Darrelle Revis stood in the middle of the end zone and looked around like he wasn't sure what had just happened, like he had seen something that just wouldn't compute in his beautiful football mind.
In the third quarter of the season-opening Patriots loss to the Dolphins, 33-20, Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill found receiver Mike Wallace for a 14-yard score despite Revis getting a hand on the ball just before it nestled into Wallace's mitts.
The touchdown tied the score at 20-20 and was the third of five unanswered Dolphins scoring drives in the second half.
Earlier in the game, Revis had batted away a Tannehill attempt for Wallace near the goal line. The ball popped straight up in the air after Revis got his hand on it, but hit the turf for an incompletion. The newly-acquired corner thought the same thing happened on Wallace's touchdown in the third quarter.
"I actually knocked the pass down," Revis said. "And I actually thought it popped up like the post he ran earlier in the first half. I don't know. I gotta see the film. My teammates are telling me I hit it and then it hit his knee or something and then it popped back into his hands.
"You don't want them plays to happen. Sometimes it happens like that. Crazy plays. The only thing you can do it . . . ah . . . I don't know what to do. At the same time you don't want those plays to happen, it does happen in football. I mean, you gotta tip your hat off to Mike for keeping focus throughout the whole play and managing to come up with it some weird way. I don't know how. I'll look at it tomorrow and figure out what I can do better to defend it better."
Revis appeared to be used in a variety of ways against the Dolphins on Sunday. It looked as though he had Wallace in coverage as well as Brian Hartline and Charles Clay. He played zone as well as man, and played off the line at times. He was not used to shadow any one particular receiver throughout the course of the game.
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When Revis was in coverage on Wallace, Tannehill wasn't afraid to look in that direction. Wallace beat Revis deep on a double-move but Tannehill's throw sailed just wide enough to take Wallace out of bounds in the end zone. Revis was also trailing in coverage when Wallace hauled in a 22-yard completion on a long crossing route.
Revis finished the day with a tackle, two passes defended and a fumble recovery. He said he'll need to watch the film to evaluate the play of the Patriots secondary as a whole, but was certain he'd find things that needed correcting.
"I gotta see what's going on overall," he said. "I don't know what's going on on the other side. I gotta focus on my side. At the same time, we'll get it figured out. Next time it comes around, we'll have answers for it."
Revis missed the final two series in the second half due to cramping in the Miami heat, something he called "frustrating" after the game. Indeed it was one of those days for the franchise corner who had a less-than-picture-perfect performance in his Patriots debut.