Thomas flashes back into view
The football that drifted like a cloud toward the end zone Sunday afternoon seemed to need an eternity to arrive. But Demaryius Thomas was content to wait. The wide receiver, a pillar of the Broncos’ offense through two Super Bowl runs, waited much longer for a victory.
In their 23-0 blowout of the visiting Jets, the Broncos’ first win in more than two months, Thomas took over, nearly outgaining New York’s offense by himself. His touchdown catch in the first quarter, a 20-yard, back-shoulder floater from Trevor Siemian, gave Denver a 10-0 lead.
In their past eight games combined, the Broncos scored only 16 points in the first quarter. But Thomas’ touchdown was worth more in solace than in points. The highest-paid player on Denver’s offense finally played like it, catching eight passes Sunday for 93 yards, both game highs.
“The game is about always having fun, and that’s what I was doing,” Thomas said. “I think I’ve been playing like that all season. I just got more opportunities and took advantage of them.”
Thomas shot up the Broncos’ all-time receiving list, passing Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe to reach No. 2 in career team receiving yards (8,475) and touchdowns (56). Rod Smith is the only receiver still ahead of him.
In a sideways season, as the Broncos face-planted into an eight-game losing streak, Thomas became a luxury piece on a suddenly rebuilding team. The fiveyear, $70 million contract he signed in 2015 takes Thomas through the 2019 season, but there’s no certainty he will be with the team that long. Even he has predicted change is coming to the roster after this season.
This season alone, Thomas has been forced to adjust to three starting quarterbacks. Siemian, Brock Osweiler and then Paxton Lynch, and now Siemian again.
“Those guys don’t deserve this season. They deserve more,” Siemian said of Thomas and No. 2 receiver Emmanuel Sanders. “We just felt the last couple weeks, we haven’t challenged (defenders) with the ball enough.”
Siemian’s lofted pass to Thomas for a touchdown in the first quarter Sunday was an aggressive move to stop a skid. He and Thomas took advantage of a vastly outmanned cornerback, the Jets’ Morris Claiborne, who got beat oneon-one at the line of scrimmage, turned his back, never saw the ball and drew an interference flag.
Thomas, a four-time Pro-Bowler, can often dominate a defender like that. His issue, the one that seems to frustrate Broncos fans, is a nagging potential to disappear. He caught just two passes, on 10 targets, in an embarrassing loss at Miami the previous weekend.
For the season, he has 69 receptions for 771 yards. Those numbers, though, present a challenge: Thomas has not finished with fewer than 1,000 yards in a season since 2011, when he started just five games. He has three games remaining to get 229 yards to reach the mark.
“The fans are always hard on him and I never understood,” Sanders said. “The guy’s had five seasons of 1,000 yards, about to get a sixth. He’s a big-time player.”
Saturday night, first-year Denver coach Vance Joseph called out the players he considers leaders, including Thomas. He wanted them to help Denver stop the losing streak.
“It was not a rah-rah speech,” linebacker Von Miller said. “The fringe guys need the rah-rah speech. He challenged the ballers. The ballers are going to ball regardless of the circumstances or the score or the game.”
Thomas’ best game since a 10catch effort in Week 6 against the New York Giants was “inspired football,” Joseph said.
He was outgaining the Jets’ offense alone until late in the game. The difference this time was the Broncos finally won.
“It was basically just playing for 60 minutes for the guys on the left and right of you,” Thomas said.