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The bye week often provides a time for NFL players to reflect on their season. For Broncos’ receiver Demaryius Thomas, it was the exact opposite. It became a time of release.

Going into last Sunday’s game against Green Bay, Thomas had played well by most receivers’ standards, but not by his own. He caught 10 passes for 111 yards against Cleveland in Week 6, but the focus in the postgame was on his three drops, all of which seemed to come at the most inopportune time.

The criticism came loud and quick, and no one was immune from it as the Broncos’ passing attack was struggling at that time. Was it a lack of focus by Thomas, who had signed a in the offseason? Thomas, who didn’t have an answer, accepted the blame and vowed to do better.

Then came the bye week, followed by the matchup with Green Bay. Thomas had his best game of the season, with 168 yards receiving. And, perhaps more importantly, no drops.

“What was the key? I don’t think (there) was a key. It was just going out, making plays and making sure I catch every ball I had a chance to make,” Thomas said.

It has become a little bit of a pattern for Thomas. He had a sluggish start filled with drops last season before exploding for 226 yards receiving and two touchdowns against Arizona.

If history is to repeat itself, Thomas could be well on his way to a spectacular finish. A year ago, he averaged 113 yards receiving in his final 13 games after the bye week.

The biggest positive to take from Thomas’ performance against Green Bay was the chemistry he showed with quarterback Peyton Manning. Through much of the first half of the season, Manning and Thomas were out of sync on the deep ball, perhaps a product of the latter missing most of the offseason workouts in a contract dispute. Last Sunday night, though, Manning and Thomas were on the same wavelength.

Manning’s first three passes went Thomas’ way. The result: an 18-yard reception, an incompletion and a defensive pass interference on a deep pass. On the first play of the second quarter, Thomas hauled in a 47-yard reception along the left sideline on a rope delivered from Manning. It led to the Broncos’ second touchdown — and a big smile from Thomas.

At the half, Thomas had 101 yards. It was the first time he topped the century mark in a half this season.

“He admitted he had a couple of missed opportunities against Cleveland, and so I know he was motivated going into that game,” Manning said. “I thought he really played well.”

With his performance, Thomas tied the Broncos’ all-time leading receiver, Rod Smith, for most 100-yard games (31) in franchise history.

“We got D.T. going early,” Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. “He went through a couple of weeks where he wasn’t feeling really good, so I think that he freshened up over the bye.”

When Thomas is at the peak of his game, the Broncos’ offense is at its best. He and Emmanuel Sanders are one of four pairs of wide receivers in the NFL to each be over 500 yards receiving at the season’s midway point. The Broncos’ acquisition this week of tight end Vernon Davis should only mean more one-on-one coverage for Thomas and Sanders.

“It is pick your poison. We feed off each other,” Sanders said of him and Thomas. “Now that we have (Davis) here, I’m eager to see what he can do and how it opens up the offense.”

Cameron Wolfe: 303-954-1891, cwolfe@denverpost.com or @CameronWolfe

Bye week does wonders for Demaryius Thomas

A look at Demaryius Thomas’ numbers in the game after a bye week over the past four years:

Note: Thomas was injured much of his first two seasons