Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer did something out of the norm this week when he criticized wide receiver George Pickens amid concerns about his effort.

Schottenheimer's criticism was centered around Pickens' run-blocking, which he feels can be better.

It was unusual for the Cowboys coach to take that approach, as Schottenheimer normally defends Pickens when he's taking heat.

"He needs to understand that he impacts us in the running game as well," Schotty said of Pickens, per WFAA's Ed Werder. "You know, he's got to do the same thing in the run game — picking up safeties and blocking corners — just like Javonte does, picking up blitzes so he can catch balls. That's part of the team-first mindset, and GP does understand that. And you know when he's going, they're going to play soft inside. When he's not going, the safety gets pretty good runs at our backs, and that's going to improve.”

Chad Ochocinco rips Brian Schottenheimer

Former NFL star wide receiver Chad Ochocinco ripped the Cowboys coach, calling him a puppet and accusing him of deflecting from his own and his team's overall failures.

"And you know why he did that? Trying to take the pressure off his a** because he understood using Pickens name, it would stick," Ochocinco said on the Night Cap podcast.

"Let's address the real problems. Your god**** defense. It ain't got nothing to do with (Pickens) at all," he added. "You can't stop the run, you can't stop the pass. Why you talking about what George Pickens is doing on offense when your Achilles heel, what you need to do is worry about your defense. You need to be calling them out."

Johnson went on to call Schottenheimer a "puppet" and said he's just trying to "get the heat off your back" by criticizing Pickens. He also believes Schottenheimer is going to get fired if he loses three more games.

Fair points by Chad Ochocinco

There's a few things that are hard to argue with here, and one of them is the "puppet" label on Schottenheimer, which we agree with.

He might be calling the plays, but that's about all of the shots that Schottenheimer is calling. He's in that job specifically because he doesn't care about Jerry Jones being as heavily involved as he is, which has proven to be a recipe for failure for three decades now.

While Ocho is also right about the defense being the bigger issue for the Cowboys, his co-hosts, Shannon Sharpe and Joe Johnson, were quick to point out that the offense has been an issue lately, also, which is certainly true given the 29 points the team has scored in the past two games.

That's another problem that falls on Schottenheimer's shoulders as the play-caller. He just has not been good, which leaves Dallas with two inadequate play-callers when we include defensive coordinator Christian Parker.

Nobody is going to sit here and say that Pickens doesn't deserve some criticism for effort issues, and especially in run-blocking, but so do a lot of guys on the Cowboys, as DeMarcus Ware and Ben DiNucci have pointed out recently.

Not to mention, Pickens is hardly the biggest issue the Cowboys have and there are much bigger problems Schottenheimer needs to be calling out publicly, like his defense, so example.

What Pickens said about Schottenheimer's criticism

To his credit, Pickens took the diplomatic road in his response to Schottenheimer's criticism.

“I feel like, like I said, as a team, I feel like run, pass, a lot of stuff, you know what I mean? One week, it was you guys were saying defense, one week you’re saying this," Pickens said to reporters.

"I feel like if you narrow the comments down, you’re talking about the team. So most definitely, I feel like as a team, just keep improving," he added.

And Pickens is right. There is no one-man solution to the Cowboys' issues, at least when it comes to the players.

It's going to take a total team effort to save this sinking ship.