5 catches for a record: Breaking down Browns receiver Amari Cooper against the Texans

HOUSTON — The kind of day Amari Cooper had Sunday in Houston don't come completely out of nowhere. Typically, it doesn't take too long to see when it's going to be one of those kind of days pretty early.

The record-setting performance the Browns receiver had in the 36-22 win over the Houston Texans wasn't any different. It's not that it was obvious from the start he was going to set a new single-game receiving yards record, which he did with 265 yards on 11 catches.

However, the kind of plays Cooper was making and the connection he and quarterback Joe Flacco seemed to be in from the start was an early tell that, if nothing else, you had better hoped you either had Cooper on your fantasy team or weren't playing someone who did have him. Or, just hope you weren't the Houston Texans.

“Obviously as a receiver, you always want to make big plays early, you want to touch the ball as soon as you can," Cooper said after the game. "So from the first play of the game when we saw the game plan yesterday, I knew I had a chance to get that ball based on the coverages that they play. It kind of worked out how I expected it to. Yeah.”

What follows is a look at five of the catches which most exemplify the day Cooper had against Houston. So where do you start on a day like Sunday was for Cooper?

Right at the very start.

14:53, 1st quarter, 1st and 10 at Cleveland 41: 53-yard catch

Talk about setting the tone at the very start. That's what this play did, as Flacco effortlessly fired this pass to Cooper on the game's first offensive snap. Lined up on the left side of the formation, Cooper simply split the Texans' Steven Nelson and Jimmie Ward on a post pattern. The ball was actually a touch underthrown, which made Cooper have to slow down a bit to make the catch. That allowed Ward to tackle Cooper the Houston 6. Three plays later, it was 7-0 Browns on Jerome Ford's 4-yard run. This catch pushed Cooper over the 1,000-yard mark for the season, making him the first Cleveland Browns player to have back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons.

12:16, 2nd quarter, 1st and 10 at Cleveland 25: 75-yard touchdown catch

The longest completion of the day, both for Cooper and Flacco, gave the Browns a 14-0 lead. It started with a play fake to running back Kareem Hunt by Flacco, who then bootlegged to the left. From there, it was a flick of the wrist by the quarterback to send the ball down the field to Cooper, who was being tightly covered by Houston's D'Angelo Ross — he'd draw a pass interference penalty that was declined — when he catches the ball around the Texans 33. Cooper was able to shed the lunging tackle attempt by Ross and run into the end zone for the touchdown.

4:30, 3rd quarter, 4th and 8 at Houston 30: 13-yard catch

It may say something about the greatness of both Cooper and Flacco that, when asked about this specific play after the game, they both needed to be reminded of the play. Most quarterbacks who have to fire off a pass to the sideline while having defenders around him — on fourth down, no less — where the receiver catches the ball while tightly covered and while he made sure both feet were clearly inbounds shouldn't need too much help remembering the play. Same for the receiver who made the sensational catch. Then again, on this day for both, it was like, ho-hum, whatever.

2:39, 3rd quarter, 1st and goal at Houston 7: 7-yard touchdown catch

Degree of difficulty wasn't nearly as high for Cooper's next catch on what turned out to be the 19th and final play of the Browns drive. Cooper simply does a little stutter-step right before the goal line to get himself inside leverage on Houston's Derek Stingley Jr. That was enough for Flacco to rifle the pass to Cooper, who made the catch as he was getting hit by Stingley. The result was a touchdown and a 28-7 Browns lead.

3:49, 4th quarter, 4th and 7 at Houston 26: record-setting 13-yard catch

Not to be confused with the other 13-yard fourth-down catch Cooper had in the third quarter, this was the one that pushed him past Josh Gordon's 2013 performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars of 261 yards. Cooper was on the right side of the formation and ran a simple 13-yard out. Flacco was able to perfectly place the pass where Stingley, who's defending Cooper, couldn't get his hands on the pass. From there, it became a simple pitch and catch, with Cooper catching the ball, getting his feet in and etching his name in the Browns record book.

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 5 catches for a record: Breaking down Amari Cooper against the Texans