Denver Broncos: 3 Takeaways vs. Bills in Week 3
By Bruce Matson
2. Toss It To The Big Man
Broncos’ quarterback Trevor Siemian targeted Emmanuel Sanders 15 times in this game, converting seven of those targets for 75 yards. Sanders was covered by rookie cornerback Tre’Davious White most of the game and Siemian took advantage of the obvious mismatch. However, he was only able to complete 46.66 percent of those targets.
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Demaryius Thomas was double covered most of the game, either by a safety helping the cornerback by covering the deep third of the field or by a linebacker trying to prevent Thomas from breaking slant patterns down the middle of the defense.
Thomas was covered by Bills cornerback E.J. Gaines who stands at 5-10 and weighs 190 pounds. Thomas is five inches taller than Gaines and outweighs him by around 40 pounds, giving Thomas a tremendous size advantage.
Although, Thomas was targeted nine times, Siemian should have taken advantage of the size differential between the two players. Thomas is athletic enough to make plays on the ball in tight coverage. Even if he was covered, it doesn’t mean he still wasn’t open, because Thomas is more than capable of out muscling smaller defenders to come down with tough contested catches.
There were missed opportunities left on the field by not targeting Thomas more often, especially during the early portions of the game.