Forgive me if I begin sounding somewhat like Rex Ryan for saying that Darrelle Revis deserved Defensive Player of the Year over Charles Woodson. I’m not saying that Woodson didn’t have a fantastic season but I am saying that Revis was more dominant. To me, Revis missed out on the award because his stats weren’t as pretty as Woodson’s. Woodson had nine interceptions, three returned for touchdowns, two sacks, and 74 tackles. Those are good numbers. Revis had six interceptions, one returned for a score, no sacks, and 54 tackles. Good numbers but not eye-popping the way nine picks are. Revis was by far more dominant than Woodson, he just didn’t make the types of plays Woodson did, probably because he was so good teams were afraid of him. In fact, the stats opponents didn’t accumulate against him tell the story better than his own stats do. Check out the stats for opposing receivers against Darrelle Revis:
The stats after week 12 don’t reflect specifically what Revis did against that player man-to-man but what the opposing team’s top receiver did against the Jets. Chances are most of those numbers were against Revis though. It’s plain to see that Revis was nothing short of dominant even against the League’s best players. He impacts opposing team’s gameplans by essentially erasing their top receiving threats. Did Charles Woodson do that? I think we saw in the playoffs that he was no match for Larry Fitzgerald. Yes he did have a strip — another pretty play — but I doubt Revis would have been lit up in the same way. No Revis’ stats weren’t as appealing as Woodson’s were, but he was the more dominant defensive player. Revis deserved Defensive Player of the Year.
(half the stats from the chart courtesy of Revis Island)
