Amari Cooper route-by-route breakdown, and how he's helping his Bills teammates

After a long stretch of road games, the Bills finally returned home on Sunday and provided a blowout victory against an overmatched opponent. The 34-10 win over the Titans also offered the debut of one of the most critical players on the Bills moving forward.

Wide receiver Amari Cooper played only 19 snaps in his first game with the Bills, though how they used him and his impact on the game was a potential sign of things to come at a higher rate. What did the film reveal about Cooper’s usage and what can be expected from him in the coming weeks?

After reviewing the All-22, here’s what stood out.

Amari Cooper’s route-by-route breakdown

Throughout Cooper’s muted time on the field, there were still plenty of things to take away other than his four receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown. The first was how they used him — even with only four days in the offense. Cooper lined up in several personnel groupings, whether it was 11 personnel (three receivers), 12 personnel (two receivers) or even 13 personnel (one receiver). Mostly an X-receiver throughout his career, the Bills used him at both the X and Z-role throughout the game, showing that versatility and the potential vision of how he’d fit into their offense. And who he lined up with at receiver spoke to that versatility as well. Khalil Shakir was on the field with Cooper for 14 of Cooper’s 20 plays (penalties included). Mack Hollins was with Cooper on 11 plays, and rookie Keon Coleman was on for seven of the 20 Cooper plays. Most interestingly, Cooper was never on the field with Hollins and Coleman at the same time, which shows that Shakir is the clear-as-day slot receiver.

So we’ve got information about the role, but how about the routes? How did Cooper perform and how did he help the Bills when he wasn’t targeted? Here is a route-by-route look at everything Cooper did on film on the 12 times he was out there when the Bills dropped back to pass.

Route 1 — 1st Quarter, 13:45 remaining – 3rd & 1

Not only was this Cooper’s first route, but it was also his first target. The cornerback gave Cooper a seven-yard cushion on the left sideline, which is inviting of both a shorter route and a throw from the quarterback. Cooper gobbled up the cushion as the route began and snapped back on a seven-yard comeback route toward the sideline, five yards past the first-down marker. The cornerback continued to drift backward, and when Cooper broke, the cornerback was three yards away. Josh Allen delivered the throw on time and it was a clear drop by Cooper, though a good route all the same.

Route 2 — 1st Quarter, 11:10 remaining – 1st & 10

Cooper went in motion before the snap from the right side of the formation to the left, revealing the Titans were in zone. Cooper ran a quick four-yard out route against the cornerback with inside leverage. Cooper utilized the usual defensive principle of stacking and shedding, getting his right shoulder into the cornerback but then syncing up his break to the outside with using his right arm to toss the cornerback aside. That attention helped clear out just enough space against the zone for Dawson Knox to bring in a five-yard catch right next to Cooper’s route.

Route 3 — 2nd Quarter, 7:47 remaining – 2nd & 10

Lined up tight to the right tackle, with tight end Dalton Kincaid lined up to Cooper’s right out wide in the formation. Without a cornerback directly lined up in front of Cooper, the Titans were very likely in zone. Cooper was utilized as a decoy against the zone coverage on this play, with him running a 14-yard out. But because his steps are so heavy and intentional, he ran straight at the linebacker, forcing him to get on his back foot. Right as Cooper snapped the route toward the sideline, Kincaid broke free of the cornerback on a slant, taking advantage of the space Cooper cleared out and brought in a 10-yard grab for a first down. Like the Knox play, it’s another example of Cooper creating space for his teammates.

Route 4 — 2nd Quarter, 1:56 remaining – 3rd & 8

Lined up on the left side of the formation, Cooper faked a quick out before breaking inward to try and get just enough separation against the Titans’ zone between the cornerback and linebacker. As he went to cut inside, Cooper had a slight stumble. Allen was looking over that way, and right as Cooper stumbled, a pressure was bearing down on Allen and he escaped the pocket for a seven-yard scramble.

Route 5 – 3rd Quarter, 10:28 remaining – 2nd & 10

Cooper’s first catch is worth a stride-by-stride look to show the nuance of his steps.

The Bills believe they have a Cover-0 blitz coming from the Titans without safety help over the top, which causes Allen to check the play at the line. When they snap the ball, it reveals as man coverage against their four safeties, with only a safety left to deal with Cooper.

Cooper, who wants to get to the inside begins to give two dummy steps to the outside as if he’s about to run a corner route to the back corner of the end zone, but then plants his left foot in the ground when he’s got the safety leaning.

With the safety completely turned toward an outside route, Cooper breaks in toward the open space. Allen spots it and lets the ball fly.

By the time the safety gets turned around, Cooper already has yards of separation and ultimately brought in the pass for a timely touchdown to take the lead.

Route 6 — 3rd Quarter, 7:21 remaining – 1st & 10

Working against Cover 2, Cooper runs a route down the right sideline to occupy both the cornerback and safety, while the other four Bills receivers are on the left side of the formation. But Cooper’s presence on the route forced the safety to over-commit to that side, winding up all the way outside the numbers. Allen dumped down the pass to the left to Ray Davis for six yards.

Route 7 — 3rd Quarter, 6:54 remaining – 2nd & 4

This was one of my favorite routes from Cooper, as it showed his quick-twitch footwork that he usually pockets for the right occasion.

Cooper is working against a cornerback in man coverage, and the defender has outside leverage, where, as the line indicates, you can see his right foot lined up to the outside of Cooper. Cooper wants to get this route to the sideline.

Here, Cooper initiates his smooth and gliding route running with a hop step.

As he uses a couple of quick jab steps with his feet, Cooper plants his right foot in the ground the second he reads the cornerback starting to lean to an inside route.

Right at this point, Cooper has instant separation as he heads toward the sideline because the defender will need to turn to run with him. Allen spots it and lets it fly down the left sideline as Cooper has a couple of yards away from the defender.

As Cooper brings in the 19-yard catch, the defender has to lunge at him just to have a chance and none of it would have been possible without Cooper’s instant win at the line.

Route 8 — 3rd Quarter, 5:43 remaining – 2nd & 10

Cooper went in motion from the right of the formation to the left, and proceeded to run an out-and-up clearout route to help set up Shakir underneath on a crossing route. Allen got it to Shakir and the play went for nine yards.

Route 9 — 3rd Quarter, 2:49 remaining – 1st & 10

This play showed how much value Cooper brings in understanding how to beat zone coverage. Cooper ran a 10-yard curl to the left side of the formation and parked himself in between the two zone defenders just past the first level. As Allen looks his way, Cooper felt the linebacker inch closer and gave two micro moves to keep proper spacing to help the angle of Allen’s throw. Allen fed the lane, and without anyone behind Cooper, he scampered forward for a 27-yard gain.

Route 10 — 4th quarter, 15:00 remaining – 2nd & Goal

With the Bills four yards out, Cooper was lined up to the right of the formation against a zone look from the Titans. He curled around the defender immediately in front of him toward the middle of the field, which grabbed the total attention of the linebacker. The linebacker vacated his spot, which pried open the zone to give Ty Johnson just enough space to catch a pass at the goal line and get in for the touchdown. It’s yet another example of Cooper taking at least one defender’s attention.

Route 11 — 4th quarter, 13:40 remaining – 3rd & 6

Lined up to the right of Allen, Cooper ran a curl route to the first down marker against man coverage. The cornerback had the route covered up. Allen found Shakir instead, who took a short pass and wound up gaining 18 yards.

Route 12 — 4th quarter, 12:18 remaining – 2nd & 8

Cooper said he ran his slant routes a little unconventionally, and upon watching it, he wasn’t kidding. This is a timing pattern that will get better with ball placement improving the more Allen and Cooper work together.

Working against inside leverage, Cooper gives his first few steps to make the defender commit to covering a route to the sideline. A reminder, this somehow turns into a slant pattern over the middle.

With the defender’s momentum heading forward, Cooper slams on the brakes and uses his right hand to gently nudge the defender past him, gaining inside access to the slant.

The defender actually did a good job of hitting the brakes and kept relatively close to Cooper, but Allen trusted his new receiver and let it fly as pressure arrived.

As Cooper heads to the middle, he has the separation he needs to make a play, but because the duo hadn’t practiced this all that much, it winds up as an off-body throw.

Cooper did an outstanding job of reaching back against his momentum and plucking the ball out of the air, more than making up for his early-game drop.

The final passing stats with Cooper on the field had Allen completing 10 of 11 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns. While it won’t always be as prolific, you can clearly see the impact both his presence and route running can have on the Bills offense — and how badly the Bills had been missing someone like that through the first six weeks.

Quick thoughts on the top 2

DE Greg Rousseau (A) — In his first game as a left-side-only defensive end since 2022, Rousseau absolutely dominated from both a pass-rushing and run-defending perspective. He had an advantage against starting right tackle Jaelyn Duncan, and once Duncan left with an injury, it was a complete mismatch against the backup. Rousseau showed off his full arsenal of moves en route to a league-high in Week 7 pressures with 11, according to Pro Football Focus and TruMedia. He was unstoppable, and the Bills should strongly consider keeping him on the left side only moving forward.

TE Dalton Kincaid (A-minus) — Kincaid’s imprint on the game with two substantial third-down pickups was excellent. But what took him from good to great in this game was how he performed as a run blocker. The game against the Titans may have been his best game as a blocker in his NFL career. Should it continue, that might be all the Bills need to continue with him as close to a full-time player as possible.

Players with fewer than 15 snaps:

RB Ray Davis (13), RB Ty Johnson (12), DE Casey Toohill (12), OL Alec Anderson (6), TE Quintin Morris (3), DE Javon Solomon (3), LB Nicholas Morrow (3), CB Kaiir Elam (3), Ja’Marcus Ingram (3), CB Brandon Codrington (3), S Cole Bishop (3), WR Curtis Samuel (2), QB Mitchell Trubisky (0), FB Reggie Gilliam (0), OL Ryan Van Demark (0), OL Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (0)

*Minimum 105 snaps
**CB Ja’Marcus Ingram, DE Von Miller and OL Alec Anderson all removed from season grades for falling below minimum threshold

How the standards work

When the All-22 film becomes available, we’ll go through and watch every player on every play as many times as necessary to assess letter grades. It is a subjective analysis, and it’s important to note we do not know the play calls and full responsibilities. The grades stem from technique, effort and presumed liability.

The study accounts only for players who take a snap on offense or defense. Players with fewer than 15 snaps — unless they significantly impact the game — will not factor into weekly rankings. The grades range from an ‘A’ (a perfect 4.00 GPA) to ‘F’ (0.00 GPA). There is no such thing as an ‘A+’ in this grading system. Season-long grades will be tallied and documented, with a single game’s grade weighted based on how much the player was on the field in a given week.

(Top photo of Amari Cooper: Bryan M. Bennett / Getty Images)