Playing his usual shutdown defense,
New England Patriots' cornerback
Darrelle Revis was charted as spending time lined up against six different
Miami Dolphins receivers in the Patriots' 41-13 win Sunday afternoon. The win clinched the AFC East for the Patriots, something Revis was plenty happy to be a part of.
"This is my first one so I'm very excited," Revis said. "I'm happy to wear the hat and wear the T-shirt. It's pretty awesome."
Revis has been perhaps the Patriots' most important player defensively all season long. Matched up against many of the game's most dangerous receivers, it seems each week that Revis is able to keep whoever he covers from wreaking havoc against the Patriots.
This week was more of the same, as receivers that Revis covered were targeted only five times, reeling in three of those passes. Of those receptions, two were on slant routes up the middle of the field by
Jarvis Landry (one for five yards, one for 13) and one was a five-yard snag by
Rishard Matthews.
Revis spent the majority of his time on Landry in the first half, charted as lining up opposite him on 24 of the team's 46 defensive snaps. In the second half, however, Revis moved over to cover
Mike Wallace, lining up opposite Landry just twice while lining up opposite Wallace 17 times (compared to just 11 times on Wallace in the first half).
"I've watched Mike before so I already have a resume on him if there's an adjustment or whatever it may be. I was inside a lot in the first half and that was my matchup," Revis said. "We've got to make adjustments, coaches made adjustments and they felt it was best for me to switch my job. That's what we do."
Perhaps the change came as a result of the Patriots' defense allowing 13 first-half points, including seven on a one-handed touchdown catch by Wallace as time expired before intermission. As the Patriots' offense began to kick it into gear in the second half, Revis tended to move further off the line in his coverage, likely a decision to prevent the Dolphins from going for the home run throw down the field and quickly getting back into the game. Whatever the plan was, it worked, as the Dolphins failed to score in the second half.
