Amari Cooper scores as Cowboys' trade with Jon Gruden continues to pay off

If the Dallas Cowboys were to win the Super Bowl this year, Jon Gruden ought to get a ring. Gruden’s decision to ship Amari Cooper to the Cowboys for a 2019 first-round draft pick continues to pay immediate dividends for Dallas.

The Cowboys have gone 8-2 since Cooper arrived, including a victory last week over Seattle in the wild-card round. Early in the first quarter of Saturday night’s divisional playoff against the Los Angeles Rams, Cooper again showed why he’s a game-changing spark and an offensive difference-maker. Catching a crossing route from Dak Prescott in stride, Cooper shed half a dozen would-be tacklers to find the end zone on a gorgeous 29-yard touchdown.

It’s worth noting that Ezekiel Elliott laid down a key block on the Rams’ Mark Barron to give Prescott the time to find Cooper:

… but after the reception, it was all Cooper:

We’re still a couple years away from determining whether Gruden was a genius or a fool for trading away assets like Cooper to the Cowboys and Khalil Mack to the Bears. But it’s undeniable that Dallas has profited handsomely in the short term with Cooper. He opens up the field for Elliott and opens up opportunities for Prescott, and makes the Dallas machine as dangerous as it’s been since the days of Aikman, Irvin and Emmitt Smith.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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