Darrelle Revis has long been known as a “lockdown” corner, he was one of the first CB’s to travel to either side of the field in order to defend a specific WR. But how many people have actually watched Revis’s film to study his technique, physicality and insticts that makes him so dominant. After watching the game last Sunday, a game purely dominated by Revis and the Patriots, I decided to break down the Revis tape. With only two passes thrown his way, Revis gave up no catches and had an interception on a great play.

The Patriots play mostly man-to-man coverage (Cover 1) and allow Revis to match-up with the WR of their choice in order to essentially take that WR out of the game. In order to show how Revis dominated the game, the article has been split into a man-to-man and a zone coverage section. The routes highlighted in yellow are the routes that Revis is defending on the specific play.

Let’s start out with Revis’s best play of the day; the interception in the 3rd Quarter.

3rd & 5. -40. 2:24 3rd.

Defensive Formation: Nickel

Coverage: Cover 1

Offensive Personnel: 11 Personnel

http://i.imgur.com/5HdS4jB.jpg

The Colts run a “pick” play with their paired WR’s at the bottom of the screen. Revis is in man-to-man coverage with the outside WR who will run a “Go” route. Since Revis is pressing the WR, he ends up jamming him into the slot CB who is covering the “Out” route going underneath the “Go”. The “pick” essentially allows Revis to look into the backfield and read the QB’s eyes and to recognize the play and where the ball could be going. Although his man continues on his “Go” route, Revis leaves his route. Because the FS is in a deep zone and shaded to Revis’s side, this allows Revis to gamble on the route combination that he recognizes. The QB throws the “Out” and since it is such a long throw, the ball is in the air for an extended period of time. This allows Revis to cut the route and the ball off in the passing lane and intercept the ball.

This is the play that defined Revis’s game and put him in the box score, but it is not the only time that he changed the game. The next page begins the breakdown with Revis’s man-to-man coverage throughout the game.