Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman vs. Darrelle Revis

On March 7^th of this year, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman made an epic appearance on ESPN’s First Take, hosted by Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless. It became apparent early on in the interview that Sherman came on the show for only one reason, to show his incredible disapproval of Bayless. It is not uncommon for players, fans, and even co-workers to have disapproval of the controversial Bayless, but we have not seen anybody express such personal dislike for him as Sherman did. In Sherman’s defense he is not the first person to show disrespect towards Bayless on-air. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, rapper Wale, Hall of Fame receiver Chris Carter, former NBA guard Jalen Rose, and many others have had on-air disputes with Bayless. If you ever watch Bayless on First Take you know that he is incredibly egotistical and he likes to stir the pot and create controversy just for the hell of it. Probably Sherman’s biggest of Bayless is that he is very opinionated but often times has no facts or reasoning to back-up his opinions.

Now Richard Sherman is no saint either. Sherman is one of the most notorious trash-talkers in all of sports. Sherman not only gets into people’s faces on the field but he also takes to twitter to run his mouth. He has called out stars like Tom Brady, Calvin Johnson, Roddy White, and others but his most notorious twitter beef was with Buccaneers corner Darrelle Revis, who is considered by many as the best corner in the league.  Now the first few minutes of this Sherman vs. Bayless video if full of insults and ego that starts off as funny and then turns into sheer annoyance. Probably the most infamous quote of the entire video is when Sherman declares to Bayless “I am better at life than you.” But the last 30 seconds is when Bayless proclaims that Sherman is not even in the same class as Revis. This is when Sherman really took offense.

“That is when you lose creditability. You couldn’t argue valid points to prove that. You couldn’t argue anything you can just say it. That’s an opinion, and that’s why your opinion is discredited because there are no facts behind it. There are facts behind everything I say. There are facts that support the things I say. Explain to me your facts.”

To make matters worse for Bayless, his response to the Sherman rant was: “I don’t lose credibility, I gain it.” Six months have passes since the interview occurred. We are through Week 3 of the NFL season, which has given Sherman three weeks to prove Bayless’s analysis of him wrong. And now that Revis is healthy, we can now fairly compare who has rightful possession of best corner in the league.

Revis was drafted by the Jets in 2007 and made the Pro Bowl in 2008, but he really didn’t break on the scene until 2009 under first-year Head Coach Rex Ryan. The Jets made it all the way to the AFC Championship thanks to a stifling defense which was led by Revis. He was known for locking up the very best receivers in the game in one-on-one coverage. He held New England Patriots receiver Randy Moss to just 4 catches for 24 yards and held Texans receiver Andre Johnson to just 4 catches for 35 yards during that season.

Arguably his best performance took place in the 2^nd round playoff game against the San Diego Chargers. San Diego had a multitude of good receivers that Revis had to cover throughout the course of the game. Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers only threw at him three times in the entire game. Two of the three were tipped away by Revis for an incomplete pass, and the third was an interception which led to a 17-14 Chargers victory. What made him so great was his ability to be out on an island with receivers with no help over the top and be able to take them out of the game, which coined the term “Revis Island.” Revis received another Pro Bowl selection as well as First-Team All-Pro, and AFC Defensive Player of the Year.

Despite being surrounded with controversy due to trash-talk and cockiness, Sherman backed it up with his play in 2012. Sherman made a huge impact on the league in Week 8 when he held Lions receiver Calvin Johnson to 3 catches for 46 yards. Johnson went on to set the NFL receiving yards record later that year. Sherman later that year had 2 interceptions, returning one of them for a touchdown in a win against the Arizona Cardinals. His great game against the 49ers, where he had 5 tackles, an interception, and a blocked field goal that he also returned for a touchdown, catapulted the Seahawks to a victory and a spot in the playoffs. Sherman’s great performance earned him First-Team All-Pro honors.

Now Sherman’s main beef with Bayless is that Bayless thinks Revis is way better than himself but he really doesn’t use anything to bolster his argument. Now that we are three weeks into the NFL season and Revis is playing for the first time since 2011, we can finally compare not who has the better overall resume, but who is the best corner in the league right now. Now comparing corners in the NFL is one of the most difficult things to do because often times you record less stats the better you are because you get thrown at less often. So the best thing we can do is break down what we see from both players. I know Revis probably isn’t 100 percent healthy right now but he has given up more than 50 receiving to each guy he has been matched up with for the first three weeks (which is probably why he started complaining about Head Coach Greg Schiano’s defensive schemes). The Buccaneers are 15th in the NFL in pass defense while the Seahawks are 1st.

Both players are obviously incredible cover corners who are rarely targeted because of their physicality and incredible ability to stay with outstanding receivers. But if you watch them both play there is one thing that stands out more than anything. When Revis is matched up one-on-one with someone, that is his assignment the entire game whether the other team throws at that receiver or not. You can completely take Revis out of the game by not throwing his way. I’m not trying to devalue Revis’s ability because every NFL team would incredibly thankful to have someone like that on their team, but locking Revis up with a receiver and just playing 10 on 10 football is a viable option for opposing teams. Now Sherman is often in situations where he is locked up with a team’s best receiver and he isn’t thrown at for most of the game. But the difference between him and Revis is that Sherman still finds a way to make a bigger impact in the game.

Sherman made 119 tackles over the course of his first two seasons, very high for someone who is just considered a shut-down corner. Sherman has also shown off his incredible ball-skills over the last two years by forcing four fumbles and making 12 interceptions. The other great thing about Sherman is that he is versatile and doesn’t just have to play cover 1 on opposing receivers. Sherman also flourishes in cover 2 and cover 3 schemes and he is excellent at giving help over the top or in the flat, which allows him to break-up more passes and have more of an impact on defense. Sherman also is excellent at blocking kicks and punts on special teams. I think Revis is a more polished and physical shut-down corner, but there is no doubt in my mind that Sherman is the better all-around defensive player.

In Week 2 the Seahawks were had an early season matchup with Super Bowl implications against division foe, San Francisco. 49er receiver Anquan Boldin had 13 receptions for 208 yards in Week 1 against the Packers and was going to be a tough assignment for Sherman coming into this game. Skip Bayless picked the 49ers to win and claimed that Boldin won’t be taken out of the game because “he is best at catching 50-50 balls.” Boldin had 1 catch for 7 yards in the game and Sherman also grabbed an interception in the 29-3 rout of the 49ers. With his Week 2 performance, Sherman left little doubt that he has the crown for best defensive back in the NFL.

And I’m sure he didn’t mind Bayless eating his words either.     

Matt Rawlings lives in Salem, Oregon where he attends Chemeketa Community College and also works as the co-editor of the Chemeketa Courier. You can reach Matt via email at [email protected] or via Facebook.