**Disclaimer: Yes, as we all know I am a huge New York Jets fan. But bear with me on this one**
Charles Woodson of the Green Bay Packers?!
The best defender on the NFL's #1 ranked defense, Darrelle Revis of the New York Jets, came in second, getting half the votes that Woodson got (28 to 14). How is this possible?
Who did Woodson and the Packers even play this season? They're easily in one of the worst divisions in football, the NFC North and Woodson's nine interceptions benefited from that. They "played" the Detroit Lions twice this season. The Lions have had a total of 3 wins within the past 2 seasons and rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford threw 20 interceptions. They also played Jay Cutler's Chicago Bears twice and Jay Cutler lead the league in interceptions (26 compared to Jets rookie Mark Sanchez who had 20). Then there's the fact that they did play THE worst division in football this season, the NFC West. They easily beat the Rams, 49ers, Seahawks and Cardinals. Oh yea, don't forget they also had to put up with the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Bucaneers who combined for 8 wins this season. That's basically 6-8 gimme wins right there. Very impressive.
Who did Revis have to defend this season? Only some of the most prolific wide receivers in football. On opening day, he held Andre Johnson of the Texans to 35 yards on 4 catches. He covered Randy Moss TWICE this season, 4 catches and 24 yards in New York (with an interception) and then 5 catches and 34 yards with a TD in New England. He held Marques Colston of the Saints to 2 catches and 33 yards. He held Steve Smith to 1 catch for 5 yards (and had an amazing interception to go with it). Chad Ochocinco-Johnson got the ball thrown to him 4 times and didnt catch a single one of them. Reggie Wayne of the Colts was limited to 3 catches and 33 yards. Oh and that whole T.O Show guy Terrell Owens? Well we all had our popcorn ready for those games: in their first matchup he only had 13 yards on 3 catches and improved the 2nd game with 31 yards on 3 catches. All together these receivers averaged 2.9 receptions and 26.4 yards against Revis. Now THATS impressive.
Revis finished the regular season with 6 interceptions (compared to Woodson's 9) and lead the league in passes defended with 37 ! He was the fifth cornerback to be thrown at frequently, being targeted 108 times. The leader was targeted 113 times and Charles Woodson didnt even manage to crack the top 5. Woodson was targeted only 84 times.
Want some more stats? Revis and Woodson both gave up 40 receptions; Revis for 439 yards and 2 touchdowns and Woodson for 560 yards and 6 touchdowns. Yikes. In terms of burn percentage, the number of times a defender allows a reception to the man he's covering divided by the number of times the defender is targeted is 37 percent for Revis (the lowest percentage among cornerbacks in the LEAGUE) and 47.6 percent for Woodson.
Here's another good one for ya. Revis was penalized four times for 20 yards. Three of those flags were for illegal contact while the other one was for defensive holding. He had no pass interference calls. Meanwhile, Woodson was penalized eight times for 68 yards. He was called for pass interference three times, defensive holding three times and facemask twice. Sounds like a cheater to me!
Yes I know Woodson forced four fumbles. He also returned 3 interceptions for touchdowns (Revis only had 1) He also recorded 2 sacks (Revis is strictly a coverage cornerback and is never sent to blitz ever).
Woodson had a well rounded season. But COME ON MAN! Revis deserved that award.
At least the J-E-T-S are still in the playoffs.
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That award was Revis' to win. Woodson had a career year, but you ask any receiver who they would rather be matched up with come Sunday and I believe that the answer is unanimous. Woodson. Revis is a shutdown corner. This is so important in Rex's defense because he can trust Revis to play man with any receiver in the league. This kind of an asset is so valuable because the amount of schemes that the defensive mastermind can throw at you triples. Rex no longer has to worry about rolling a safety over to Revis to protect against the deep ball. Rex can bring pressure from anywhere on the field because Revis is going to put his receiver on an island.
ReplyDeleteThe award definitely belonged to Revis but hey, an AFC championship ring isn't too shabby either.