How do we defend gronk?

[JSeahawks]

Rodgers seemed to find some success in the middle if the field. Do we do anything special and make any adjustments to shut down gronk? Or just play usual seahawks defense? The ony two guys who really worry me are he and Blount.

 

[Blitzer88]

Gronk, Edelman and Blount worry me.

 

[Uncle Si]

same thing they did with Thomas and Manning last year?

 

[huskylawyer]

Get some swimsuit models on the sideline to distract him.

 

[sutz]

Jam him at the line, I guess. Don't let him get a free release. KJ and Irvin are quick enough to run with him, I suspect, and Kam over the top should keep his head on a swivel. He's big and physical, but I think we can match up with him.

 

[JSeahawks]

same thing they did with Thomas and Manning last year?

By that you mean what? I think they sat on everything short and dared manning to beat them deep which he couldn't do with his noodle arm. I'm not sure that strategy would work against Brady, deflated balls or not.

 

[Ozzy]

GB had success early with Rodgers finding soft spots in the zone and taking what was given to him. We switched to more man in the second half and did much better. I think KJ Wright will do better than most expect him to in the SB.

 

[mistaowen]

I think it comes down to Gronk making plays or not. He typically doesn't break away from defenders, he has ridiculously strong hands and body control. KJ will be able to stick with him but Gronk's ability to go up and pluck the ball is why he's so talented. Plus he's huge. I think we will need Kam's help over the top while KJ shadows him underneath.

Or have Jon Ryan match up with him 1 on 1 all game. :stirthepot:

 

[Tical21]

I bet they'll fall for the Kam in the tailpipe.

 

[Snakeeyes007]

Have Johnny Football on the sidelines waving some glow sticks and tickets to Vegas with his iPod pumping some rave music through a Beats Pill?

 

[Gronkzilla]

Best way to defend Gronk in a Patriots fans opinion?

1. Chip him at the line, DO NOT let him get free release.
2. Bracket him with Kam and KJ. One defender will not be enough.
3. If one on one, hold him and pray refs don't see. lol

But it doesn't stop there, that causes the "Gronk Effect" because it takes so much to stop him, other Patriots are left open and sit in the soft spots left behind.

 

[Uncle Si]

same thing they did with Thomas and Manning last year?

By that you mean what? I think they sat on everything short and dared manning to beat them deep which he couldn't do with his noodle arm. I'm not sure that strategy would work against Brady, deflated balls or not.

your concerned about Brady's arm strength? I dont know that its that much better than Mannings to be honest.

I imagine a similar tactic. sit on the underneath stuff, match up our corners with their wide outs. if Brady wants to go deep he will have to wait, and hopefully the front 4 can pressure him.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

The Hawks have a high success rate against TE's, mainly due to the athleticism and speed of their LB's and Kam.

Teams that fail against Gronk are ones that play nickel and dime zone, and put slow LB's on him.........which allows Gronk to find seams down the middle and use his speed to run away from slower LB's, and size to out muscle nickel and dime DB's.

Hawks will bracket Gronk side to side AND top to bottom, like they have done against other great TE's.

The only TE that's had success against the Hawks this year was Gates, and that was because Kam was seriously hampered and Rivers dropped some serious dimes over the top of coverage. So while Brady might complete a couple great passes to Gronk into tight windows, it'll be few and far between.

 

[brettb3]

same thing they did with Thomas and Manning last year?

By that you mean what? I think they sat on everything short and dared manning to beat them deep which he couldn't do with his noodle arm. I'm not sure that strategy would work against Brady, deflated balls or not.

Actually New England is a short passing team, very similar to Denver in that way.

 

[ChiefHawk]

Best way to defend Gronk in a Patriots fans opinion?

1. Chip him at the line, DO NOT let him get free release.
2. Bracket him with Kam and KJ. One defender will not be enough.
3. If one on one, hold him and pray refs don't see. lol

But it doesn't stop there, that causes the "Gronk Effect" because it takes so much to stop him, other Patriots are left open and sit in the soft spots left behind.

We are familiar with that effect - Lynch does the same thing for us. So many of Russell's great runs or throw on the move opportunities are created due to the opposing defense committing so much to stop Beast Mode.

And they are not wrong.

 

[kjreid]

we need to jam him on the line have LB underneath so the only throw is over the top where he is exposed to a Kam hit. he may catch one but the hit will keep him thinking. I think KJ does a good job at jamming the TE early and Irvin does a great job at running with the TE so as long as one of them have the assignment we have Kam to clean up the backside. I think vereen lining up in slot or outside in a spread and Gronk are the two worries we will have imo.

 

[HawkFan72]

How does Gronk compare to Jimmy Graham? Would our D play Gronk similarly to how we've played Graham the last few contests?

 

[RolandDeschain]

How does Gronk compare to Jimmy Graham? Would our D play Gronk similarly to how we've played Graham the last few contests?

Gronk doesn't run from hard hits, has better hands, and is more physical. Aside from that, they're like, identical.

 

[CANHawk]

Is the Gronk effect anything like the I'm jimmy (graham) effect or the Vernon Davis effect? We'll do fine. This isn't the tom Brady of old, it's an old tom Brady. He doesn’t have the tools to compete against this defense. This is a defense that just held Aaron Rodgers to 178 and two pics.

The only way new England has a chance is if their defense balls out and our offense shits the bed like last week. I see another game like last year vs. Denver. This team is just too fast, hits too hard and amazing enough is STILL too hungry for a soft finesse team like the pats to do anything about.

 

[ivotuk]

"HOW GRONKOWSKI BEAT DENVER: RUN WILD, RUN FREE"

"Denver chose not to physically disrupt Rob Gronkowski off the line and it proved their undoing. "

http://soshcentral.com/nfl/film-study-n ... ld-part-1/



PART 2

http://central.sonsofsamhorn.net/?p=4750


Something like 90% of Gronkowski's Touchdowns came on a free release off the line...nobody pressured him and he beat them, time and again.