Nothing Dirty About Adams’ Dozens

"To think that you're going to deny him is probably not realistic," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of Packers star Davante Adams.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Davante Adams caught 12 passes for the Green Bay Packers in Sunday night’s victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

There’s nothing especially noteworthy about that. That’s the sixth time Adams has caught at least a dozen balls in his career. What is noteworthy is that it’s been done 11 times in franchise history: six by Adams and five by everyone else – Don Hutson twice, plus Jordy Nelson, Vince Workman and Ken Payne.

Since the start of the 2016 season, when Adams had a 12-catch game against Atlanta, he’s recorded six games with 12-plus catches. That’s tied with New Orleans’ Michael Thomas for tops in the league. The Chargers’ Keenan Allen has done it five times, Eagles tight end Zach Ertz has done it on four occasions and nine other players did it three times.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has “got a lot of eligibles to work with – Davante Adams, obviously, is the first one that comes to mind,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday. “A guy like him coupled with a quarterback relationship like that, you're working your tail off just to kind of minimize it in those moments. To think that you're going to deny him is probably not realistic. We’ve got to minimize his impact on the game. I often use that term when I'm talking about quarterback-receiver relationships. It's not eliminating, it’s minimizing. And particularly in those weighty moments, it’s important.”

Is the Green Bay offense too Adams-centric? The Packers are 5-1 in his 12-catch games. The only loss was that aforementioned game against Atlanta, a 33-32 verdict in which the Packers’ inactives list included Randall Cobb, Jared Cook, Ty Montgomery, Clay Matthews and Damarious Randall. Adams caught 12 passes for just 74 yards. At the time, it was the fewest yards by a receiver with 12-plus catches; Dolphins rookie Jaylen Waddle caught 12 balls for 58 yards last week against Las Vegas to set a new low.

According to Zebra Technologies, whose RFID technology makes the NFL’s Next Gen Stats possible, Adams was targeted on 13 of 18 routes against off-coverage vs. the 49ers. He finished with 10 receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown against off-coverage, averaging 3.0 yards of separation per target (1.9 vs. non-off). Adams is the only receiver to be targeted on more than half of his routes (64 percent) against off-coverage this season. Adams accounted for 70.5 percent of Rodgers’ targeted air yards in Week 3, the second-highest among pass catchers.