Listen up, Saints D: Revis has your battle plan

Darrelle Revis is the best cornerback in the NFL, a shutdown defender in an era when shutdown defenders are not supposed to exist. He shut down Andre Johnson. He shut down Steve Smith. He shut down Marques Colston. He shut down Randy Moss. Twice.

So how do you shut down Indianapolis' four top receivers? Ah, that's why we invited Darrelle Revis to this party. He played Reggie Wayne twice this season, and Wayne didn't score either time. The problem, of course, was that the three others did.

Darrelle Revis says if you're going to press Reggie Wayne, don't miss. (AP)

Anyway, here's my question for Darrelle: If you had to play the Colts again, how do you defend their four Horsemen? Gregg Williams, this is your lucky day. What follows is Darrelle Revis' scouting report:

Reggie Wayne

General Impression: "Good sized receiver. Not fast. Not strong. Elusive. Smooth. Quick at the line. He's a route runner. He catches the tight balls and makes the tough catches. He's just an all-around receiver who can get it done."

How to defend him: "When I play him I try to get physical. That's one thing I try to focus on. Just try to re-route him in a way where he doesn't want to go because he wants to control the defensive back. He does a great job of feeding off leverage and spinning. He wants to control the 'DB', so I wanted to try to control him in both games I played him."

How not to: "Don't play him off, and if you press him don't miss because he's going to get past you, and he's going to be gone."

Dallas Clark

General Impression: "He's a tight end who is more of a receiver because he has good speed for a tight end. Good hands. Good route runner. He's a big body. He just makes plays, and Peyton Manning does a great job of finding him. One of the things he does need to work on is blocking for the run game. That's probably his only weakness. He's different than Antonio Gates [whom Revis played the week before] because Gates is a way wider body than Clark. He's smooth and he has good foot work. You see him doing a lot of double moves on cornerbacks and linebackers to get him open. Gates is way more hard to cover because he does routes and double moves like receivers."

How to defend him: "I'm going at him straight. I pressed him one or two times, and I stuck on him. I would probably try to get physical with him again. I know he's not going to beat me deep because I'm faster than he is. So I try to out-anticipate him on short and intermediate routes and I try to stay physical with him so I can stay close to him."

How not to: "Don't give him any space or cushion where he can catch the ball. The best thing is to have tight coverage on him because it's tough for Peyton to fit the ball in there, and it's tough for him to make plays like that. If you give him a little room and a little space he's dangerous."

Pierre Garcon

General Impression: "He's a tough player who had a great game against us. He's very fast, but he needs to work on his route running a little bit more -- maybe work with Reggie Wayne on that. But he's a big physical guy who has good speed and makes plays. He's a deep threat guy, and you want to play him from top to bottom. You always try to stay over top of him at the corner position at all times."

How to defend him: "The biggest thing with these receivers is they don't want cornerbacks that are physical. So I try to get physical with him. When I was on him four or five times the ball wasn't thrown to my side. So I just try to press him and stay on top of him to protect against the deep ball."

How not to: "The mistake you cannot make is to let him beat you deep because he's so fast. You have to make sure that if you're off coverage on him to turn in time; and if you're in press, make sure you stay on top because he's very fast. He can outrun people."

Austin Collie

General Impression: "He's like a taller Wes Welker. He makes plays in the slot. He catches the ball. Runs good routes. Has good hands. He's very fast. If you go back a few years, he's that [Brandon] Stokley type of guy who just makes plays in the slot, which makes him dangerous that way."

How to defend him: "I just try to get physical with him. He's a smaller receiver than Reggie Wayne and Garcon, so I'd probably just try to get physical with him and beat him until he gets tired so it can weigh on him a little bit."

How not to: "You must have good leverage on him. If you know you're supposed to be outside press, be outside press; if you know you're supposed to be inside stay inside because he spins a lot and pushes away from your leverage. If you're inside he's going to push outside; if you're outside he's going to push the other way."