Friday, December 19, 2014

Patriots' Darrelle Revis 'humbled' by MVP chatter

BY DAVID HEIM

Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, DeMarco Murray and J.J. Watt all have one thing in common. The four of them will all most likely receive votes for this year’s league MVP award.

And rightfully so.

Rodgers’ 35-to-five touchdown-to-interception ratio is best in the league. Brady’s resurgence after the Week four loss to Kansas City has been unmatched by anyone else in the league. Murray leads all running backs by a mile with 1,687 rushing yards, and Watt’s five touchdowns is the most by a defensive lineman since 1944.

Rodgers, Brady and Murray will most likely receive the bulk of the votes given the league is an offensive-minded league. Also, a defensive player has not won the coveted honor since Lawrence Taylor won it in 1986.

But while Watt’s name is being thrown into the pile for MVP, why not add another defensive star’s name.

Darrelle Revis for 2014 NFL MVP.

No? Here’s why Revis deserves even a second of consideration.

Since coming to New England this past offseason, Revis has once again found his niche against not only opponent’s top offensive options, but some of the best receivers in the league.

Week Five: A.J. Green- five receptions for 81 yards. Sidenote: Green’s one touchdown in the game came against cornerback Logan Ryan, not Revis.

Week Seven: Eric Decker- four catches for 65 yards.

Week Eight: Just three catches for 35 yards for Bears Brandon Marshall.

Week 12: Megatron- four catches for 58 yards.

You get the picture. Quarterbacks are 31 of 73 for 455 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions (one tipped to Devin McCourty) when targeting Revis this season.

Brady and Gronkowski will get the praise for leading the potent offensive attack in New England, but it has been Revis who has led the Patriots defense. For that, he deserves to be in the mix once the voting commences.

Revis, however, is just focused on continuing to do his job week after week.

“I didn’t even know I was involved in that conversation, so that’s something totally new to me. I have no idea,” Revis said on Thursday, via the Boston Globe. “I just look at it like the sky’s the limit, and you never know what’s going to be ahead of you. I’m humbled about it, to even be in that conversation with the other guys, to be mentioned with those other guys.”

The Patriots secondary is most likely not going to face overwhelming offensive attacks as they close out the regular season against the Jets Sunday and the Bills next weekend. But once the playoffs roll around, having Revis blanket opponents’ top-targets will be even more valuable as New England continues its pursuit for a fourth Super Bowl.

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