The Cowboys needed him to make one play, Amari Cooper came up with zero vs. the Patriots
The Dallas Cowboys want to deny it, but the statistical and anecdotal proof buries any effort to think the New England Patriots did anything other than take away their most powerful offensive player.
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick decided the Cowboys’ most effective player is wide receiver Amari Cooper, and he turned him into a large bag of dust.
Belichick is renowned for taking away another team’s strength. On Sunday, the Patriots and defensive back Stephon Gilmore took away Cooper.
For the first time since he became a Cowboy last season, Cooper did not catch a ball.
If Cooper is to be considered one of the top three receivers in the game, who is paid like it, a zero-catch game in a four-point loss can’t happen.
The weather during the Cowboys’ 13-9 loss in New England was so cold and so wet even seals complained, but Cooper has to make a play.
Do something. In a game that close, Cooper has to make one play that matters.
“Because it was raining, I think,” Cooper said when asked about his day. “We didn’t throw the ball downfield how we would have liked.”
The Cowboys’ final meaningful snap came on a fourth-and-11 from their own 25 with 1:50 remaining in the game. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott bought some time before throwing a ball deep over the middle that Cooper appeared to catch on a diving effort that would have been good for a first down.
The play was reviewed, and the evidence was conclusive that Cooper did not catch the ball.
“Of course I thought he brought it in. I’ve got all the confidence in him making those catches,” Prescott said.
As he should.
Until Sunday, Cooper repeatedly made the type of catches few can. Until Sunday, he had 56 receptions for 886 yards and seven touchdowns.
None of those stats changed.
I asked Prescott if the Patriots took Cooper away.
“I wouldn’t say that; I thought they made a few more plays and fewer mistakes than we did,” he said.
Officially, Prescott threw at Cooper twice. Unofficially, Dak threw at him three times.
On his first attempt, early in the second quarter, Prescott’s third-down pass was intercepted by Gilmore.
“I was able to undercut it at the last second and make a play on the ball,” Gilmore said. “Dak kind of put it in a position where the both of us could have got it and I was able to make a play.”
That’s a play Cooper has to make, or at least break up.
Four plays later, the Patriots extended their lead to 10-0 on a Nick Folk field goal.
Prescott did not look at Cooper again until late in the third quarter when he completed a 15-yard pass to his favorite wide receiver. Naturally, that play was wiped out as tackle Tyron Smith was penalized 10 yards for holding.
Be sure to give credit to the weather for limiting Cooper, and every thing else associated with the passing games of both teams.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady completed 17 of 37 passes for 190 yards.
Be sure to credit Gilmore and the Patriots’ top-ranked defense for limiting Cooper. Prescott was 19-of-33 passing for 212 yards.
“It was fun. I was just trying to get my hands on him every snap,” Gilmore said.
And be sure to credit Cooper and Prescott for failing to hook up once.
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 6:30 AM.
