Amari Cooper hauled in a beastly catch for a first down to seal the Oakland Raiders win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Late in the third quarter of Week 16, the Oakland Raiders were absolutely cruising against the Indianapolis Colts. Derek Carr, Amari Cooper and the offense were moving the ball at will both through the air and ground. However, the air got taken out of the team soon after in the worst way possible.
The Raiders possible MVP candidate and unquestioned offensive leader, Carr, took a sack and came down awkwardly with his right leg. He immediately sat up in pain and called for trainers, seemingly mouthing that it was broken. With help from the medical staff, Carr was helped to the sidelines. After cutting off his shoe and putting on an air cast, he was then carted off the sidelines and to the back.
After that injury, the Raiders as a whole looked completely lost. And in the meantime, Andrew Luck and the Colts weren’t relenting. Seemingly in no time at all, Indianapolis had cut the once large lead to a single-possession game. However, that was when Cooper came up big to make a play for his team—even without the AC/DC connection.
On third down just before the two-minute warning, backup quarterback Matt McGloin tried to throw a bullet into heavy coverage. The Colts top cornerback, Vontae Davis was right there. However, Amari Cooper just jumped higher and was stronger in the air as he rose up to make an absolutely phenomenal catch:
Sensational catch by #Raiders Amari Cooper against the #Colts https://t.co/Re3P3QvKVu
— The Sports Daily (@SportsDailyBlog) December 25, 2016
Cooper has certainly had some problems here and there, but he’s incredible when he’s at his peak levels. Suffice it to say this is him at peak level on this play.
Next: NFL 2016: 7 Most Dangerous Deep Threats
Even more impressive was the clutch timing of such a catch. By getting the first down there while the Colts had no timeouts remaining, the Raiders were able to go into the two-minute warning and then get into the victory formation to run out the clock.
Obviously Oakland has questions to answer depending on Carr’s injury status moving forward. However, playmakers like Cooper show that they can still make an impact and help this team compete into the postseason.