Amari Cooper Let Hobbled Dak Prescott Down by Disappearing When He Needed Him Most
By Scott Rogust
The Dallas Cowboys flew into the City of Brotherly Love with a must-win mentality. A win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field would give the Cowboys their second-consecutive NFC East Championship.
Instead, Dallas laid an egg against a depleted Eagles team, losing 17-9. Plenty of fingers will be pointed towards head coach Jason Garrett (and deservedly so), but another significant person to blame is receiver Amari Cooper, who played the role of Harry Houdini and pulled a complete disappearing act when the team needed him most.
No Amari Cooper and no Randall Cobb on the field on that fourth down play. Why, man, why?
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) December 23, 2019
On the most crucial play of the Cowboys' season -- fourth down in the fourth quarter -- neither Cooper nor Randall Cobb was on the field.
Cooper suffered a slight knock on the previous play and went off to the sideline, leaving Dak Prescott to toss up a 50-50 ball to Michael Gallup in the end zone, which fell incomplete.
Amari Cooper targeted 8 times, has 2 catches for 12 yards
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) December 22, 2019
Even when Cooper did take the field, he had a serious case of the yips, as he hauled in just two of eight targets for a measly 12 yards. Despite his rough game, having him on the field during that final play was essential, yet he failed to show up.
Cooper is far from the sole reason the Cowboys took an L on Sunday, but his performance definitely did not help.