A trip to Revis Island

Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, if I haven’t mentioned here before, is unbelievably good. Thanks to Jets Twit, via Gang Green Nation, we can now see just how good thanks to this handy table. Here is what Darrelle Revis has done to opposing wide receivers this season:

That does not bode well for TedQuarters hero Chad Ochocinco.

The folks at ProFootballFocus.com (h/t to Will Davidian) grade every NFL player on every play on a scale of -2 to +2. (Full disclosure: I’m not entirely sold on their methodology because they seem to think Kerry Rhodes can tackle, which he clearly cannot.)

By their rankings, Revis is the best corner in the league by a wide margin. In coverage, Revis scores a 30.6. The next closest cornerback, Charles Woodson, scores a 17.8.

According to their stats, when the ball is thrown in Darrelle Revis’ general direction, opposing QBs post a 31 QB rating. 31. Thirty One. That means Darrelle Revis makes every quarterback he faces look worse than JaMarcus Russell. And that’s really, really, really bad.

Anyway, you don’t need numbers to tell you Revis is awesome. Just watch the game Sunday night.

Fun with graphs

Look: I have no problem with athletes who celebrate their accomplishments on the field. In fact, if they’re athletes who deserve to be celebrating, I support them wholeheartedly. This is why I think Jose Reyes is so cool.

Kerry Rhodes is not one such athlete. Kerry Rhodes can not tackle. When an opposing running back is bearing down on Kerry Rhodes, he turns his back and falls down. It’s terrible looking, and embarrassing. Then, in the rare event that Kerry Rhodes knocks a pass down or does something vaguely good, he gets up and carries on like he’s God’s gift to football.

It’s particularly awful because Kerry Rhodes plays in the same defensive backfield as Darrelle Revis, who might actually be God’s gift to football. And Darrelle Revis almost never carries on. He just trots back to the huddle and prepares to do something else unspeakably awesome on the next play, while Kerry Rhodes is dancing around trying to take credit for something Revis just did. It’s infuriating.

There was actually a kid like this on my high school team. I hated the kid. He never made any tackles, but after every play, he used to run over to the spot where the tackle had been made and flex in the general vicinity of the tackle. Often the statistician would assume he made the play and give him credit, but he never actually did. He just had the gall to flex like he had made the play even though he was 15 yards away, getting knocked around by some weak-ass opposing blocker.

That’s Kerry Rhodes. So in honor of Kerry Rhodes, I’ve made this graph. It’s a bar graph, charting the rate of posturing per defensive contribution. Check it out:

graph

Jets-Falcons recap

Do I have any great insight into why the Jets lost yesterday? No. Mark Sanchez threw three interceptions, which is bad.

But there was a whole lot of bad luck at play too, I think. What are the chances that they botch three field goals in the same game?

You can chalk that up partly to bad execution on special teams, I guess, and these weren’t the first botched snaps of the season, but three in a row?

I’m pretty sure it’s just the universe course correcting and making sure the Jets finish 8-8. Last year, the fates were unable to best Dick Jauron’s horrible coaching and Gang Green actually finished 9-7. This year, 8-8. Mark it down. Everything as it should be.

Anyway, here’s me and Brian Bassett talking about it:

Answer the call, Mark Sanchez

Rex Ryan wants to see how Mark Sanchez looks before he settles on a starter for Sunday’s game.

My guess? Smoldering.

Again, I’ll stop posting this picture when it stops being funny, and that hasn’t come anywhere close to happening for me. This is what it looks like at 2:22 on any given afternoon on Mark Sanchez’s yacht.

Look at how sexily Mark Sanchez answers the telephone.

You think Kellen Clemens picks up the phone like that? Hardly. He probably doesn’t get to the phone in time, so the answer machine picks up, but then instead of just letting it go to the tape, he picks it up late, then drops the handset, then falls down trying to pick it up again.

You oughta be ashamed of yourselves

Darrelle Revis is the best player on the best pass defense in football.

He has twice held Randy Moss to fewer than 35 yards this season. In fact, he has yet to allow a receiver to gain over 35 yards against him in 2009. He held Steve Smith to one reception and four yards in Week 12.

Darrelle Revis should be the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Darrelle Revis is eight feet tall and glitters in the sun like the vampires from Twilight. His beard is made of steel wool and his muscles are Kevlar.

Darrelle Revis’ Twitter account should win the Pulitzer. Everything he does is art.

And yet, Darrelle Revis is currently eighth among NFL cornerbacks in Pro Bowl voting.

He is fourth in the AFC behind Champ Bailey, Nnamdi Asomugh and Antonio Cromartie.

Go vote for Darrelle Revis.

Jets video preview

Here’s me and Brian Bassett talking Jets-Bills. I’m laughing at the beginning because I stumbled so many times in the opening part. Also, I probably need both a shave and a haircut. Two bits.