Although the Jets were unable to complete the sweep of the Pats, suffering a 31-24 loss Sunday, Darrelle Revis did a pretty solid job as usual against Randy Moss, holding him to five catches for 34 yards.
"That's one guy that actually won his battle," head coach Rex Ryan said about his Pro Bowl cornerback. "It's unfortunate to have that kind of effort and then come up short."
Revis vs. Moss, Part II, had been talked about all week preceding the matchup and right from the start New England was out to challenge No. 24 and get the ball to No. 81, calling an unsuccessful fleaflicker to the veteran receiver on their second drive.
"Moss tried to catch me sleeping," Revis said. But the Patriots weren't fooling the third-year CB. "I'm expecting the ball to come my way when you're covering a guy like Randy Moss.""
Revis did though prove he was human, allowing the veteran WR to catch a touchdown pass, a 4-yarder in the first quarter to put the Pats up, 14-0.
"That was a play right there where it was a timing pattern on the 1-yard line," Revis said. "Things happen quick down there. They got one on us but I did the best I could on Randy. Whatever the stats say, the stats say."
Moss has nine catches for 58 yards and a TD in the past two games against Revis and the Jets. They'll take that every season from one of the best wide receivers in the game.
Patriots QB Tom Brady became the first opposing QB to throw for 300 yards against the Jets this season with his 28 completions for 310 yards to five different targets. His top receiver was the elusive Wes Welker, who had 15 catches for 192 yards.
"He's like the Energizer Bunny. He keeps on going and going, even if he gets knocked down," Revis said of Welker. "He's shifty in there, he's very fast and he does it week by week."
Through two quarters Welker had eight catches for 139 yards. The Jets made halftime adjustments, putting two defenders on him at times in the second half, but the damage was already done. The Patriots had a 24-10 lead heading into the third quarter.
"We have to handle that at the start of the game so we can shut him out and limit him to a couple catches," said Revis. "Welker and Brady — that's a one-two punch that got the best of us. He kept us in the middle of the field doing all the pivot moves. One time he came back to the sideline and he did a triple move or something. It was crazy. But he is a great player and he beat us today."
And Brady continued to go to the 5'9", 185-pounder in the last two quarters despite the double coverage. Welker grabbed seven passes for 53 yards in the second half.
"Brady has so much confidence in him, he still feeds him the football," said Ryan. "If we played zone he found a spot in the zone. We had one busted coverage for a long one. But other than that, this guy was doing a great job."
Someone had to pick up the slack because Revis wasn't going to allow Moss to get by him.
"The one thing you have to do as a corner, especially in man-to-man coverage, you have to stay on top of him," said Revis. "You don't want to get him running down the field."
Revis drew a pass interference penalty in the fourth quarter on Moss, who grabbed him from behind to prevent an interception.
"I didn't like that," Revis, who had three pass defenses on the day, said with a smile. "We kind of laughed about it at the end of the game, but I think he was trying to stop the play. I was over top of him a little bit trying to make the play and I think he didn't want it to turn into a turnover."
Revis said Moss is the best wideout he's faced all season and that the road isn't going to get any easier in the next six weeks.
"I go up against some of the best receivers in the league," he said. "Most of the time I'm in man coverage so it's a live-or-die thing with that. I just have to be consistent with my play and do the best I can."
Next Sunday Revis will once again be challenged as he'll likely be matched up with Carolina's Steve Smith. Regardless of who it is, the Jets and their faithful will be counting on No. 24 every time.
