Toughest Receiver Test Yet Awaits

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Titans have faced nearly all of the NFL’s most productive pass catchers this season.

Now comes number-one.

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas presents the most significant challenge yet to a defense that has had to battle six of the NFL’s top seven in receiving yards coming into the week. Thomas’ 1,552 yards are more than 200 ahead of second-place Chris Godwin (Tampa Bay). Thomas has topped 100 yards receiving nine times, including five of the last six games, and is one of nine players with at least 180 yards in a game this season.

“He’s got incredible hands,” defensive coordinator Dean Pees said Thursday. “He’s quick. He’s got great release. … He’s just a talented, talented receiver.

“… Everybody’s got to be aware, obviously, of where he is.”

Tennessee’s first 14 games have included encounters with the six who fall directly in line behind Thomas. Perhaps it is not surprising, therefore, that the Titans rank 25 in passing yards allowed per game and are on pace to allow more than 4,000 passing yards for just the second time in nine years.

Only two of those six, Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans and Kansas City’s Travis Kelce, scored touchdowns against the Titans. Those two as well as Carolina’s D.J. Moore and Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins, topped 100 yards. Hopkins had 119 on six receptions last Sunday.

“Last week it was (Hopkins),” Pees said. “We did a great job through three quarters – I think he had two catches for 15 yards – and then we just, for whatever reason, in the fourth quarter we lost him twice. … We just can’t allow that with (Thomas).”

A rundown of how the NFL leaders in receiving yards have done against the Tennessee Titans this season:

Player, team	Yards	vs. Titans
Michael Thomas, New Orleans	1,552	TBD
Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay	1,333	4-43 0 TD
D.J. Moore, Carolina	1,174	7-101 0 TD
Mike Evans, Tampa Bay	1,157	11-198 2 TD
Julio Jones, Atlanta	1,150	4-52 0 TD
DeAndre Hopkins, Houston	1,142	6-119 0 TD
Travis Kelce, Kansas City	1,131	7-75 1 TD

Thomas was a second-round pick (47 overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft and has gotten better every year. He finished ninth in the league as a rookie with 1,137 yards. Each of the last two years he was sixth with 1,245 and 1,405 yards, respectively.

His 133 receptions also lead the league by a wide margin – Hopkins is second with 99 – and are 10 short of Marvin Harrison’s single-season record, which has stood since 2002.

"(Thomas) is developing into an excellent receiver," Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “... The relationship that (quarterback Drew Brees) has with Michael Thomas and being able to find him in zone and man coverage, and the route craft that (Thomas) has now and has developed is a huge challenge.”

It’s just the latest for the Titans defense.