Cowboys Coach Sends Savage ‘Slant’ Message to Lions DC: "You Know It’s Coming"

Cowboys Coach Fires Off Bold “Slant” Warning to Lions DC Ahead of Week 14

Dallas Cowboys receiver George Pickens is playing the best football of his young career — and during the Thanksgiving win over the Kansas City Chiefs, one thing became crystal clear: the slant route was unstoppable.

Every time Pickens lined up and broke inside, Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo had no answer. Dak Prescott kept hitting him, especially in crunch time, moving the chains late in the fourth quarter to close out the victory.

Naturally, that route has become the center of attention this week. Opposing defenses are buzzing about ways to eliminate Pickens’ slant game — but the star wideout made it clear earlier in the week that nothing can take him out of it.

And now head coach Brian Schottenheimer has jumped into the conversation, sending a direct message to Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard as the teams prepare for Thursday night.

“Let me just say this — he’s running slants in this game,” Schottenheimer said. “Kelvin Sheppard, he’s going to run slants. That’s part of what we do. If they want to sit on it, they can. But I think it’s pretty cool executing something even when the defense knows it’s coming.”

Pickens Remains Central to Cowboys’ Week 14 Game Plan

One of Dallas’ biggest advantages on offense is simple: Prescott has two legitimate WR1s. When George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb are on the field together, they elevate each other.

Defenses can’t double both — and we saw last week how much trouble Trent McDuffie had sticking with Lamb one-on-one. It’s a classic pick-your-poison scenario. If a secondary rolls extra coverage toward both receivers, that’s exactly when the Cowboys unleash the slant game: the threat of the deep ball opens the window underneath.

And that’s without mentioning Javonte Williams and the physical run game, which forces defensive coordinators to play honestly.

So yes — Schottenheimer has already declared that Pickens will get his slants at Ford Field.

Now it’s on the Lions to prove they can stop what everyone knows is coming.