Cooks-ing with Gas: Return of the Deeeeep Threat

When the Patriots signed Brandin Cooks this offseason the excitement about adding a weapon with Cooks’ deep speed was palpable in Patriots nation. After all we’d been led to believe that Tom Brady could no longer throw deep without Randy Moss, that the Patriots ran a gimmick offense that relied on the “dink and dunk” that any quarterback could run. Why haven’t more teams adopted that easy offensive philosophy was just a question whose answer eluded even the most stat-backed football pundit.

Here we are, 10 games into the season and there’s no question any more that the deep ball is certainly back in New England, though it never really left except from people’s perceptions. Cooks has caught 12 balls longer than 20 yards, including catches of 62 (season-long) and 52 against the Raiders and the Pats are rolling, pushing the betting odds for Patriots vs. Dolphins game to another stratosphere.

It wasn’t instant out-of-the-gate unstoppability like it was with Randy Moss, but the addition of Cooks has finally put the deep pass back on the front burner for defenses. There’s no more crowding the line, taking away the quick passes and daring Brady to throw down the field. Now, the downfield attack is coming, and defenses are wise to protect themselves from it.

Let’s take a closer look at the two big Cooks plays from the Raiders game, and examine how the Patriots are making these big plays.

 

 

This first one is a 52-yarder that came midway through the second quarter, with the Pats leading 7-0. This play featured the Pats running a three-tight end set as you can see to the offense’s right. Dwayne Allen is on the inside, then Rob Gronkowski with Martellus Bennett outside. Rex Burkhead is in the backfield with just Cooks aligned in a fairly tight split.

All presnap indications, especially since this is coming on first down on then first play of the drive, point to this being a running play. Still, the Raiders are double teaming Cooks with the cornerback and safety who is over top him. The thing is, it just doesn’t matter. The tight formation has brought everyone down close to the line of scrimmage and that’s the only bit of extra space over top that Cooks needs to work with. Cooks splits the double team right up the seam and catches a perfect Brady throw to set up the Pats’ second scoring drive of the game.

This one is Cooks’ 64-yard touchdown, the Pats’ longest play of the season. This one comes in the early second half, with the Pats up 17-0 after having executed a perfect field goal score just before the half. After two short passes, the Pats are now back in a tight formation, while the Raiders appear to be in Cover 3.

Again the Raiders corner is just no match for Cooks. With just a second of hesitation, Cooks is already past him. Maybe some centerfield safeties can make this play with Cooks going right up the seam, but Brady makes a masterful throw and it’s not even close.

Again this big play came on first down showing the attack mentality of the Patriots’ offense. This long touchdown blew the game open to 24-0 and from there things were basically over.

Cooks’ speed has been a game-changing asset for the Patriots’ offense this season. It’s taken pressure off of the need to replace Julian Edelman and relaxed the focus on Gronkowski as well. Going forward, if they continue to hit these big plays they’ll continue to be in control of games.