The situation was screaming for a play-action pass.
It was the fourth quarter of the Buffalo Bills鈥 loss in Houston just two weeks ago. The Bills had run the ball well all game. The Texans鈥 defense, protecting a three-point lead, adjusted and put eight men in the box on four straight first-down plays.
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady seemingly gritted his teeth and called runs into the strength of the defense each time. It didn鈥檛 work.
Now with Amari Cooper on the field for the Bills, the calculus changes for any defensive coordinator who might get sick of giving up yards on the ground.
The Bills have a downfield threat and a player who can better get open against man-to-man coverage. Cooper is really good at intermediate and downfield routes.
Cooper ranked 10th in the NFL last season in catches of 20-plus yards with 21, and he was second in catches of 40-plus yards with eight. His catch average of 17.4 last season was third-best in the league. In 2022, Cooper was tied for ninth in 20-plus-yard catches with 18.
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鈥淎n outside perimeter receiver, not that he can鈥檛 play inside,鈥 said Bills general manager Brandon Beane. 鈥淏ut very good route runner. Smooth. He can stretch the field vertically. I think he was high 4.3s when he came out. You still see that. He鈥檚 had a high average per catch in his career.鈥
Cooper is probably not as elite a separator as Stefon Diggs, but he鈥檚 pretty good in that element of route running as well, and he鈥檚 a lot better at separation against man coverage than Keon Coleman, Mack Hollins or the just-jettisoned Marquez Valdez-Scantling.
Coach Sean McDermott always talks about matchups in the NFL, and it鈥檚 easy to see how Cooper helps the Bills against their tougher matchups.
Kansas City, Baltimore, Houston, the New York Jets. They all have high-quality defensive backfields. Kansas City鈥檚 is great.
Remember the divisional-round playoff loss to the Chiefs last January?
The Bills鈥 offense was rolling. The first 30 runs in the game over the first three quarters averaged 5.6 yards a carry. Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo adjusted. The last nine runs in the fourth quarter netted just 12 yards.
Hopefully, defenses are going to maintain the healthy respect they鈥檝e had for Josh Allen鈥檚 downfield passing, and the Bills will continue to see two-high shell coverages.
The Bills have a better answer for that approach than ever before in Allen鈥檚 career with the power-blocking offensive line they鈥檝e built and now the running back combination of James Cook and rookie Ray Davis.
At some point, defenses have to creep up toward the line of scrimmage against the run game. When a safety wants to play up, Cooper should be able to make them pay. Hit them with the play-action pass.
Hollins has seen 63.6% of the Bills鈥 offensive snaps through the first six games. Any Bills fan understands that鈥檚 too high. Hollins is a good No. 5 wideout and a valuable special-teams ace. Once Cooper gets adjusted to his new surroundings, Hollins can settle into that role.
Cooper played mostly X wide receiver in Cleveland, on the line of scrimmage opposite the tight end. That鈥檚 where Coleman plays. Cooper easily can fit into the flanker position, off the line of scrimmage and opposite the X. But if Cooper takes some of Coleman鈥檚 snaps at the X, that鈥檚 perfectly fine from this perspective. Coleman is playing 64% of the snaps.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to pen him in one spot,鈥 Beane said. 鈥淚 think he can play either one. He鈥檚 football smart. We move our guys around.鈥
Cooper鈥檚 ability to get open also should help Allen play on-rhythm from the pocket a little more. Against the Texans, with no Shakir on the field, and facing a ton of man coverage, Allen was forced to get off schedule and try to create outside the pocket way too much. And he didn鈥檛 find anyone open, which was a big part of the reason why he went 9 of 30. Allen never should have a 9 of 30 stat line.
Rolling Cooper, Coleman and Khalil Shakir out on the field gets the Bills closer to a top-10 wide receiver lineup. Let鈥檚 call it top 12 for now, presuming Cooper gets acclimated in the next month.
The addition of Cooper probably doesn鈥檛 bode well for a big increase in targets for Curtis Samuel. He鈥檚 looking like an expensive version of Isaiah McKenzie right now, which is not a compliment. Brady wanted Samuel. We鈥檒l see if the coach can create opportunities for him.
Long-term implications
Cooper is in the last year of a $20 million-a-year contract he signed in Dallas in 2020. He will cost the Bills a mere $806,667 the rest of the season.
Could he be more than just a rental for 11 regular-season games and the playoffs? Maybe, but not at the expense of a couple of younger players on the roster.
Defensive end Greg Rousseau will enter the last year of his contract in 2025, and his cap number will be $13 million if he鈥檚 not extended. Rousseau is the top priority player to re-sign before the start of the 2025 season. Good defensive ends are hard to find, especially for a team picking in the back end of the first round of the draft every year.
Rousseau is a must-keep player for the defense.
Shakir will enter the last year of his contract in 2025. The hope and expectation is he will continue his current trajectory as a high-quality slot receiver, which means he will need to be resigned in the summer of 2025.
Then there鈥檚 the cornerback situation. Rasul Douglas鈥 contract is up after this season. Christian Benford will enter the last year of his deal in 2025. Douglas is playing on a deal that averages $7 million a year. He will turn 31 in August. That might depress his market value a bit and make him affordable. If Benford stays on his current trajectory, the Bills probably want to keep him, too.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no rule that we can鈥檛 sign him back,鈥 Beane said of Cooper. 鈥淲e鈥檒l just play it out this year. See how it fits on both sides.鈥
If Cooper goes to another team in free agency in March, the Bills would be in line for a compensatory draft pick in the 2026 draft.