NFL
ARLINGTON, Texas — Standing in the middle of the Dallas Cowboys locker room Sunday night, Brandin Cooks quoted a Bible verse.
“Don’t grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you don’t give up,” the Cowboys wide receiver said, referring to Galatians 6:9-10.
“It’s been a tough couple of years, but my faith and my work ethic and my family, my wife and my kids just continue to push me to keep going,” Cooks said. “This one is sweet for sure.”
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Through the first eight games of the Cowboys’ season, Cooks had not received the targets most were expecting when they traded for the veteran.
What was expected, was more of what he showcased in Sunday’s 49-17 win over the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium. Cooks was targeted seven times in the first half alone. He caught all seven passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. He finished with a game-high 173 yards on nine receptions.
“Like I tell all the other guys, trust the process,” Cooks said. “When your number is called, take advantage of your opportunities. Because when the ball comes your way, just go out there and make a play.”
Cooks entered Sunday averaging 23.5 receiving yards per game. His previous game-high for the season was 49 yards and a touchdown on three receptions against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8. It’s not exactly the production of a player who has six 1,000-yard seasons on his resume. Sunday was the second-highest receiving total of his 10-year career, trailing only his 186-yard, two-touchdown game against the Arizona Cardinals in 2016 while playing for the New Orleans Saints. Dallas traded fifth- and sixth-round picks to the Houston Texans for Cooks in March.
It was clear early against the Giants that getting him involved was part of the game plan. He was targeted on the first offensive play of the game, a 4-yard completion from QB Dak Prescott.
“Practice, man,” Prescott responded when asked why the connection with Cooks was working from the start. “I told him, ‘Let’s put the work in and it’s going to come out.’ He’s been there for us all year when we’ve needed him to.
“There have been games that we’ve (been asked), ‘Could you have gotten him more involved?’ And yeah, sure, maybe, he’s that type of player that deserves those questions when he’s not getting those targets or getting those catches.
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“He had a great week of practice. Some plays were meant to go for him and the others he went and won. When they were doubling CeeDee (Lamb) and they would do this or that, he went and beat his man and made it easy for me to throw.”
CeeDee Lamb continued on his historic pace of the last month, hauling in 11 passes for 151 yards and scoring two touchdowns. It was his third consecutive game with 10-plus catches and 150 receiving yards, an NFL record. It was his fourth consecutive 100-yard receiving game, the first by a Cowboys wide receiver since Terrell Owens in 2007.
Lamb is the team’s clear No. 1 wide receiver. He’s in such a zone right now that after the game, he said he believes he is the NFL’s best wide receiver.
“I’m more than a one,” Lamb said. “I’m the top receiver in this game and there is no question about it. If there is, I’ll see you all again next week.”
The Cowboys should continue to feed Lamb accordingly. But they also need Cooks, their clear No. 2 wide receiver, to be involved more like he was Sunday.
Will that continue against better competition? Just about everything went right for Dallas on Sunday. The Cowboys improved their league-best home winning streak to 12 games. They have won their four home games this season by a combined score of 160-50. They recorded 640 total yards, the second-most in a single game in franchise history, trailing only a 652-yard outing against Philadelphia in 1966.
“His opportunities came together,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said of Cooks. “I think the protection was part of it. And we’re getting to where we need to be. We still have work to do there. Going off last week, we definitely took a step this week. With that, we were able to get into the play types that we want to live in. I think you’re seeing more of that here the last couple weeks.”
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The Cowboys should beat the Giants. They should beat the Carolina Panthers next week, too. They have the type of team that should win double-digit games for the third consecutive season. But can they finally put a run together against quality teams in January?
To do that, they’ll need more than just Lamb playing at a high level. It was a good sign to see Cooks have a breakout game. The goal is to have several perimeter weapons clicking with Prescott as they navigate through December. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes they have the passing game to carry the team if opponents are shutting down the run. They’ll need more games like they got from Cooks on Sunday for that to work.
“We know that he just looks like a rocket coming out of there,” Jones said of Cooks. “You can see his acceleration, and when you see it with the ball in his hands in real life and in an NFL game, then that gets your attention. The more of that you do, the more it loosens up for more parts of our offense.”
Prescott was asked after the game about opponents doubling Lamb and the result potentially being players like Cooks, Michael Gallup, who finished with 70 receiving yards and a touchdown, and TE Jake Ferguson, who has three touchdowns in the last three games, being able to make them pay.
“I’m interested in what they’ll do,” Prescott responded. “Are you going to leave CeeDee one-on-one then? In this league, you understand that people are always trying to take away what you do best. But when those guys go out and perform like they did, I don’t know what a defense does.
“You have to leave one-on-one somewhere. And MG is going to go make those plays. Brandin is going to go make those plays. Ferg is going to go make them. You want to play soft? We’ll get the run game going even more. Sure. Interested to see how it goes.”
(Top photo of Brandin Cooks: Andrew Dieb / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Jon Machota is a staff writer covering the Dallas Cowboys for The Athletic. He previously covered the Cowboys for The Dallas Morning News. He’s a Detroit native and graduate of Wayne State University. Follow Jon on Twitter @jonmachota
