Adam Thielen leads all receivers in receptions, targets, yards and first downs. He’s on the verge of having a 1,000-yard season at the bye week thanks to eight consecutive 100-yard games. He is on pace to break the NFL record in receptions by a wide margin, and he’s not far off from the single-season receiving yards mark.
It took long enough, but defenses are finally taking extra precautions against the NFL’s leading receiver.
The New York Jets and New Orleans Saints have employed bracket coverage against Thielen the last two weeks where a safety has shaded toward Thielen’s side of the field and provided help to the corner.
This has been particularly evident on third down, considering Thielen has been one of Kirk Cousins’ favorite targets in clutch situations with 19 third (or fourth) down conversions this season.
“If Adam’s not open I probably won’t be throwing to him,” Cousins said Wednesday. “There’s a chance that even when they try to take him away he can still get open, and then certainly we’ll try to get him the football. But if he’s not open, I’ll progress through my progression and find a guy who is, hopefully.”
In Week 7 against the Jets, Cousins converted two third downs to Thielen, but they were the only third-down conversions of the game in 15 attempts. Jamal Adams and Terrence Brooks spent time doubling Thielen, who didn’t usurp the 100-yard mark until late in the fourth quarter. Thielen did, however, beat a double team in the first photo below to make an impressive first down grab.
The New Orleans Saints applied similar heat with Vonn Bell and Kurt Coleman often helping bracket Thielen, who had an impressive first half against P.J. Williams and newcomer Eli Apple but was held to two grabs in the second half as the Vikings lost 30-20.
On Cousins’ Pick-6 to Williams in the third quarter, Thielen was doubled on the right sideline. Cousins looked his way before fleeing the pocket and trying to find Stefon Diggs, who had stopped on his crossing route.
That happened regularly throughout the game as the Saints capitalized on obvious passing downs, including numerous second-and-longs like the one above, to take away the Vikings’ top receiving threat.
It’s tough to say that recent opponents have really contained Thielen, who’s gone over 100 yards in both games, but they’ve forced the Vikings to look elsewhere in key situations, which was enough to influence a big turnover against the Saints.
Detroit’s defense will be the next one tested. The Lions have held the Vikings to 16 and seven points, respectively, in their two appearances at U.S. Bank Stadium. Their pass defense currently ranks seventh in yards allowed per game.
“They’ve got good players back there,” said head coach Mike Zimmer. “Two safeties back there are very good. Obviously, [Darius] Slay is a really good player, but they play a lot of man and try to disrupt you at the line of scrimmage.”
Lions head coach Matt Patricia, in turn, knows the challenge he’s facing in Thielen.
“Thielen is an outstanding route runner,” he told Twin Cities reporters on a conference call. “This guy does some unbelievable breaks in and out with his hips, can separate, does a great job of squeezing the ball, coming back and just really understanding leverage, how to win his leverage, how to attack leverages of his defenders and really create some problems.”
The Vikings can combat the double teams by improving in the run game to set up more manageable third downs that will force defenses to respect the run. But with defensive backs’ attention elsewhere, the door could be open for Stefon Diggs to start a 100-yard streak of his own. Diggs is coming off a 119-yard performance against the Saints and has combined for 29 catches, 352 yards in four career games against the Lions.
“Obviously Diggs has that incredible vertical speed where he really can get behind the secondary very quick,” said Patricia, “[Diggs and Thielen] complement each other very well.”
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