Who's better? Darrelle Revis reluctantly says Giants are
Mario Manningham of the Giants makes the reception but is pushed out of bounds by Darrelle Revis of the Jets. Ruled an incomplete pass. (Aug. 29, 2011) Credit: David Pokress
Still trying to absorb a 29-14 loss to the Giants Saturday at MetLife Stadium and the realization that the Jets need some luck to even make the playoffs, cornerback Darrelle Revis was stunned to hear that coach Rex Ryan had run up the white flag, had conceded the Giants were the better team.
"He said that?'' Revis replied incredulously to the reporter who relayed Ryan's quote. "Umm, if that's his case, that's his case.''
After taking a second to think about it, Revis realized there was no denying the obvious. "The scoreboard says what it says,'' Revis said.
"They were the better team . . . You've got to respect them winning. They outplayed us.''
Reality was beginning to bite Revis and the Jets where it hurts the most -- their sense of pride. Ever since Ryan arrived three seasons ago, he has talked big to boost the collective ego of a franchise that had been hangdog, especially by comparison to the Giants. His first day on the job, Ryan proclaimed the Jets would take over New York and win the Super Bowl, and after advancing to the AFC Championship Game in his first two seasons, he was making a pretty strong case for a turnaround.
But with both teams fighting for their playoff lives and for respect in the stadium they share, that familiar motivational ploy failed against the Giants. Ryan's pregame victory cigar ultimately exploded in his face and those of the players charged with backing up his boasts.
"It's really tough,'' Revis said. "But also, we know Rex, and I don't blame him for being confident, for sitting here saying we're going to win a Super Bowl this year. Why not?
"We play this game to win the Super Bowl. So even to be talking about that excites me, and I think it excites the team for us to go out there and try to win the Super Bowl. That's what it's about. It's not about nothing else.''
On paper, it seemed the Jets' defense did its job. Giants quarterback Eli Manning completed only 9 of 27 passes for 225 yards and one touchdown with one interception. Revis broke up five passes, including one in the end zone, and Victor Cruz was the only Giants receiver to catch more than one pass.
"Most likely, you would be happy, ecstatic to hold one of the best quarterbacks to those [numbers],'' Revis said. "We got off a lot on third downs and showed them different looks. We had a great game plan.''
But he knew the big plays got away from the Jets, specifically Manning's 99-yard touchdown pass to Cruz just before halftime that gave the Giants the lead for good at 10-7. Kyle Wilson and Antonio Cromartie missed tackles immediately after the catch and safety Eric Smith was late trying to run down Cruz.
Even though Revis helped limit Giants wideout Hakeem Nicks to one catch for 20 yards, he praised their receiving corps, saying, "Cruz had the best day today -- three catches for 164. He had some big runs after the catch, and he scored.''
Midway through the fourth quarter, Revis tipped a pass away from Nicks that was intercepted by Jets linebacker David Harris, who returned it 20 yards to the Giants' 11 to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Mark Sanchez that cut the Jets' deficit to 20-14 with 7:17 remaining. But the Jets' misfiring offense could produce no more points on a day when it held the ball for 36:06 and often had great field position.
"I focus on defense,'' Revis said. "The one thing I can say is this is a team sport. We've been struggling as a team the whole year. It's been up and down. We've got to get back to playing great football like we did in the past two AFC Championship berths. In the future, we've got to find consistency of playing great football.''
But for the present, the Jets have to live with the reality that they couldn't walk the walk to back up all their coach's tough talk.
