After an absolutely spectacular start to the 2011 NFL season in which he brought the term shutdown corner brought back into relevance, Darrelle Revis experienced, by his own high standards, somewhat of a mid-season lull. Revis was still among the very best corners in the NFL during that stretch, but some receivers (principally Buffalo's Stevie Johnson) at least made him look human.
This week Revis restated his supremacy as the top corner in the league by posting arguably his best performance of the entire season. Going up against one of the best and deepest receiver corps in the league and a quarterback playing some of the best football of his career in the shape of Eli Manning, he produced another astonishing game.
On only two occasions has Revis been targeted more than he was this week, but he allowed only two completions for 31 yards in this game and broke up an astounding five of the six incompletions into his coverage. Marquee Matchups takes its second look at a Revis game this season, checking through his impressive effort in the Jets’ New York derby defeat.
Q1 – 13:16 – Devin Thomas
The Giants look to Revis on their very first drive. Faced with a 3rd-and-long after a delay of game penalty, Revis is sat off of LWR Devin Thomas on the play. Revis simply allows the cushion to shrink as Thomas runs an out route in front of him to make the catch. Revis closes as Thomas makes the catch at the left sideline and runs the Giants receiver out of bounds for an 11-yard gain–comfortably short of the first down markers–as the Jets get a defensive stop on the opening drive of the game.
Q1 – 4:29 – Hakeem Nicks
The Giants open up their third drive of the first quarter with a pass and Manning chooses to go after Revis who is isolated on Hakeem Nicks to the left side of the field. Manning is given plenty of time in the pocket but the coverage downfield is as good as his protection, including an excellent blitz pickup by Brandon Jacobs. Nicks can get no separation against Revis on his hitch to the first down sticks and tries to work his way back towards Manning for a short catch. The Jets’ corner stays on his shoulder the whole way and as the pass comes in, he makes a play on the ball to break it up. A win for Revis, despite time to throw.
Q2 – 15:00 – Hakeem Nicks
The Giants begin at midfield to start the second quarter and they go straight at Revis, trying to find something. Again Revis is in single coverage with Nicks to the left side of the formation, but this time Nicks is able to find some separation. Revis jumps immediately to the outside and Nicks uses this free release to get immediately inside of Revis and take this separation up the field. With a good throw from Manning to the inside, Revis has no shot at the ball and Nicks walls him off to bring in the pass and pick up a 20-yard gain, sparking the Giants’ first scoring drive of the day. This would prove to be the high-water mark of the Giants’ success against Revis this week.
Q2 – 11:59 – Hakeem Nicks
Later on that very same drive, the Giants go at Revis again–this time at the goal-line, looking for the tying score–and they so nearly get only the second touchdown Revis has conceded all season. Manning takes pressure from Aaron Maybin, but is still able to get an accurate pass off to the RWR Nicks. The Giants’ receiver gets a good inside release on Revis to apparently set up the score. However, Revis shows his excellent agility and ball skills to recover from a seemingly lost position and break up the pass, forcing the Giants to opt for a field goal. Revis undercuts the slant by Nicks and is able to reach around, get a hand in and bring up his second third-down stop of the game.
Q2 – 2:37 – Ramses Barden
With Jets set up in prime position to not only get good field position, but potentially put two points on the board for themselves. The Giants pass on all three downs showing a clear lack of trust in their running game to give them breathing room against the Jets’ stout run defense. Their first attempt to get out from the shadow of their own goal post sees them go after Revis who is again isolated this time with third-year receiver Ramses Barden. Again the Giants attack Revis with a hitch, but on this occasion Revis is simply quicker to the ball than Barden is out of his break. From his own end zone, Barden has to know the ball is coming out quickly, but Revis seems to know this better than the receiver. Revis tracks Barden up the field and simply comes back underneath as Barden fails to come to a hard stop and Revis breaks up the pass. This keeps the Giants on their own goal-line … for at least two plays, and I think everyone knows the end result of that play to Victor Cruz.
Q3 – 10:02 – Victor Cruz
This target early in the third quarter saw the only one-on-one encounter between two guys who did their fair share of jawing ahead of this New York matchup and Revis came out the winner on this play. The play is disrupted by pressure and Eli Manning takes off into the right flat looking for Cruz who has extended in an in route from the left slot all the way outside the right numbers. Revis tracks the play across the field and dives to undercut the route and break up the pass. It is a shame that this was the only target we saw between these two, it would have been a fascinating matchup to see more of with Revis being, arguably, the best man defender in the league and Cruz being one of the better route runners in the NFL today.
Q3 – 4:08 – Jerrel Jernigan
More man coverage for Revis and this time he is tracking a route that many corners might fall to sleep on. He is covering rookie Jerrel Jernigan on a crossing route on the backside of a sprint pass with Manning rolling into the right flat. Often times the ball will be gone quickly and the backside drag route is an afterthought. This time though Revis is called upon as Manning has nothing to go with early in the play and looks for Jernigan crossing to the right side of the field. Revis is on Jernigan’s back shoulder the whole way and drives on the play as the ball comes in to get a hand on the ball for his third third-down stop of the game.
Q4 – 8:53 – Hakeem Nicks
The Giants open up a fourth quarter drive with a 13-point lead and look to go after Revis again on the slant that almost worked for them at the goal line at the 11:59 mark in the second. Revis this time has tighter coverage and makes an early move to jump under Nicks' slant and, though the pass is clearly dropped by Nicks, Revis’ coverage has disrupted the play, making it a tougher catch than many corners might have. Nicks’ drop balloons into the air to be intercepted by LILB David Harris, helping to get the Jets back in the game.
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Revis won the day against the Giants' receiving corps, but the Giants had the last laugh winning the game and keeping their playoff fate in their own hands. Revis and the Jets now must win in Miami and hope that Baltimore do them a favor by clinching the second seed and a bye when they face Cincinnati in a late kickoff.
In that Miami game, Revis will find himself going up against Brandon Marshall, against whom he had an intriguing duel on a Monday night game back in Week 6. Revis picked up an interception and two pass defenses against Marshall while yielding his fourth-highest yardage total of the season, 63 yards.
If the Jets are to have any chance of securing a win over the Dolphins and putting pressure on the Bengals, they'll need Revis to keep Marshall quiet.
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