As Jets coach Rex Ryan was detailing what stood out to him while watching film of his team’s playoff win over the Colts, he singled out one player’s performance above all others.
“The play of Darrelle Revis,” Ryan said.
According to Ryan, Revis wasn’t just the best player on the field in Indianapolis on Saturday: He’s the best player in the NFL.
“Quite honestly, he’s the best player in football,” Ryan said, in comments distributed by the team. “That is what you saw out there. Hold Reggie Wayne, who led the league in catches, I think he had 111 catches, to one catch for one yard. That tells you how good Darrelle Revis is. I know he’s probably not going to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, but the impact he has is amazing. We were able to do some coverages during the game where we actually played man-coverage strictly on his side regardless of who the receiver was and roll their coverage away from it. You only do that if you have Darrelle Revis. He’s an amazing once-in-a-life-time player and we took advantage of him.”
Just as Peyton Manning ignored Wayne all day because Revis locked him down, Ryan expects Revis to have a similar effect on Tom Brady when the Jets play the Patriots Sunday.
“This week will be the same deal because when people see [Revis] over there, they don’t even throw to him,” Ryan said. “They realize that that guy isn’t open. I don’t care who the receiver is, he is not going to be open. We know that and we’ll try to take advantage of it again this week.”
And that advantage, in Ryan’s view, makes Revis the best player in football -- better even than Manning or Brady.