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Michael Thomas is good at football, and atColor Rush DeMario Davis Jersey this point should be in everyone’s top 5 receiver list.One thing that makes him so effective is his ability to get separation quickly off the line. This ability also helps Drew Brees be able to get rid of the ball at a quicker pace. One way Sean Payton uses Thomas’s abilityis by putting him in the slot, where he has more space to work with. On this play Thomas runs one of his signature routes—the pivot route—out of the slot on the boundary side. This route is inherently designed to create space between the receiver and defender, but with Thomas running this it’s almost unfair. The pivot route is where the receiver will release towards the middle of field, before planting his foot and cutting back to the sideline. Marcus Peters is playing with outside leverage on Thomas, expecting help on inside breaking routes from his linebacker. At the snap, Thomas will start his route towards the inside as if running a slant and gets Peters to flip his hips towards the inside. This makes it harder for the cornerback to change his direction when Thomas plants his foot, pivots, and breaks toward the sideline. Thomas’s route running and change of direction skill allows him to create almost three yards of separation when he catches the pass. He breaks Peters’s tackle attempt and is able to gain 14 yards and get out of bounds.Michael Thomas and the Y-crossOne of the Saints’ go-to play this year is the play action Y-cross. The play action attempts to pull the linebackers toward the line of scrimmage and give Thomas space to get behind them and have him get open across the field. Thomas will line up in a tight split (close to the tight end-Josh Hill). Taysom Hill will line up as the second tight end and will chip the edge rusher before running a flat route. Tre’Quan Smith is lined up on the boundary side (top of screen) and will run a “go” route in an attempt to clear out that side of the field to open space for Thomas on his crossing route.Thomas will begin his route inside before getting vertical to about 12 yards where he will break his route towards the opposite sideline. Thomas is able to sell the vertical route and forces the safety to open his hips and bail in order to defend the deep pass. This is when Thomas breaks inside and is able to create enough separation to make the catch for 13 yards.First Pick Alex Anzalone was able to nab his first career interception on an athletic play that saw him stretch out for the ball and make the catch away from his body with his hands.On this play, the defense initially shows a cover 2 look, which indicates that the middle of the field will be open. Ram’s quarterback Jared Goff sees this and will make an adjustment to the play, but the defense is actually in cover 3, and Marcus Williams will roll towards the middle of the field right before the snap. Lattimore and Apple will take the outside deep thirds of the field, and Anzalone and Coleman will cover the hook/curl zone. The Rams are running a hitch-post route combination to the field side, and Goff s expecting Anzalone to come up to cover the hitch ran by the tight end, but instead he maintains his depth and reads Goff’s eyes to step in front of the pass intended for Woods. A New Wrinkle Taysom Hill continues to be used at the quarterback position on short yardage situations. Most of the plays feature Hill running the read-option with Alvin Kamara. For this game Youth Marshon Lattimore Jersey , Payton introduced a new wrinkle for Hill. Designed to look like a read-option, it appears to be a designed quarterback run with power blocking up front. The offense lines up in pistol formation with Ingram behind Hill and Zach Line to his left. Hill will motion tight end Josh Hill into the backfield to create a diamond formation look. Taysom Hill will fake the handoff to Ingram while Josh Hill will attempt to block the linebacker on the edge. Taysom Hill will follow the lead block by Ingram, but is tackled short of the first down by the outside linebacker that Josh Hill was unable to block. This is just another creative way Sean Payton is getting Hill’s unique skill set involved in the offense and moving forward it will be exciting to see what else Payton schemes up with his utility knife. Saints coach Sean Payton preaches the importance of self-scouting to avoid predictable patterns.That could be one reason why he doesn't expect quarterback Drew Brees to keep throwing to receiver Michael Thomas quite as often as he has through the season's first two weeks, when Thomas has racked up more receptions than the rest of New Orleans' receivers and tight ends combined."Part of it is just, here we are, two weeks in," began Payton, whose team visits Atlanta on Sunday."I think that you're going to see those numbers change some. And I think historically, offensively with Drew, a lot of different guys have been involved in the passing game — and I think that will be the same case this year."Thomas has 28 catches, the most of any NFL receiver in the first two weeks of a season, surpassing Andre Rison's 26 in 1994 with the Falcons.Running back Alvin Kamara is second in catches with 15, but many of his receptions are short ones out of the backfield that essentially substitute for running plays.Among more conventional receiving targets, receiver Ted Ginn Jr. has nine catches, tight end Ben Watson has seven, and no one else has more than two.When asked about his heavy reliance on Thomas in the passing game Youth Alex Anzalone Jersey , Brees downplayed it as more of a short-term phenomenon than a developing trend."For one reason or another, I know he's caught a lot of balls the last two weeks. He's gotten open. He's done a great job with that. His number's been called," Brees said."It's probably the combination of a lot of things, but I feel like we've got other guys that can do it, too. It's just a matter of what the defense is going to give us."I'm going to throw it to the open guy — move the chains, score points."Falcons coach Dan Quinn also struggled to envision the rate of Thomas' targets remaining as high as it has been through two games."Let's face it. They're equipped to attack in a lot of different ways," Quinn asserted this week. "Michael right now is on his game, but by no stretch have we said 'OK, it's just these players.' ... We know they've got a big stable of guys that can make plays in a lot of ways, but we have been very impressed by Michael and his start."New Orleans made a pair of offseason moves aimed at providing Brees more options, signing Bears 2016 receiving leader Cameron Meredith as a restricted free agent and drafting former Central Florida receiver Tre'Quan Smith in the third round last spring.But judging those moves could take time.Smith has been in the game plan, but rookies sometimes take time to develop chemistry with veteran QBs. He had one catch for 18 yards in a victory over Cleveland and no catches in a Week 1 loss to Tampa Bay."He has not received a ton of opportunities, but I think as the season progresses his opportunities will come," Brees said. "He can be a big part of what we do down the road."Smith said his daily goal is to win Brees' trust and he does not sound disillusioned by the relatively slow start to his career."You've got to be a team player," Smith said. "If they're not going to cover (Thomas), keep going to him."If Mike has all the yards and all the touchdowns Color Rush Austin Carr Jersey , but we're winning, that's totally fine," Smith said. "I'm sure teams are going to be zeroing in on Mike, but that's when other receivers have got to step up. We've got to be ready."Meredith, meanwhile, is trying to come back from torn knee ligaments that wiped out his 2017 season. He said trainers and doctors urged caution during training camp, thereby limiting his opportunities to practice with the first-team offense.He was scratched from the lineup in Weeks 1 and 2, but with Ginn limited in practice with knee soreness this week, Meredith has been getting work with the first-team offense and appears primed to make his Saints debut in Atlanta."It's hard. It's an everyday battle. This process is new to me, so whatever the trainers and the doctors say is best, we had to go with that," Meredith said."But at the same time, I've been getting better day by day, getting my rhythm back. And those are all important things — not just the health part, but getting in rhythm with the offense."I feel good and I'm excited to go out there and make some plays this weekend."