Mistakes overshadow career days for Amari Cooper, Dak Prescott
Try as he might, wide receiver Amari Cooper could not run away from the fourth play of the Dallas Cowboys' 34-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Cooper caught 11 passes for a career-high 226 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown, but he could have had another 20 or so yards or maybe even a touchdown if everything had gone the way he planned.
Instead, quarterback Dak Prescott's pass deflected off Cooper and into the waiting arms of cornerback Jaire Alexander for an interception, ending a Cowboys' scoring chance and allowing Green Bay to score its first touchdown.
For the rest of the game, Cooper kept thinking about that play.cheap nike nfl jerseys wholesale
"The only thing that was really on my mind was the dropped ball," he said. "The turnover I created. I feel like it gave them a lot of momentum in the game."
The catches and yards piled up, but the Cowboys (3-2) could never climb out of a hole that got as deep as 28 points in the third quarter.
Cooper became the first Cowboy with multiple 200-yard receiving games; he caught 10 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns in an overtime win against the Philadelphia Eagles last season. Sunday marked the third 200-yard game of his career, but it seemed almost hollow. (By the way, had he maintained his balance on a 46-yard catch on the second drive, he could have had the best receiving day in franchise history.)
"It was, 'I got it.' That's what I was thinking," Cooper said of the fourth play. "Those are the worst three words in football. I feel like I had it. It was an easy catch, took my eyes off it because I was focused on the touchdown."
Prescott's previous high was 455 yards in the aforementioned overtime win against the Eagles in December.
"I don't care how many yards I had or anything like that. Three interceptions and a loss, I don't care what career high I have. None of that matters," Prescott said. "Amari saying that, I think, is an example of guys in the locker room, a lot of guys on our team look in the mirror before they point fingers."cheap nfl jerseys china nike
Only once before had Prescott been picked off three times: in a 37-9 loss to the Eagles in 2017, when running back Ezekiel Elliott was suspended. The first pick Sunday can be attributed to Cooper, but "I could've put the ball two more inches in front of him," Prescott said.
The third interception can be attributed to a missed penalty on cornerback Kevin King, who swiped at Gallup twice before Prescott threw the pass. Because Jason Garrett lost a previous replay challenge, the coach did not have a chance to challenge that play.
