One of the more unexpected developments in New York this season has been the supposed decline of superstar cornerback Darrelle Revis.
On Thursday night, he surrendered an 84-yard touchdown to Olympic sprinter Marquise Goodwin, which caused the chorus of Revis watchers (including our own Dan Hanzus) to emerge from the brush with their binoculars.
It's too early in the season to assume anything, but Revis' own teammates are certainly coming to his defense.
"I stand in front of the world and say Darrelle Revis is the best cornerback in this league," Brandon Marshall said after the 37-31 win in Buffalo. "That's what I say, that's what I say. That's how you support your teammate. He's a first-five ballot Hall of Famer.
"OK, he gave up some big plays last week, that's going to happen. Regardless of how he's playing right now. He's still the best, he's still the best. He had a hand injury the whole offseason, he didn't get a chance to be out there with us ... so he's still getting in shape. He's still getting ready. And you'll see this guy back to Revis Island, shutting down people in a couple weeks."
Last week, Revis surrendered a majority of A.J. Green's monstrous 12-catch, 180-yard afternoon which re-ignited a version of the same conversation we were having toward the end of last season.
"It won't be just Revis, it will be a lot of people," Rodgers said a week ago, via ESPN.com. "A.J. is a tremendous player. We've got to have 11 sets of eyes, knowing where he is. ... It's not necessarily a one-on-one matchup."
With 10 days of rest before the team heads to Kansas City, it will be a good chance for everyone to hit the reset button on this. Asking a 31-year-old corner with 10 hard years on his resume already to be a premiere No. 1 shutdown corner is silly, especially as Revis evolves into the second stage of his career. While he's always thrived with preparation, his success will come more form anticipatory movements than sheer strength and speed. It's the way Charles Woodson did it. It's the way Champ Bailey did it.
Revis is just dealing with the same sort of pivot those great corners did in a larger market -- and with the incessant trumpeting of former coach Rex Ryan in his past, which continues to unfairly inflate expectations.