Revenge game in NFC Championship more meaningful for Brandin Cooks, Rams
By Dan Parzych
https://ramblinfan.com/2019/01/14/los-angeles-rams-sean-mcvay-building-a-dynasty/
Brandin Cooks will face his former team in the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship as a member of the Los Angeles Rams.
Back in the offseason, the
Los Angeles Rams pulled off a surprise move by acquiring
Brandin Cooks from the New England Patriots in exchange for a first-round pick.
Giving up a first rounder for a second year in a row was surprising to see for a team like the Rams, but also well worth it once again when seeing how much of a threat Cooks has proven to be over the years thanks to his blazing speed. In fact, when seeing how Los Angeles locked him up for the long run with a hefty extension before even playing a single game along with the fact that he caught 80 catches for 1,204 yards with six touchdowns (one rushing), acquiring Cooks was a great decision by the organization.
As exciting as Sunday’s NFC Championship battle with the New Orleans Saints is for Los Angeles in general, this game has a little more meaning for the speedster since this is the team Cooks spent the first three years of his career with.
At the time, Cooks seemed frustrated with his role on offense for the Saints, and while it was surprising to see the Rams were his third team in three seasons, Los Angeles is certainly happy with how this situation played out.
During the first meeting in the regular season, Cooks did everything in his power to help the Rams pull off the win on the road over the Saints by hauling in eight catches for 114 yards with a touchdown, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough in the 45-35 loss.
This time around, however, the circumstances are much different since there is a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, and Los Angeles seems to be playing with a lot more confidence when seeing how they were to hand the Dallas Cowboys a 30-22 loss in the Divisional Round.
Plus, when seeing how the Philadelphia Eagles were able to limit the Saints to scoring just 20 points this past Sunday, this should make the Rams feel even more confident in their chances of pulling off the win this time around to punch their ticket to Atlanta.
Of course, if this is going to happen, Los Angeles will need every single one of their players to give 110 percent against New Orleans, including Cooks.
Hopefully, Cooks will be taking the approach of most players facing a former team by playing with a little extra motivation to help take down the Saints along with securing a trip to the Super Bowl for the Rams.Otherwise, Cooks and the rest of his Los Angeles teammates could end up spending the next few months wondering what could have been after all of that hype from the offseason if they fail to come through in New Orleans.
