Boston TE Party will create nightmare for Ravens’ defence

Pats’ tight end tandem turns playbook into library

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Bill Belichick made a franchise- altering market correction when tailback Ray Rice and a more physical Baltimore Ravens team ran his New England Patriots out of the 2009 post- season.

Belichick got tougher by double dipping into a deep talent pool at tight end during the 2010 NFL draft to fortify the team’s receiving corps for three- time Super Bowl- winning quarterback Tom Brady.

Belichick had given Brady tight ends earlier in his career, all more proficient at blocking than receiving. Never before did Belichick bolster Brady with what has emerged as the twinchambered heart of the league’s secondranked passing attack.

Second- round pick Rob Gronkowski and fourth- rounder Aaron Hernandez combined for 169 receptions, 2,237 yards and 24 touchdowns in the regular season.

The duo had four touchdowns in Saturday’s 45- 10 playoff blowout of the Denver Broncos. For comparison, Ben Watson and Chris Baker combined for 43 receptions in 2009 as the Patriots’ top tight ends.

It’s no wonder the explosive duo, nicknamed “The Boston TE Party,” will prove a matchup nightmare for the third- ranked Ravens defence. Expect Gronkowski and Hernandez to be the central reason the Patriots prevail.

“We see them every day in practice,” Belichick said. “And they’re hard to cover out there, believe me.”

Gronkowski, who measures in at 6- foot- 6, 265 pounds, and Hernandez, 6- 1, 245, create a coverage dilemma because Belichick takes full advantage of recent rule tweaks limiting defensive contact.

“With Rob in the game, they don’t know whether we’re going to pass or run,” Hernandez said. “He’s hard to match up against.

“Who can cover a guy 6- 6 who has a wingspan of 7- foot- something? You get a basketball centre, you throw him the ball. Who’s going to stop him? “He’s a lot more freakish.” Gronkowski heaps similar praise on his friend.

“He’s a freak, too, the way he can juke guys out,” he said.

Belichick and offensive coordinator Bill O’brien compound defences’ headaches whenever they spread out Gronkowski and Hernandez as receivers, preventing linebackers from jamming them at the line.

They’ll also align Hernandez in the backfield as a running back. He gives Brady another option to exploit nickel defences aligned against the pass.

And Hernandez broke a 43- yard run in the Patriots’ demolition of Denver.

“Do you have enough guys to cover them?” CBS analyst Phil Simms says. “The only way you can completely stop the New England offence or do what people want to get done, it’s all about the pass rush.

“And that’s hard to do when you have an offence that can get rid of the football. They can hurry up. They have a library of plays second to none.

“There’s a lot of good plans,” Simms continued. “The reality is, they’re good. They’re going to make their plays.”

How the Ravens choose to defend the Patriots’ tackle- breaking tight ends should prove Sunday’s most intriguing chess match. Rookie cornerback Jimmy Smith, who is 6- foot2, might shadow Hernandez at times, and safety Bernard Pollard, 6- 1, will attempt to slow Gronkowski.

This will be Brady’s sixth AFC Championship Game in 11 seasons as starter, but it’s his first armed with the game’s most dangerous tight end tandem. His double blessing figures to provide Sunday’s winning edge.

Prediction: Patriots 27, Ravens 20