After months and months of waiting, Darrelle Revis finally got the chance to play his 11th NFL season when the Chiefs signed him as a stopgap solution in the midst of a 1-4 skid. With his old team looming, Kansas City is making sure the former All-Pro is front and center for the New York Jets.
Chiefs troll Jets by naming Darrelle Revis captain in his first game with Kansas City
Revis spent eight seasons with New York, but was released by the Jets last winter.
Head coach Andy Reid named Revis a defensive captain in his very first game with the club. That means the veteran cornerback will head to midfield before kickoff and shake hands with some former teammates from the franchise that released him last winter.
What this means for the Chiefs: Revis’ signing was more than just a swipe at an AFC foe. The Chiefs have squandered a 5-0 start and are desperate to stop the bleeding and remain atop the AFC West. They’ve allowed 7 yards per pass this season, a low efficiency mark that ranks just 21st in the league. While Revis is no longer an All-Pro, he’s a heady veteran who vacillated between below-average and above-average performances last year for New York.
But Revis will also add some veteran leadership to a defensive backfield that’s missing Eric Berry. It’s a gamble — the lack of interest suggests 2016’s drop-off was the first payment in the shutdown corner’s inevitable debt to Father Time — but Kansas City is running out of options, especially with a suddenly hot Chargers team chasing it in the playoff race.
What this means for Darrelle Revis: The seven-time Pro Bowler will have to prove last year’s uneven coverage was an outlier and not an indication of things to come. Revis had the worst season of his storied career with New York in 2016, giving up a litany of big plays early in the year, recording only one interception, and knocking down only five passes — a career low.
The Chiefs are giving the 32-year-old a chance to reclaim his value and put himself on the NFL radar before the 2018 season. If he can’t perform for Kansas City, retirement is likely the next step for the potential Hall of Famer.
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