Gronk takes full control
Tight end dominates offense
FOXBORO — Tom Brady’s aerial assault has morphed into a weekly episode of the Gronk Show.
And at the level Rob Gronkowski has dominated of late, that’s enough to propel the Patriots to a greater good, albeit through different means than their path to Super Bowl LI.
Gronkowski has enjoyed a consistently strong season after returning from his third back surgery. His last two outings have been his best to date. He just amassed a career-high 168 yards against the Steelers, and his 315 yards over the last two weeks marked his best-ever two-game stretch. Gronkowski also caught nine balls in backto-back games for the second time in his career since 2014.
“It’s always fun fighting with your boys,” Gronk said. “We’re going down the stretch now at the end of December. The final games are really important games. You want to be loose. You want to be enjoying it.”
With the Bills on tap tomorrow, Gronkowski has a legitimate chance to post another monstrous performance against an opponent he has tortured more than anyone with 61 receptions, 960 yards and 11 touchdowns.
It’s a markedly different approach from last season for obvious reasons. Gronkowski went down in November with a back injury that resulted in his ninth surgery since 2009. The offense then ran through wideout Julian Edelman, who continued to validate his worth as a No. 1 receiver by exposing a variety of matchups. The Pats used Edelman inside against linebackers and slower safeties and outside against off-coverage cornerbacks to exploit opponents’ coverage deficiencies.
There’s a different approach with Gronkowski, who more often than not stays between the numbers. If single-covered, which Albert Einstein would consider the definition of insanity, it’s a pretty easy choice for Brady to go to Gronk. That was the case Sunday during the game-winning drive against the Steelers when Gronkowski caught three passes for 69 yards and the two-point conversion.
But it’s not like he doesn’t encounter an array of double and triple coverages, but even then, the Patriots have been well-equipped for years to run zone beaters by calling routes to help him use his underappreciated quickness against a linebacker or his overwhelming size against a safety.
Down the road, the Patriots’ two greatest threats in the AFC playoffs figure to be the Steelers and Jaguars. Gronk has already proven to be the bane of the Steelers’ existence, which was all the more impressive because they have given up the 10th fewest receptions to tight ends this season.
If the Pats meet the Jaguars, Gronkowski’s presence will be even more important against a defense ranked first in points allowed, red-zone scoring and sacks, and second in takeaways. The Jaguars have also allowed the sixth fewest receptions to tight ends.
And Jacksonville has a pair of Pro Bowl cornerbacks in A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey, so it can’t be assumed the Patriots will have a lot of success with their perimeter passing attack, which puts Gronkowski in focus. But like last year with the Falcons, who were equipped to handle Edelman’s quickness, the Pats found a way to overcome a predictable challenge, and that would come in the form of congested lanes for Gronkowski.
Again, the Patriots have seen it all before.
“I think he sees a lot of coverages,” Brady said. “I think in general we see a lot of coverages, too. He is obviously a big part of what we do. If they slow him down, we’ve got to figure out other ways to move the ball.”
Gronkowski wouldn’t be included in the conversation for the greatest tight end of all-time if he couldn’t handle a few aggressively complicated coverage schemes. And at the most crucial time of year, Gronk is reminding everyone of that talent in his drive to take over Brady’s offense.