Good points

Quote
AlbaNY_Ram
"Kupp benefited from Cooks and what he specifically was called to do in the offense" I agree 100%. I'm just saying that perhaps other players (like Higbee) benefit from Kupp's presence in ways that won't show up in Kupp's stats. And yes, it's easy to look at the stats and see that Kupp's numbers are down. But the Rams passing game is not down in any statistically significant measure (287 yards a game first 8 games last year, 275 in the final 8, 275 against the Cowboys), which means that while Kupp's role has diminished other players have seen a boost in their production.

"And I don't know about teams trying to take Kupp out specifically... " I haven't done my own research on this, but both Alyo and dzrams say so. And it does offer an explanation for Kupp's drop in production aligning with an uptick for other players.

"... but I would argue that without the deep threat in the Rams offense ... " I pointed out a couple plays in this post where Everett and Kupp went deep and took two defenders with them. How would those plays have been better if Cooks had gone deep instead? [ramsrule.com]

"Hes not on the field in 2TE sets" RFS69 reported that against the Cowboys the Rams ran 11 personnel 50 times, 12 personnel 20 times, and 13 personnel 3 times. [ramsrule.com] Kupp was on the field for 62 plays, meaning he was out there for at least a dozen times in 12 or 13 personnel. Woods had 61 snaps (one less than Kupp), Reynolds & Jefferson 37 & 33. Based on a 1 game sample I'd say Kupp and Woods are WR1 & WR2 with the other two guys splitting WR3. [subscribers.footballguys.com]

"One thing I definitely think is that even if Kupp sees more attention it would seem to me he should be winning way more often even with the extra attention" I can see that. But if it's easier to toss the rock to someone else what point would Goff/McVay be trying to prove by attempting a more difficult throw?

"4 catches and 46 yards per in his last 9 games is not expected. Let's see if he breaks out today." My outlook is different: let's see what the defense is giving us and then let's exploit that to the max.