Coming into the game, the Panthers' defense had not allowed a single rush of more than 6 yards in the last three games. Cook took care of that on his first touch of the day, running hard around the left end for a gain of 12 yards.
Cook worked the edges that way all day, actually, using a toss crack that allowed him to do so.
"Just explosive play," Canales said of the difference on defense. Cook had seven runs that were considered explosive (10-plus yards), including both of his touchdowns. "I thought James Cook did an excellent job of being patient. And just really slow-playing (it). They did a great job up front, staying on their combinations, and didn't feel like we could collapse the backside of some of these runs.
"There were some cutbacks that got out got out on us, and the toss cracks really were effective for them today. So, stuff we got to look at, and you know, this is a copycat league, and teams are going to see that and try to attack us with those things. So we got to go back to the drawing board and make sure we're fitting all those up correctly."
Echoed Horn, "Team's been hitting us with perimeter runs, and they've been successful, so got to find a way to stop it."