Amari Cooper stars in the debut while the Buffalo Bills play at home

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Early in the fourth quarter of the Buffalo Bills' Week 7 game against the Tennessee Titans, the Bills' offense pushed offsides and tried to take a three-point lead.

On second-and-8 from the Tennessee 47-yard line, quarterback Josh Allen took a few steps back with the shotgun but quickly came under pressure. Allen looked to his left as wide receiver Amari Cooper turned, opened up in tight coverage and threw the ball to Cooper, who had to reach back to get to the ground with the football and a first down.

In response, “Coooooop” echoed through the stadium.

The play was one of four catches (on five targets) that brought Cooper 66 yards and a score in his first game with the Bills, including his first reception in the end zone, on 18 snaps played without a penalty. Buffalo won 34-10 thanks to 34 unanswered points and improved to 5-2 on the season.

“It was just another day at the office at the wide receiver position,” Cooper said of his comfort level in the game.

What's notable about this catch amid the team's second-half offensive success is that the 10-year veteran runs slant routes differently than some other receivers, something he describes as “untypical.”

After Cooper was traded from the Cleveland Browns five days before Sunday's game, he had to explain to Allen that he couldn't run the route a certain way, even in practice.

“We talked about it, but he kind of had a guy on his face, and I don't think he really knew where I was going to be because we didn't really get any rep for it,” Cooper said after the game. “We just talked about it. So I think things will get better in the future.”

Cooper still made the important catch, a play Allen took note of after the game.

“I think having been in the league for seven years now, they don’t need much, just like understanding guys of (Cooper’s) caliber. “You go out there, clear his head, let him go play,” Allen said of his relationship with Cooper. “That’s what he did out there a few times, just finding zones, finding windows. He made a really good catch with him at that angle and things are going to turn out pretty well.

Cooper, 30, said he felt 100% comfortable with the pieces that were for him after going through them in detail. Several people, including Allen, noted the work that offensive quality control coach DJ Mangas and wide receivers coach Adam Henry did with Cooper to make sure he was ready for game day.

“It’s good to have (Cooper) here. He made an impact in just four days, actually four teachable and learnable days,” coach Sean McDermott said. “And then to come out here on the fifth day and act the way he did was impressive.”

Cooper's first reception, which went for a touchdown, in the third quarter made him the second player in NFL history to record a receiving touchdown in his first multi-team game after switching teams midway through the season ( Cowboys) and moved to Chris Chambers (Chiefs, Chargers).

“I have an impressive memory, I think, but these playbooks sometimes have hundreds of pieces in them,” Cooper said. “So I knew I wasn’t going to learn everything, so I just tried to learn as much as I could and you just try to be there for the team.”

This scoring drive was the first of five consecutive scoring drives in the second half for the Bills, with Cooper's performance helping to create opportunities for other players.

Rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman, with whom Cooper actually communicated to confirm the play call on his TD pass before the ball was snapped, had his best game in the NFL to date, recording four catches for 125 yards. It is the most yards thrown by a Bills rookie in a game since Sammy Watkins in 2014, and he became the fourth Bills rookie with 125 receiving yards in a game in the Super Bowl era (Sammy Watkins, Chris Burkett and Jerry Butler). Two other Bills players – Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid – passed for 50 yards.

The second half offensive performance was led by Allen in his 100th regular season start after completing 1 of 5 passes for five yards in the first quarter. He finished the game 21-33 for 323 yards and two touchdowns. He was fired once.

Allen became the fourth quarterback in NFL history with 12 passing touchdowns and zero interceptions through Week 7 or later.

“It was very impressive. He’s a great player,” Cooper said of Allen. “…I think his hundredth start today seems to have shown a hundred great performances. I think this was no different. He did his thing like he normally does, but he's a phenomenal player. “Sure.”

It remains to be seen what awaits the Bills' offense as a whole once Cooper gets more acclimated, but the first look offered some pretty good results as the Bills' offense got into a rhythm in the second half and continued its trend of being over 30 Scoring points in all three home games this season, the Bills' longest streak to start a season since 2016.

“(Cooper) is such an incredible threat in the passing game that he will get the attention of all the DBs,” tight end Dawson Knox said. “So obviously it's going to open up other guys when he's out there, he made some great plays for us. It’s going to be a fun rest of the year with him.”