ARLINGTON, TX — If I told you CeeDee Lamb would finish the day against the New York Giants with another 150-yard game, setting a record in the process, you'd probably assume he accounted for the large majority of the offense; but this time you'd be incorrect, because Brandin Cooks became the long-awaited second nuclear weapon for Dak Prescott.
Not unlike Marshall Mathers and 50 Cent in 2003, as a duo, Lamb and Cooks had been patiently waiting for a team to explode on.
To say the two were dynamic in the 49-17 obliteration of the New York Giants would be a gargantuan understatement. The two combined for 324 receiving yards and Cooks himself racked up 104 yards … by halftime … before finishing with 174 yards and a touchdown.
"I just think we're just fortunate enough to come out here and get that win, and have a productive day to help my team win," said Cooks after helping the Cowboys move to 6-3 on the season. "… I just continued to trust the process, like I've always said. The ball came my way and I just wanted to be able to take advantage of the opportunities."
He was also wildly efficient, delivering catches on nine of his 10 targets.
Cooks fell just 14 yards shy of setting a new career-high for most receiving yards in a single game, ending the night second only to 186-yard outing on seven catches against the Arizona Cardinals in December 2016.
The solar flare in Week 10 marks a culmination of several weeks of patience by Cooks, who never once wavered in his belief that he'd get his legs in the Texas Coast offense. Just last week, he noted his time "was coming" and refused to subscribe to any sort of frustration from the slow start in his production.
Just days after doubling down on just how bought in he is, he detonated on the field and left the Giants reeling with no answers for how to contain him, let alone his tandem with Lamb.
"I think, at the end of the day, like I tell the other guys, just trust the process and,when your number is called, take advantage of your opportunities," Cooks said. "When the ball comes your way, just go out there and make plays. … It's a blessing. … It's been a hard couple years but my faith and my work ethic, my family, my wife and my kids just continued to push me to keep going.
"This one is sweet, for sure."
Indeed it is, and for Prescott as well, who scorched Big Blue to the tune of 404 yards and five touchdowns from scrimmage (including 1 rushing TD) with a passer rating of 138.3.
"I told him, 'Let's put the work in and it's gonna come out,'" said Prescott of Cooks. "He's been there for us all year when we've needed him to. There were games where we've come back and [wondered] if we could've gotten him more involved and, sure, maybe so, right? He's that type of player that deserves those questions when he's not getting those targets or those catches. The communication that we've had throughout this week, and we had a great week of practice.
"… And when they'd double CeeDee, he went and beat his man and made it easy to throw."
On at least one occasion, Prescott was seen smirking after getting the ball to Cooks and seeing him tear off a big run, one of many, hinting at what's to come in an offense that has gone from trying to figure itself out over the first several games to being one of the most explosive in the entire NFL.
"Great, honestly," said Prescott of Cooks' big day. "That's what it's about. Get that guy the ball and let him go run. Multiple big plays. I didn't [realize] he had 100 [yards] at halftime. For him to have that production is awesome.
"That guy deserves it more than anybody. Amazing teammate. Amazing friend. Amazing guy that does everything the right way."
It's an offense that has been heating up over the previous two games and, with Cooks now putting on film what he can truly be in a Cowboys' uniform, one that could match serve with a defense that can flat-out suffocate opposing teams.
And, with that, it's no longer all about teams trying to stop Lamb.
Cooks is a problem as well, and a pretty big one.
"He deserves that and he'll have more of them," said Prescott. "I promise you. It might not be an every week thing, but he will have more of these games. That's why he was brought here. …
"We'll find him more. That's what I told him."
Promise made. Promise kept.
And if you were thinking Cooks was going to fall off, you're so wrong.
