Demaryius Thomas will have 10 receptions, 100 yards and two touchdowns
It’s been easy to bash Demaryius Thomas over the last few weeks, but on Sunday, he’ll redeem himself in a big way.
As I detailed earlier this week, despite the drops, DT is still one of the game’s elite wide receivers, on pace for 108 receptions, 1,313 yards and four touchdowns; that would likely go down as one of the five-best receiving seasons in franchise history. Not to mention, he’s been doing it all with the worst quarterbacking he’s seen since Tim Tebow.
The truth is that if it wasn’t for the drops, we’d still be talking about DT as if he was a top-five wideout in the NFL; he’s that talented.
And against the Steelers this weekend, he’ll get every opportunity to prove himself. According to Football Outsiders’ DVOA rankings, the Steelers are the sixth worst team in football when it comes to No. 1 wide receivers, allowing over 10 receptions and nearly 90 yards a game. In their last six games, here are some of the receiving numbers they’ve allowed:
A.J. Green: 6 receptions; 132 yards; 1 touchdown
Doug Baldwin: 6 receptions; 145 yards; 3 touchdowns
Travis Benjamin: 7 receptions; 113 yards; 0 touchdowns
Michael Crabtree: 7 receptions; 108 yards; 2 touchdowns
Amari Cooper: 7 receptions; 88 yards; 1 touchdown
A.J. Green: 11 receptions; 118 yards; 1 touchdown
In fact, the only game in which they didn’t allow a receiver to reach 100 yards receiving was against the Indianapolis Colts, where the combination of Matt Hasselbeck and Charlie Whitehurst only threw for 186 yards in total.
Demaryius Thomas is just as good as those receivers above, if not better in some cases, and I expect him to have a monster performance; he’s motivated and ready to prove his doubters wrong.
