George Pickens’ first Sunday Night Football game of the 2026 season was the kind of night that can make a fan base wince.
The Cowboys receiver, who was traded to Dallas last May and then turned in a 1,400-yard, nine-touchdown season in his first year with the team, opened this year with a performance that looked far closer to the rough edges Steelers fans remember than the star turn Dallas enjoyed in 2025.
Against the New York Giants, Pickens had a pair of costly drops and never seemed to shake the frustration that came with them. The first came with 2:12 left in the first quarter, when Dak Prescott fired a deep in-breaking throw across the middle and hit Pickens in the chest.
He was completely uncovered, and what should have been at least a 20-yard gain ended with the ball on the turf. There was even room for more after the catch.
The second one was even bigger. With 1:25 left in the first half, Prescott dropped a perfect ball deep down the right sideline, a throw that traveled more than 30 yards in the air and landed right where it needed to be.
Pickens couldn’t bring it in. That play had the look of a potential touchdown, and at minimum it would have given Dallas a major explosive gain.
At that point, the Cowboys and Giants were tied 7-7. Those missed chances mattered. Dallas lost 28-20, and the Giants took over the second half.
Pickens finished with just 28 receiving yards on six targets, a meager 4.6 yards per target, and the night never recovered after those early mistakes. His body language told the story, too. Once the drops started piling up, the frustration was obvious, and the game seemed to tilt with it.
Prescott’s line reflected the missed opportunities as well. He completed 22 of 34 passes for 175 yards, averaged 5.1 yards per attempt, and posted an 84.8 passer rating. Still, there was at least 50 yards left on the field thanks to Pickens’ errors.
For Steelers fans, the whole thing had an ugly familiar feel. There will be games this season when Pickens makes people question Omar Khan’s decision to move on from him, especially after the receiver’s borderline All-Pro level stretch last year. But Week 1 was not one of those nights.
It also brought back a memory of Pickens’ final regular-season game in Pittsburgh. On January 4, 2025, with playoff seeding on the line against the Bengals, he caught just one pass on six targets for zero yards.
Cowboys fans can at least point to the fact that Sunday night didn’t sink anywhere near that low. But it was still a sharp reminder that Pickens can unravel in a hurry when the game starts slipping away.
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