SAN DIEGO — Darrelle Revis went to the Jets coaching staff at halftime yesterday with a request.
For most of the first half, the Jets had played zone defense. Revis, tired of watching the Chargers find holes in the zone, begged secondary coach Dennis Thurman to let the Jets go man-to-man. The coaches listened and it made the difference as the Chargers offense began to sputter after halftime in the 17-14 Jets victory.
“We just wanted to out-physical those guys,” Revis said. “Personally I think the San Diego Chargers is a finesse offense. They have a lot of playmakers. We just wanted to go out there and be physical with those guys.”
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The talk all week was of the Chargers’ big receivers having their way with the shorter Jets secondary, but even big guys don’t like to get hit in the mouth. Revis and Company did just that and it played havoc with the Chargers offense and quarterback Philip Rivers.
“I think [Rivers] has a problem with it when cornerbacks and the secondary get a little physical with his receivers because it messes up their timing,” Revis said.
Revis was not matched up one-on-one with Vincent Jackson as much as anticipated, but when the two went head-to-head, Revis won most of the battles.
The biggest was his third-quarter interception that swung the momentum back to the Jets.
Revis made an acrobatic interception for the second straight week. This one came at a crucial point in the game.
With the Chargers holding a 7-3 lead and 4:36 remaining in the third quarter, Revis came up huge. Mark Sanchez had thrown an interception to give the Chargers the ball and there was a feeling in Qualcomm Stadium that San Diego had snatched the momentum for good.
Instead, on third-and-8, Rivers threw a high, deep pass down the right side of the field toward Jackson. The ball bounced off the receiver’s thigh, then hit his heel, flying into the air and landing on Revis, who had fallen to the ground. Revis secured the ball and reversed the momentum.
“It was crazy,” Revis said. “I tried to make a play and I saw Vincent cut in front of me to try to use his big body to make a play. I grabbed his hand a little bit so he couldn’t catch it. As I’m going down, I see the ball as it hits his foot and it was in arm’s reach and I grabbed it.”
Revis’ next challenge awaits in the Colts’ Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne. If he has any say in it, the Jets will man-up again.