Darrelle Revis vs. Richard Sherman - Who To Take On Sunday?
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Matt LaPan, GoLocal Sports Reporter
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| Darrelle Revis has helped change the Patriots defense |
The two will be pivotal parts in determining whether the New England Patriots or Seattle Seahawks will walk away with the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday. While both have been dominant defenders, they dominate in vastly different ways.
Tale Of The Tape
The two cornerbacks contrasting styles begin with their statures. Revis stands 5-11 and 198 pounds while Sherman is 6-3 and 195 pounds. Revis’ stout build reveals great recovery speed and surprising power to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage. His skill set allows the Patriots to run multiple schemes — press, off, man and zone coverage. Revis’ game is technique-driven. His ability to jam at the line of scrimmage and play perfect trail coverage and break on the ball early make him an extremely dangerous cornerback in coverage.
Sherman, on the other hand, uses his size and experience to his advantage. Sherman is a former wide receiver at Stanford and shows that he has an in-depth knowledge of routes and route trees. This combined with his long arms and good recovery speed. Sherman thrives in Pete Carroll’s defensive system that allows him to take chances — creating multiple interceptions.
Both men often do their best work without registering gaudy stats, as opposing quarterbacks know to stay away.
Playmakers Make Plays
While most quarterbacks shy away from Revis and Sherman, some do try to test them. Per Pro Football Focus, Sherman was targeted 65 times in 16 games in 2014, an average of just over four times per game. Revis was targeted 79 times in 16 games — good for close to five targets per game.
While Sherman was able to grab double the amount of interceptions that Revis had — Sherman’s four to Revis’ two — Revis did get more passes defended — 11 to Sherman’s four. That would mean that Revis made a play on the ball once every six targets and Sherman would make a play on the ball once every eight targets. These numbers earned Revis the number four ranking and Sherman the number three ranking in Pro Football Focus’ cornerback rankings for 2014.
Personal Differences
Richard Sherman has never been afraid to speak his mind
It is not hard to tell the differences between Sherman and Revis when it comes to their person’s. Revis is known to be a quieter person who rarely has anything to say about his opponent. Sherman, on the other hand, is known for his brash, loud personal style. Sherman does a lot of talking — never more evident than in the 2013 NFC Championship game tirade to Erin Andrews.
Yet neither player is willing to make much noise this week. The two have traded Twitter exchanges in the past on who is better, but during Super Bowl week both have been relatively quiet on the other. "He's a great player,” Revis said when asked about Sherman. “He makes plays all the time."
Revis would not, however, dive into Sherman’s personality when asked about it by reporters. "I guess that's him. I don't really have an opinion. That's him."
Sherman has also been relatively quiet when asked about Revis. When asked who was the better cornerback during his first press conference of Super Bowl week, Sherman quickly shot down the question. “I don't really answer preschool questions,” Sherman said. “So, you improve your line of questioning and then we'll talk.”
While both men have different styles on and off the field, it is undeniable that they are two of the elite cornerbacks in the NFL. While the opinion on both men differs, something is abundantly clear — Revis has changed the complexion of the Patriots defense and is, arguably the most important player outside of Tom Brady on the Patriots. Some outside of New England might choose Sherman, but inside New England nearly everyone will pick Revis.
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