Amari Cooper gets apology, poetic justice in TD after missed call in Browns win vs. Titans
CLEVELAND — Amari Cooper shot a wry smile and kept his answer short and to the point.
"I heard the ref apologized," Cooper said.
By that point, the play in question — a touchdown catch that wasn't — was a mere footnote in what ended up being a 27-3 Browns win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. In fact, Cooper may have even found a measure of sweet justice in the touchdown catch that was the exclamation point on the team's second impressive win in as many home games.
Actually, there's no "may have" necessary. Cooper definitely found a measure of sweet justice in his 43-yard touchdown catch with 6:51 remaining, when he split two Titans defenders and was wide open in the end zone.
"I felt amazing, especially after the play I just mentioned where I should have just kept running until the whistle," Cooper said after his seven-catch, 116-yard, one-TD game. "It just was such a weird play. I never had a play like that before, but that should have been a touchdown. So it felt really good to actually get a touchdown at the end."
"The play" Cooper mentioned was one of the more strange ones to see in Browns history. Step back and absorb that, because that is a weighty statement.
There's been a number of plays over the years when the Browns, or their fans, have felt the officials had blown the call. On this one, they would be correct in their assessment.
Cooper made a catch near — not on — the sideline with the Titans' Kristian Fulton defending at the Tennessee 40, a 25-yard gain. He continued to jog down the field for a few seconds, then stopped and looked back at the official, before finishing his jog to the end zone.
All of the confusion after the catch is because the official on the sideline — the Browns sideline — had ruled he stepped out of bounds. The problem, as multiple replays showed, was that Cooper's foot came nowhere close to stepping out of bounds.
"I definitely got robbed of a touchdown because the safety, he was cooked," Cooper said. "It was over with. I was gone. I was going to make a move on him and score 100%. So, yeah, I didn't step out of bounds. I knew I didn't step out of bounds. I'm not sure why they called that out."
The play was not reviewable because the official blew his whistle. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski was asked about the play, to which he said, "I mean, it happens. What are you going to do?"
Go right back to Cooper, honestly. And draw a no-call on some grabbing by Titans cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting as Cooper — who drew two pass interference penalties and another two holding calls in the game — was running a go route down the right side of the field.
"Well, what I thought was, it was obviously pass interference, and it was 100% a pass play," Cooper said. "But he grabbed me and he grabbed me and pulled me as if he was running towards the quarterback. So I thought Deshaun (Watson) dropped the ball or fumbled. … Why is he grabbing me and pulling me and running this way? I was confused. So I kind of stopped, like, why are you grabbing me? But I don't know. It was kind of weird, honestly. It was kind of weird. I should have kept running because it would've been a touchdown."
That touchdown eventual came for Cooper. So, too, did the apology for the missed call that started it all.
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: Amari Cooper gets apology, TD after missed call in Browns win
