Richard Sherman outplayed Darrelle Revis in context
One of the most intriguing storylines heading into the Super Bowl was the comparison between New England Patriots shutdown corner Darrelle Revis and Seattle Seahawks superstar Richard Sherman, who are regarded as the two best players at the position in the game. Both played critical roles on their respective defenses in the regular season, and Revis’s addition to the Patriots was a game-changer, allowing the rest of the defense to play with more freedom and simultaneously giving Bill Belichick more options with the knowledge that Revis can comfortably shut down almost anyone mano-a-mano.
Revis’s task on Sunday night seemed simple enough for a player of his caliber, as his task was to take Seahawks de facto No. 1 receiver Doug Baldwin out of the game. Baldwin is Russell Wilson‘s best and most reliable target due to his hands, underrated agility, and savvy route-running. He showed his intelligence by using the ref as a pick for his three-yard touchdown reception, but that was literally his lone catch, target, and instance in which he decisively “beat” Revis last night.
Although Kyle Arrington and Logan Ryan failed badly in mis-matches downfield against towering Seahawks wide receivers, Revis had an easy time taking Baldwin out of the game, turning the ‘Hawks leading receiver into a non-factor outside of that short touchdown reception. It was a rock-solid performance from Revis, though it wasn’t quite spectacular.
Meanwhile, Sherman had a tougher task on his hands, because even though he didn’t shadow the opponent’s top receiver, he did have to face better pass-catchers on his side of the field. That said, Tom Brady challenged him just three times, per Pro Football Focus, and none of those targets yielded anything of note for the steady-moving Patriots offense. Two of those three targets went for completions, but one was a six-yard pass to Danny Amendola and the other a zero-yard completion to safety valve scat back Shane Vereen.
Amendola was the only receiver to notch a catch against Sherman, as the pass to Julian Edelman, who had over 100 receiving yards on nine receptions and 12 targets, was incomplete. It was a vintage performance from Sherman, who had Brandon LaFell so well-covered on one deep route that he effortlessly ran stride-for-stride with the big wideout, merely sticking his arm out to confirm that he had perfect leverage on the sideline.
Sherman has to be the smartest cornerback in the NFL with his ability to read QBs, his hand usage, attention to detail, ability to re-route receivers, route-jumping ability, and understanding of leverage and positioning. The Patriots could get nothing going against him, and I have one mind-blowing stat to share with you to show just how dominant he was.
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According to Pro Football Focus, Brady was 9-10 for 59 yards on short throws to the left, but he was just 2-2 for a meager nine yards on throws to the short right. Sherman takes care of the right side of the field so well that teams barely threaten him despite the fact that safety help is on the other half of the field, and the only big plays the Patriots generated on the right side of the field were deep passes to Rob Gronkowski in man-to-man coverage against an overmatched linebacker.
Despite the fact that he was dealing with an elbow injury significant enough to require “Tommy John” surgery, Richard Sherman showed everyone why he is the most valuable member of the Seahawks secondary. Yes, Earl Thomas is a phenomenal player who can weed out deep passes and gives everyone underneath him freedom, but Sherman gives the entire defense freedom by consistently shutting down one side of the field.
Without Sherman, Kam Chancellor wouldn’t be able to play as aggressively in underneath coverage or in run defense, and Sherman, as we saw, is also a great tackler who doesn’t give up much YAC; he can hang with the shifty guys, whereas Tharold Simon and Byron Maxwell– at least on Sunday night- could not hang with Amendola or Edelman.
The Revis vs. Sherman debate clearly wasn’t definitively answered last night, and it’s such a hard battle to evaluate due to the differing circumstances. Sherman faced the more difficult challenge and impressively shut down an entire section of the field for the entire game, so he gets the nod for this one contest. And the better player overall? That’s something that will be debated for quite some time, and I’m willing to bet that we’ll never come to a clear conclusion; it would be premature to draw any conclusions based off of how both played last night.
But again, I was more impressed with how well Sherman played against a more difficult matchup that would seemingly test his skills as a corner, but that’s clearly not what happened, as the Patriots had no way of beating him. These two players are even in my mind, but under the scope of last night’s game, I thought Sherman shined brighter. That said, Darrelle Revis can’t control factors such as role or opponent, so, for what it’s worth, I think both of these players pitched a perfect game.
Next: Ten In-Depth Super Bowl Observations
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