nine passes for 144 yards and a touchdown in the Cowboys’ 33-16 win at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev. The numbers don’t do justice to some of the masterful moves Pickens executed in the primetime victory.
The Georgia alum was dancing around the Raiders’ defense like a senior toying with a JV squad. Pickens’ night was even more surprising considering he and CeeDee Lamb were benched on the Cowboys’ opening drive.
Nobody was more impressed than Jones. After the game, the Cowboys owner claimed he had “never seen” a performance like the one Pickens put on during Week 11’s “Monday Night Football” clash.
“Pickens was — I’ve never seen a performance like that. It was poetic the way that he was making those moves out there. It was like he was in an opera or something out there. A ballet,” Jones said, via Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith.
Jones’ claim is certainly a bold one, given that he’s watched the likes of Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Dez Bryant, Terrell Owens, and even Lamb catch passes for Dallas over the years.
There’s definitely some recency bias at play, on top of Jones’ incentive to hype up one of the Cowboys’ key offseason acquisitions. The look on Jones’ face after watching Quinnen Williams get his first sack as a Cowboy said it all.
Bold claims aside, Pickens has indeed been dominant in his first season in Dallas. Through 10 games, he leads the team in receiving yards (908), receiving touchdowns (7), and ranks second on the team in catches (58).
