Darrelle Revis vs. Richard Sherman: Who Ya Got?

With apologies to well qualified candidates like Arizona’s Patrick Peterson, Indianapolis’s Vontae Davis, Cleveland’s Joe Haden and Denver’s Aqib Talib, there are no better corners in the NFL than Richard Sherman and Darrelle Revis.

That both will be on the field in Sunday’s Super Bowl is a treat on top of a treat. While they are equally great, they do it very differently, which only adds to the amount of fun it will be to watch them play on the biggest stage of them all. That they’ve been known not to like each other very much makes comparing them even better.

The Patriots play plenty of man coverage on defense and more often than not, Revis will be assigned to a specific receiver and attach himself. A.J. Green in Week 5, Sammy Watkins in Week 6, Brandon Marshall in Week 8, Reggie Wayne in Week 11, Golden Tate and Calvin Johnson in Week 12, Keenan Allen in Week 14 and Steve Smith in the second half of the divisional round win over Baltimore all were more or less erased by Revis either for solid stretches or the entirety of the game. Revis Island was in full effect.

According to NESN.com’s Doug Kyed, Revis allowed 43 catches on 84 targets for 579 yards and three TDs, playoffs included. He added three interceptions, 16 passes defensed and allowed a 70.5 passer rating against.

But what Revis did beyond the numbers served as his most impressive accomplishment. The Patriots have been a work in progress in their secondary for years, cycling through failed draft picks and street free agents as Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia have struggled to cobble together a defensive backfield commensurate with the talent all over the rest of the roster.

With Revis and, to a lesser extent, Brandon Browner, in the fold, the Pats have been able to consistently play man while freeing up their safeties to give less help and their linebackers and defensive linemen to handle more responsibility upfield. It’s not necessarily a coincidence that both Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins blew up this season and that Devin McCourty established himself as one of the best free safeties in the league. Revis changed the entire complexion of the Patriots’ defense. New England hasn’t been as complete or versatile on that side of the ball in years, probably since 2003-2004.

As for Sherman, he stays on one side of the field as opposed to shadowing a specific receiver. ESPN.com’s Field Yates calculated that Sherman covered the left side of the field over 90 percent of the time, specifically on 847 of 928 snaps on defense over the course of the season.

Sherman is a longer, rangier player than Revis. They both weight roughly 195 pounds but Sherman is four inches taller (six-foot-three against five-foot-eleven). Sherman’s more wiry frame and longer arms allow him a wider range in which to make a play on the ball if he falls behind his man by even a step, which rarely happens given his tremendous speed and closing ability.

Revis, while more compact, is so precise and technically sound and plays with such control, that he rarely has to worry about losing a step either. He also has excellent speed and has a innate ability to use his hands to near perfection within the five-yard allowable limit, which furthers his success in rarely letting his man run by him.

Both play aggressively and with the kind of strength to win their more physical matchups. And both have as good ball skills as any corner in the game. Whether Sherman would be the same player if used the same way as the Patriots use Revis is impossible to know for sure. But who cares? Just because they do it in different ways doesn’t mean these two players aren’t the best in the league.