ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Jared Cook will no doubt live forever in Green Bay Packers lore for his acrobatic sideline catch in the playoffs last season to spark a victory at Dallas.
The tight end’s circus catch inside the 1-yard line with 17 seconds remaining last week -- which set up the Oakland Raiders' improbable win over the Kansas City Chiefs with no time on the clock -- might also get its own chapter in Silver and Black history books.
As long, that is, as the Raiders build on that 28-yard catch in what was essentially triple coverage and win some games, starting Sunday at the Buffalo Bills.
“Jared has that size and that go-get-it ability where he has that big catch radius to him,” Raiders offensive coordinator Todd Downing said of the 6-foot-5, 254-pound veteran. “It was a good opportunity to throw ... a 50-50 ball to him and let him come down and make a play for us. We’ve been saying for a long time, that’s why he’s here.”
It was third-and-10 at the Kansas City 29-yard line with 23 seconds remaining in a game the Raiders were trailing by six points when Derek Carr unleashed a deep ball toward the left end zone pylon. With Seth Roberts and Chiefs defensive back Terrance Mitchell in front of him -- Downing said the play was designed to have better spacing between Cook and Roberts, but a “defensive re-route” and “an exaggerated seam release” clogged the area -- Cook had two DBs on him in Daniel Sorensen and Eric Murray.
No matter; Cook went up, grabbed the ball, fell to the Oakland Coliseum grass and rolled into the end zone for what initially was ruled a touchdown with 17 seconds on the clock.
But the replay official ruled he was down by contact inside the 1-yard line and, after 10 seconds were run off the clock due to the review, the Raiders were to snap the ball four more times -- a Michael Crabtree TD catch was waved off due to offensive pass interference, and consecutive defensive-holding penalties on incompletions to Cook and Cordarrelle Patterson set the Raiders up at the 2 -- before they scored on Carr’s quick throw to Crabtree and kicked the PAT to win 31-30.
And were it not for Cook’s catch, none of it would have happened.
In fact, earlier in the drive, Cook came up with a 13-yard gain on fourth-and-11.
“That fourth down was huge,” Carr said. “Obviously, we needed it. For him to be able to get big and make that play against a coverage where he’s not really supposed to get in there. ... To be able to have a guy that we can put out wide and run receiver routes and have a one-on-one and say I’m going to give him a chance, then him to make that play?
“To have that while you have [Amari Cooper], Seth, Crab on the inside, to move them and do different things, it changes things. It’s so crucial to have. I’m glad he was able to make the plays that he did.”
This was the versatility Cook was supposed to bring to Oakland's offense, and the threat to opposing defenses.
Cook’s 107 yards receiving -- averaging 17.8 yards on six catches -- was the third-highest total of his nine-year career and most since he went for 141 yards for the St. Louis Rams against the Arizona Cardinals in the 2013 season opener.
“That’s what this game is about: the hard work that these coaches and the guys in this room put in,” the 30-year-old Cook said. “It’s about resiliency. No matter if your back is against the wall, no matter how bad you get down, you have to keep fighting. That speaks volumes about this team that we were able to keep fighting through tough situations.
“That should propel us forward into our future games. We know how this feels.”
But will it carry on to Buffalo?