Addition of Amari Cooper makes the Cowboys a harder puzzle for the Saints to solve

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It is a play like the one Amari Cooper made in the second quarter against the Redskins on Thanksgiving that stand out to New Orleans Saints safety Kurt Coleman.

Cooper was 21 yards past the line of scrimmage when he caught the ball between three Redskins defenders. He spun out of a tackle attempt by Washington’s Fabian Moreau, pivoted, and out-ran everybody else for a 90-yard score.

That, Coleman said, is No. 1 wide receiver stuff. That is also what the Cowboys were missing earlier in the season, and it is why their offense needs to be approached with a little more caution this week.

“It’s what they’ve been looking for all season, and now that they’ve got it and now that Amari’s getting more comfortable in their offensive scheme, I’m sure they’ll continue to open up the plays for him and try to feature him a little more,” Coleman said.

Cooper caught eight passes for 180 yards and two scores last week against the Redskins, his fourth game with the Cowboys since they sent a 2019 first-round pick to the Raiders to acquire him.

As Coleman alluded to, he has provided an ingredient that was missing in the Cowboys’ attack. Despite only playing in four of Dallas’ 11 games this season, Cooper is third on the team in receiving yards (349) and he leads the team in touchdown catches (3).

“He’s a real strong target, great route runner, detailed, former first round pick, a heck of a player that I think is going to fit in well to what they’re doing,” said Saints coach Sean Payton. “You saw that last week.”

The Cowboys have had an affinity for Cooper since the Raiders selected him with the No. 4 pick of the 2015 draft, coach Jason Garrett said. The team made an aggressive play for him when Oakland made him available prior to the trade deadline.

“He's played four games for us now and he's really had a positive impact in each of them,” Garrett said. “He’s a very capable guy physically. He’s quick, he's fast, he's explosive, he's a very good route runner, he can make plays on all three levels of the defense. Really like what he's done for us.”

His impact has gone beyond injecting life into a Dallas passing attack that was struggling before his arrival, averaging just 183.1 yards per game through the air in the first seven games. It has also forced defenses to play honest against its stellar running back, Ezekiel Elliott.

In the four games since acquiring Cooper, Elliott has ripped off four 100-yard rushing games — matching his total from the first seven games of the season. Elliott has also turned up his production in the passing game with Cooper on the field, hauling in 22 passes for 188 yards the last four games.

“You want a No. 1 wide receiver,” Coleman said. “Why? It opens up your offense to do a lot of things. It frees up the running back, Ezekiel Elliott, to be able to run through a little bit bigger holes because you can’t just crowd the box.

“He’s been making some big plays, he’s keeping the box light, and when they keep the box light, Zeke runs for 130, 150 (yards). It’s a good thing what they’ve got going on.”