Thielen: No easy solution
Pats CBs must be on point
FOXBORO — If perfect coverage exists, the Packers were so close to executing it against Adam Thielen on Sunday.
Aligned wide to the right side, Thielen ran inside against rookie cornerback Jaire Alexander, then broke his route to the outside after about 20 yards. Alexander read the flag route brilliantly, mirroring Thielen’s movement. Packers safety Josh Jones made a well-timed break on the ball.
It was delivered into the tightest of windows, an interception waiting to happen.
Leaping off his left foot, Thielen reached over Alexander. Jones could have laid a big hit on Thielen but was playing the ball. It never arrived. Thielen snagged it out of the air, secured it before either defender could poke it free, and tumbled to the ground.
As Thielen celebrated, Alexander glanced up at the big screen to figure out how this play, defended so well by the Packers, resulted in a 33yard pickup for Minnesota.
That’s the Patriots’ problem this week.
“I don’t know if there’s anybody better than them,” said Pats cornerback Jason McCourty, referring to Thielen and Stefon Diggs.
The Patriots have been difficult to decipher on defense through 11 games. They’ve been roasted by several subpar offenses. Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles, benched for Cody Kessler this week, threw for 376 yards and four touchdowns against the Pats. They’ve contained some prominent offenses, disrupting Aaron Rodgers throughout a convincing win against Green Bay. With three more AFC East games on the docket, they’re running out of viable opponents in the regular season.
The Vikings this Sunday and the Steelers in Week 15 will give the Patriots a solid gauge of their progress.
And any conversation about the Minnesota offense begins with Thielen, who has topped 100 yards in all but two games. He’s on pace for 135 receptions for 1,655 yards. Marvin Harrison’s single-season record of 143 receptions remains in play.
On paper, Thielen is a particularly troubling matchup for the Patriots. Thanks to Stephon Gilmore, they’ve dominated perimeter wideouts like Davante Adams, Allen Robinson, Sammy Watkins and, most recently, Robby Anderson. Thielen, though, does most of his damage from an interior position. That’s where the Pats have been susceptible.
Slot cornerback Jonathan Jones allowed a touchdown and a 17-yard gain on thirdand-6 to Jets receiver Jermaine Kearse. Jones is a highly competitive player, but the Vikings would undoubtedly target that matchup.
In his past five games, Thielen has caught eight passes on 12 targets for 109 yards when aligning outside the numbers.
In the same span, he’s caught 26 passes on 32 targets for 310 yards when aligning inside the numbers.
Built like a traditional boundary wideout at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Thielen is a highly versatile player who has mastered the art of disguising his route. When it appears certain Thielen is breaking outside, he cuts inside.
“Very crafty,” Gilmore said. “A lot of those 50-50 balls, he comes down with them.”
“All the small things you’d coach somebody as a receiver, you tell him just to turn (Thielen’s) film on and it’s a teaching tape,” McCourty said.
Recently, the Pats have experimented with McCourty as an inside cornerback. It’s a position he never played in his nine years with the Titans and Browns, but one he’s embraced. In the fourth quarter against the Jets, Belichick replaced Jones with rookie cornerback J.C. Jackson, shifting McCourty to the slot cornerback spot.
This could be the strategy Sunday, pitting Gilmore against Diggs, Jackson versus the 6-2 Laquon Treadwell, and McCourty against Thielen.
“I think I understand the defense enough where I can go play any of the positions,” McCourty said. “It’s just now trying to get a certain amount of reps so when you get in there you’re comfortable and you’re confident.”
Facing Thielen and Diggs, comfortable is a relative term.
“You look at the stats and you’re like, ‘All right, they’re doing well,’ and you turn the film on and it just further confirms what the stats are,” McCourty said. “Obviously we have our work cut out for us.”