Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
When the Detroit Lions take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 12 of NFL action, an unstoppable force will meet an immovable object in the individual battle of Calvin Johnson versus Derrelle Revis. After tearing his ACL and departing the New York Jets, Revis hasn’t garnered nearly as much attention as he did among the Big Apple media, except for that of fantasy owners with receivers playing against him. That will change on Sunday when the man regarded as the NFL’s best cornerback tries to slow down the man who is indisputably the league’s top receiver.
The NFL’s official website has a story that includes a quote from Revis stating he plans to “be physical” with Johnson as he likes to be with “big receivers.” The problem is Johnson outweighs Revis by 30 pounds and is six inches taller…and he’s not just any “big receiver.”
Johnson has put up big stat lines against some of the NFL’s most respectable cornerbacks, including Patrick Peterson (6-116-2), DeAngelo Williams (7-115-1), Brandon Carr (14-329-1), Tim Jennings (6-83-2) and Ike Taylor (6-179-2). Now a lot of folks consider Revis to be better than these guys, although that opinion is a little skewed because of the delusional members of the media.
The point is this: Even if Revis is slightly more effective against Johnson than the players mentioned above, Megatron isn’t going to be stopped. That doesn’t mean the Lions are guaranteed to win — the Buccaneers will likely pull off the upset because of their running game — but it does mean fantasy owners shouldn’t think twice about Megatron’s success this week.
Some folks say Peterson played well against Johnson for the most part, citing the fact he gave up “only” one big play. But one big play is just the icing on the cake of a typical Megatron outing. So even if Revis only holds Johnson to one big play, he’ll still put up a WR1 stat line because of all the targets he gets; Johnson has been targeted 108 times, the fifth-most in the NFL this season.
So here’s the lesson for this week that really isn’t a lesson: start Megatron, expect a typical performance from him and don’t think twice about it.
Jeric Griffin is the Director of Content for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JericGriffin, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
