Dallas Cowboys: Big takeaways from win vs. Buccaneers in Week 16
By Randy Gurzi
3. They seem to forget Cooper is there
Something that happened far too often when Dez Bryant was the No. 1 receiver for the Dallas Cowboys has happened the past two weeks with Amari Cooper. They seem to forget he’s there.
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After Cooper had a stretch where he played some of the best football in the NFL, he stopped receiving a ton of targets. In their loss against the Colts, he had seven targets, but just four receptions. When your offense has zero points, maybe he should get more passes thrown his way.
The same happened in their win over Tampa Bay. Cooper again had just four receptions — this time for only 20 yards. He also had only five total passes come his way. Yes, defenses do focus on him, but not finding a way to get the ball in his hands is just criminal. Cooper is the best player not named Ezekiel Elliott on their offense and he can make everyone better.
Cooper is best at running slants and for some reason, Dallas doesn’t seem to try this near enough. He’s also been able to outrun coverage when he’s being pressed one-on-one. He had matchups that were favorable, but there were no deep shots his way either. If the Cowboys want to make noise in the playoffs, they need to get him involved on every single drive.