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Rookie WR Keon Coleman accomplishes crucial career first in Bills’ win over Titans

Rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman was phenomenal in the Buffalo Bills' Week 7 win over the Tennessee Titans, accomplishing an important feat in the process.

Kyle Silagyi

Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
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Much of the discourse exiting the Buffalo Bills’ Week 7 win over the Tennessee Titans will expectedly be about wide receiver Amari Cooper, who tallied four receptions for 66 yards and an impressive score in his debut for the team.

The attention is undoubtedly earned, as the veteran played exceptionally well in the 34-10 victory. There’s another player in the team’s receiving corps who deserves his flowers, however, as rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman had the best performance of his young career on Sunday.

The 21-year-old caught four passes for 125 yards, leading the team in the latter stat in what was his first time topping 100 receiving yards as a professional. He got his day started early in the second quarter when he got free of a Tennessee defender to find a wide-open area of the field, catching a Josh Allen intermediate pass at the Titans’ 37-yard line before taking the ball down to the 11. His next splash play came in the fourth quarter when he caught a quick slant pass from Allen before shedding a defender to break off what would end up being a career-long 57-yard catch.

He even had what would’ve been the most impressive touchdown of his career called back, as he caught an Allen pass with one hand in the endzone in the fourth quarter. The play was ultimately overturned, but it was an excellent demonstration of the rookie’s ability to fight through contact and reel in tough catches along the sideline (even if it was questionably overturned).

Though Coleman’s play had not been poor entering Week 7 (he had caught 12 passes for 201 yards and two scores), fans were actively anticipating that outing, a breakout game in which he was a consistent part of the offensive game plan and made the most of his opportunities. He did just that on Sunday; though it took the offense an entire half to get going, it started to roll from the third quarter onwards, with Coleman playing a paramount role in what ended up being an efficient day for the unit.

Related: LOOK: Several Bills wear hilarious Josh Allen shirts ahead of Week 7 clash vs. Titans

The young pass-catcher’s performance is particularly promising given the play of Cooper in what was only his fifth day with the organization; Buffalo’s receiving crops had largely struggled through the first six weeks of the season, and the addition of Cooper was expected to benefit the entire receiving corps in that it would divvy defenses' attention and place pass-catchers in more auspicious situations to succeed. Between the Sunday play of Cooper, Coleman, Khalil Shakir (seven receptions), and Dalton Kincaid (52 receiving yards), it looks as though the Bills’ passing attack is finally getting back on track, and the play of the unit should only improve as Cooper further acclimates to the audience.

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Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

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