One of the matchups for the divisional round this weekend will pit the New England Patriots against the Baltimore Ravens, two teams very familiar with each other. The winner of the last two games between these teams has gone on to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, and the Ravens are 2-1 in the last three games between them – all of which were New England home games.
In the 2009 postseason the Ravens executed a ground-and-pound game plan to perfection, splitting carries between a young Ray Rice and an aging but physical Willis McGahee to the tune of 221 rushing yards. Baltimore imposed their will on a 13th ranked New England rushing defense, while minimizing the flaws of a still green Joe Flacco by holding him to just ten pass attempts. The third ranked scoring defense, Baltimore forced three Tom Brady interceptions and held the volatile Randy Moss to just 48 yards on five catches. The Ravens got out to a 24-0 first quarter lead and never looked back, winning 33-14 in Foxboro.
During Baltimore’s 2013 Super Bowl run, Baltimore went into Gillette Stadium and got another convincing win, defeating the Pats 28-13. Led by the legendary Ray Lewis in his final year, the Ravens shut down a Patriots offense that averaged 35 points a game in the regular season. The Baltimore offense created 358 total yards, and the defense forced two fourth quarter Tom Brady interceptions deep in Baltimore territory, knocking off the 15-point favourites.
John Harbaugh and his vaunted Ravens held Bill Belichick’s offense to just 27 points in two road playoff games, a stunning feat considering how good Belichick’s Patriots usually are at home. There was one common element missing for the Patriots missing during both losses, and they had it during their one victory in the 1-2 stretch – tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Gronkowski was still in college at Arizona in 2009, and re-injured his broken forearm in the 2013 wild card matchup with Houston.
It’s well documented that Rob Gronkowski is a physical freak. Gronkowski is like a gorilla; strong, fearless, physical, aggressive, massive hands – the comparison would be even truer if gorillas were 6 foot 6 and ran a 4.7 second forty yard dash.
The Patriots winning with Gronk in the line-up is no surprise, given the impact that he can have on the game.
Known more for a fourth quarter missed field goal by Billy Cundiff, the 2012 post season thriller that finished 23-20 had a mild dosage of Gronk. The tight end had five catches for 87 yards. Late at the end of the third quarter however, Gronkowski had his legs wrapped by Baltimore safety Bernard Pollard and left the game with a high ankle sprain. He returned from the locker room just in time for a Patriots possession at the 50 yard line. Instead of looking his way on a sideline out route on which he was open, Brady threw the ball deep into double coverage where it was tipped by Pollard and picked off by Jimmy Smith. If Brady had found Gronkowski, the Patriots would be in field goal range and likely would have made it a six point game.
Gronkowski is the X-Factor in this year’s version of Ravens-Patriots.
In 15 games this season, Gronk has 1124 yards and 12 touchdowns. Although second on the team in receptions, Gronkowski is Tom Brady’s security blanket. He will most likely win Comeback Player of the Year, coming off a torn MCL and ACL that ended his season last year.
The Patriots started off the year 2-2, and although he scored three touchdowns, the physically slowed tight end never got more than 50 yards. “On to Cincinnati” the Patriots went, as did Gronkowski, scoring a touchdown and breaking out for 100 yards. The Patriots are 9-1 when he breaks that 50 yard barrier.
The Patriots will chip away at you with Gronkowski as Chicago, Denver, and San Diego will tell you – he had 9 receptions and at least a touchdown in each game. He also has the ability to break the game open like he did late in the season at Miami with receptions of 27, 34, and 35 yards.
In Week 11, Tom Brady threw a seemingly simple out route to Gronkowski in Indianapolis territory. What happened next was anything but ordinary. Gronk caught the ball, spun off of a D’Qwell Jackson tackle, turned upfield and followed a great block by Julian Edelman while stiff-arming a Colts defender. He then shifted into another gear, outrunning Colts defenders and launching himself into the endzone and bulldozing two Colts defensive backs in the process.
That is what makes Rob Gronkowski so terrifying. Six defenders had the opportunity to stop him from reaching the endzone and couldn’t. Rob Gronkowski will pulverize your defense with reckless abandon. He doesn’t care whether there is one defender or half of the defense in front of him – in his mind, he’s going to score.
It will be interesting to see how Baltimore tries to match up with the all-pro tight end. They could try to chip him at the line with Terrell Suggs and slow him down, but they tried that a few times before and Gronkowski put Suggs on his rear end. Rookie second team all-pro linebacker C.J. Mosley is versatile in coverage and excelled as a jack-of-all trades at Alabama, but may not have the size to prevent catches. They could double him in coverage, but he’s still capable of catching passes with his outrageous arm length and massive hands.
As Rob Gronkowski goes on Saturday, so will the New England Patriots offense. If Baltimore can somehow find a way to minimize the damage that the so-called ‘man-child’ does, they have a chance to outscore the Patriots. On the chance that doesn’t happen though, and the Ravens see a few “Gronk spikes”, they might also be seeing themselves at home come next week.
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