OAKLAND -- Nick Foles could only throw the seven touchdown passes on Sunday. Someone had to catch them. The teammate on the end of the majority of Foles' historic day was wide receiver Riley Cooper.
Cooper caught five passes for 139 yards and three touchdowns in Sunday's 49-20 demolition of the Oakland Raiders at the O.co Coliseum.
"That's something. He had an unreal game. I'm extremely proud of him," said Cooper, giving Foles all of the credit. "He's a great friend of mine, great teammate. I'm proud of him."
The most touchdowns Cooper ever had in a season was three last year. After Sunday's standout performance, Cooper has 25 catches for 451 yards and five youchdowns. All three of those totals are career highs just nine games into the season.
"It's fun when you feel like you're contributing," Cooper said. "That's the biggest thing. I don't want a thousand yards every game."
The first touchdown came on a go route down the left sideline on the second play of the second quarter. Cornerback D.J. Hayden got turned around and Foles looked off the safety and put the ball up for Cooper, who made it 14-3.
On the Eagles' next possession, it took just one play for the two to connect again. Cooper ran a deep corner - again vs. Hayden - and Foles got the safety to come down before going over the top. That made it 21-3, and the Eagles never looked back.
"He spreads the ball around. He has confidence in all of the guys," Cooper said. "When you spread the ball around and you use the whole field, the defense has to cover it all. It opens things up in the run game and pass game. He played remarkable."
The third and final touchdown was Foles' seventh of the game, which tied the NFL record. Cooper ran a crossing route in the end zone and Foles fed him the ball in the back, right corner for the touchdown. The Eagles were a perfect 4-for-4 scoring touchdowns in the red zone.
"He's very efficient in the red zone, but that carries over from being efficient on the field," Cooper said of Foles. "He's just on right now. I don't know if he was more on in the red zone."
In the Eagles' last two road games, Cooper has nine receptions for 259 yards (28.8 yards per catch) and four touchdowns. For good measure, he even took a lateral from Foles in the third quarter for an 18-yard gain on the ground.
"The quarterback has confidence in you and he throws the ball where it needs to be," Cooper said. "When you have that with a great game plan, the sky's the limit for us."
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