Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper had himself a history-making game in Sunday’s 36-22 win over the Houston Texans, hauling in 11 catches for 265 yards and two touchdowns.
He broke the Browns’ single-game receiving yards record, passing Josh Gordon’s previous mark of 261 from 2013, and also set a new career-high for himself with his fourth game of 200-plus yards (tied for third-most in NFL history).
In addition, Cooper also became the first Browns player to have back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and joined Hall of Famer Terrell Owens as the only players in NFL history to have a 200-plus receiving-yard game with three different franchises (Cooper previously did it with the Raiders and Cowboys).
“Yeah, I mean every time I step on the field, I try to put forth my best effort, I do truly feel like I’m unguardable,” Cooper said in a post-game interview with NFL Network’s Stacey Dales. “You know it’s all about opportunities, and I had a lot of opportunities today, so I was able to take advantage of them.”
Cooper got to work from the get-go, opening up the afternoon with a 53-yard reception on the Browns’ first play from scrimmage. He added on two touchdown catches, one for 75 yards, and averaged just over 24 yards per catch by the end of the game.
"He’s a consummate pro. He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around," head coach Kevin Stefanski said in his post-game conference, via cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot. "What he knows about this game. The way he sees in this game. He’s like a savant out there, and combine that with the route running ability. He’s one of this team’s leaders. These guys love Amari, and the same come-through is awesome."
The catch that finally broke the franchise mark came in a big spot late in the game. On fourth-and-7 with under four minutes to play, the Browns were looking to run down the clock and avoid giving the Texans any chance to come back. Quarterback Joe Flacco dropped back to pass, and with defenders closing in, threw toward the sideline to find Cooper for a 13-yard fourth-down conversion.
It was the sixth-most improbable completion in the NFL this season, per Next Gen Stats, with a completion probability of 13.8 percent. Cooper had four catches for 148 yards and two TDs on targets with less than a 33% completion probability on Sunday, the most such yards in a game in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016).
“Man, I’ve only been receiving passes from Joe for a short period of time, but one thing I learned quickly is he has amazing arm strength. So sometimes when it looks like he’s down, if he sees you, he’s going to get it out, so I just stayed alive,” Cooper said to Dales of the fourth-down play.
The pairing of Flacco and Cooper has been fruitful through the first three games they’ve played together, having connected for 77 and 109 passing yards the last two weeks, though they blew those previous numbers out of the water with Sunday’s historic effort.
“Man, Joe throws a beautiful ball, a beautiful ball, easy to catch,” Cooper said to Dales. “He has a lot up here, he’s a very cerebral quarterback, honestly he just has a good feel for the game, and us together, it’s like we’re in rhythm. Yeah, I plan to keep having these types of games with Joe.”