Earl Thomas is in the news for doing weird shit with his brother. I want to talk about Thomas the football player. The social media mob has roasted Thomas for orgies and a bad stiff arm by Derrick Henry. The truth is, Thomas is still a dominant football player. Any team would be lucky to have him.
The box score doesn’t look super sexy. 38 combined tackles, two interceptions, four pass deflections, two sacks, one forced fumble. The truth of the matter is, that it doesn’t come close to telling the full story. Teams don’t just fear Thomas. They’re terrified of him and flat out refuse to throw the ball in his direction. Baltimore shouldn’t regret this signing.
In 15 games played, Thomas allowed 6 completions. Not a joke. Teams threw in his direction 14 times all year. Again, not a joke. Over the final 6 weeks of the regular season, Earl Thomas allowed 6 yards. Again… not a joke. 6 yards over the final 6 weeks of the season.
The Ravens have the best secondary in football. Marcus Peters is back to his elite ways. Marlon Humphrey is quietly turning into a star. Jimmy Smith still has good production left in him. Then there’s Earl Thomas who nobody wants to mess with.
Earl Thomas allowed 110 receiving yards all year and 0 touchdowns. The 42.9 percent completion percentage was the lowest of his career. I think there’s a chance he lost a step or two, but the former first round pick from Texas is just so damn smart! Coaches in Baltimore often got frustrated because he scrapped the gameplan and did shit on his own. Hey, with those results who cares.
At the end of the day, we’re still looking at a feared safety in the back end. Teams don’t even throw the ball in his direction. The Ravens defense is back and this secondary is the number one reason why.
