The Darrelle Revis Holdout Thread (Update: No Update) I'm pretty sure the creation of Revis happened when Jesus was playing football with his disciples. Jesus had such a beautiful interception that it caused a series of events that took thousands of years to create the perfect cornerback. Or his mother was a whore and Revis spent his whole life defending her and the rocks that were thrown at his Mother.
How do you know that this is true? And I'm not arguing that the Jet defense wouldn't be better with Revis than without him, just that there are other differences from last season also and all of those are positive with the possible exception of losing Marques Douglas. If Kris Jenkins stays healthy all year then Jenkins and Pouha give the Jets the best middle rotation at NT in the league. I'd rather have the two of them than Vince Wilfork and his backup. Last year Pouha had to carry a hell of a load and this year he may be the second team - to me that makes the middle of the Jets defense really formidable. The Jets have a couple of guys at cornerback that I'd have taken over Sheppard and Strickland last season. They probably need another corner for quality depth but they look pretty good even without Revis. The safety situation appears no worse than last year and possibly better depending on how Pool plays and how Smith is used this season. It'll certainly be nice to know that none of the safeties back there are wearing a dress this year. The linebackers have some issues, mainly because of Pace's injury, but Pace missed the first 4 games last season and the Jets still were #1 on defense. I think the way to approach the overall question is that the Jets are unlikely to be the #1 defense overall this season, likely sliding 5 to 9 slots, but that's because very few defenses put up their peak performance in back-to-back years. Revis absence makes the Jets defense worse but they're still capable of being the #1, just unlikely too - with or without him.
Of course I don't know it for a fact but I'm playing the odds not unlike you do with your History Tells Us posts. I agree that safety is stronger this year than last, and the return of Jenkins is key. But we still lack speed from the edge and that dictates physical play outside the hash marks. Revis owns the 5 yards past the LOS, and it's why the Jets can single him up. So far Cromartie has shown little interest in jamming his man and Kyle Wilson is a rookie. And it was obvious from the moment that Rex Grossman started picking on Lowery that the Jets were banking on Wilson to learn the slot this year. Pouha and Jenkins can push the middle all they want but if we can't get to the QB from the edge, we're going to need compensation in the secondary. And without Revis that compensation would be spotty. Certainly not top ranked. The Jets were top ranked in 2009 in a year that lacked any true elite defenses. It was an anomaly. Odds are that doesn't happen this year. And we need Revis to be elite.
Yes they do. Have Kris Jenkins returning is almost as important has Revis. Maybe more. Remember what Kris Jenkins does for this team?
The Jets didn't really get any significant pressure on the quarterback from the normal edge rushers last year. They got most of their pressure up the middle from Harris and Scott and Jenkins and from blitzing safeties and corners on the periphery. Pace had a fairly decent year when he returned but nothing that makes you go wow, and Ellis had his usual solid production in the pass rush. I don't see anything particularly different this year to this point. When the Jets rush a couple of outside blitzers they're going to cause pressure. When they overload the middle with Harris or Scott or both on Jenkins shoulder they'll get pressure. If they sit back and don't do enough of that stuff, then yes we'll see a big difference between Revis and Cromartie. If they blitz like their pants are on fire not so much, and maybe no real difference if Cro picks off a few with those long arms that Revis just waved at as they went incomplete.
he really doesn't. a few things we know about a rex ryan coached team is a) lots of shit talking and b) great defense. even with revis holding out i'm much more concered with sanchez. i don't know if we can make a run to the playoffs if he leads the league in ints.
That's my point, the Jets sort of maintained in a league that had taken a collective step back on the defensive side for the season. No way the Jets get a gift like that, and even if they do I don't think they're going to be higher that 4 without 24 locking down the #1. If we lose Revis, the skill level of the defense is no higher than it was in 2009. Plenty of other Ds took a step forward this year. I don't see how you can watch Cromartie playing against a number 1 and think he's going to have anywhere near the impact that Revis had on that player. Cromartie is potential based on past. He has not even sniffed the level that Revis has attained once in his entire career, including 2007. Revis was what made that blitzing possible in 2009. You can cross your fingers all you want with Cro, but he's not in the same universe as Revis.
Jenkins' impact won't be as great as it was in 2008 for us. He'll wind up playing probably 50% of the plays.
This isn't just directed at you: Call Revis greedy, say what you want about him being selfish but downplay his skill? That is just fucking ridiculous. Revis was part and parcel for negating the loss of Jenkins. Revis's play allowed Rex to shift the defense and adjust to 77's loss. As good as Pouha played he got zero pass rush. Something 77 excels at. Do I think that will work in reverse, to a certain extent yes. However I think Rex will have greater success covering up for Jenkins loss then 24's loss. The central point is that Jets fans have short memories. Revis is a great player and his loss is fucking significant, whether you are pissed at him or not.
Your last sentence tells it all. Everyone is so angry at him they think this defense is the same or better due to the additions in the backfield and everything will be fine. Its time everyone realizes that in order to be truly elite, he needs to be on the field. I'm just praying he returns in time. Flacco has added weapons this year, I'd like for Boldin to be negated. Also, we are spoiled at the fact that big TDs aren't given up by the secondary. Without Revis this could easily happen, since the safeties can't be everywhere at once. Once a 50 yard TD is allowed, this place will go apeshit.
Agree 100% Some of the things we did last year... we were able to do them only because Revis was on the team. that said I'm very confident in Rex and I'm sure he'll make this team able to compete against 2 high-powered offenses like the Ravens and the Patriots. We'll we have the same success as we'd have with Revis? No. But I'm sure we'll still pull off a good D performance.
The thing that is so frustrating about the conversations about the Jet's D last year is how few games they actually might have lost if they'd just had a normal cornerback instead of Revis. Revis was not worth 18 points against Houston. Schaub was frustrated the entire game and making terrible throws all over the place, that's why the Texans lost that game. The Patriots game might have been a loss if somebody else was on Moss but Brady really was showing some rust in that game, especially with all the blitzes coming at him. The pressure the Jets put on him was strong and relentless and he misfired a lot that game unless he was dumping the ball off quickly to Edelman. The Patriots got a 12 yard run on the first play of the game out of Maroney and then the Jets shut down the running game on first down and gave Brady a lot of 2nd and longs to work with. It's quite possible that the Jets lose that game without Revis, but I think that's the only win they got all year where he might have been the difference. Randy Moss vanished against Baltimore in the playoffs the same way he vanished against the Jets last season. Baltimore plays a similar pressure defense and Brady couldn't get the ball out to Moss on the late developing plays down the field where 6'4" and a 30" vertical leap usually mean cake for the Patriots. Randy Moss vanished again against the Jets in game 2 and they got blown out anyway because of Sanchez and the fact that Revis couldn't cover everybody. Every other win was either a total blowout, or against an opponent that couldn't pass anyway Jet's D or no (Titans disaster early on, Bills, Bucs, Panthers, or against a team that basically wasn't playing for anything and it showed. If Darrelle Revis doesn't play for the Jets last season I think Rex Ryan goes 8-8 at worst. Some of the losses might have looked a bit worse like the Falcon loss but the shape of the season was determined by offensive ineptitude on the Jets part and extreme blitzing on the defensive side. As soon as the Jets stopped blitzing last year they lost games. The Fins did that to them one of the games with the Wildcat and they lost. The Jaguars did it by consistently running the ball and the Jets lost. Sanchez threw away a few games and the Jets lost. The Jets couldn't get pressure on Manning after the first quarter in the AFC championship game and they lost. Revis wasn't the key to that defense, he was just the best performer by a longshot. The key to that defense was people flying in on the quarterback from all angles and everybody looked at least decent in the Jets defensive backfield when that happened and quite human back there when it didn't.
Good post, MP! It will be tough to accommodate losing him, and it will be interesting to see how that pans out. And Jets fans with our short memories will get a refresher on who all these guys are catching passes against us this year that didn't appear to be in the league or on our schedule last year. :breakdance:
The Jets put themselves in this position because no CB not showing up/being injured or whatever, should cause a debate on a season going down the tubes or a defensive rating dropping from number 1 to wherever. The Jets are in this position because the rely on Safeties and CB's to apply a lot of their pressure on the qb and have yet to address having a real pass rusher on the front line...period. No CB should be holding a teams season ransom. This is turning into a huge joke...no matter how great Revis is.
As much as I respect the thought you put behind your post, the subtraction of Revis simply isn't quantifiable. Without Jenkins and Revis last year the Jets D would be significantly different. Who is to say the numerous #1 WR's that Revis blanketed wouldn't have had bigger days. How do you quantify that? How do you quantify Andre Johnson in game #1 having a bigger impact that 4 for 35? Maybe he goes 8 for 135 and the Texans can move the ball and have a greater time of possession. How do you know that doesn't translate in an 10 point swing the other way? The result being a Jet loss. Edges are razor thin in professional sports. Taking away the greatest edge the Jets have on D is significant. Some unbiased opinions might say the significance would be enormous. I would not venture a guess as how to quantify that. It is quite possible the Jets were a 5 win team without Revis last year... One thing is for sure, we will find out rather quick how much he means if he holds out into the regular season....... Which quite frankly seems more likely then not.
Rex Ryan thinks the Jets will be ok without Revis. The reason the Jets defense suddenly leaped from the middle in 2008 to #1 last year was not Darrelle Revis. Revis was part of both teams. The reason the Jets made the big leap was Rex Ryan. I fully believe that. Revis had a great season in a system that was designed to make him look great. That doesn't mean he's not a great player, because he is, but he sure wasn't that good in Eric Mangini's 3-4 and he's unlikely to be that good in anybody else's. The Jets defense was great last year because of Rex Ryan. It's fairly likely to be great this year for the same reason, and the difference between just Ryan great and Ryan/Revis great doesn't turn into any losses if your quarterback is having problems and certainly doesn't turn into any wins if Sanchez is good to go and lighting it up.
Not to mention the scheme becomes way different. There is no 10 on 10 football anymore. There will be almost no zero coverages against teams with top WRs. The risks the D could take will disappear. The front 7 isn't like the Ravens front 7. This team depends on the play of its secondary.
