The Seattle Seahawks defense is ready to accord the proper respect to tight end Rob Gronkowski, promising to go ‘big on big’ against him.
While returns vary on what each member of the Legion of Boom really thinks about their matchup with the New England Patriots offense and specifically their best receiver, tight end Rob Gronkowski. Some have scoffed at Gronk, while many others have plenty of respect for the hulking pass catcher. It’s the anchor of the LOB who had the final say in the matter.
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At the end of the day, it’s big strong safety Kam Chancellor who stirs the pot in the Seattle Seahawks secondary and his approach was simple against Gronkowski. “Just play big-on-big,” Chancellor said on Monday, per Pro Football Talk.
“He definitely is a big, physical guy, but it’s just big-on-big,” Chancellor said.
Kam Chancellor knows a thing or two about playing big. The safety stands at 6’3″ and over 230 pounds. His hits often set the tone for the game as they did in last year’s Super Bowl when the Seattle defense dominated the Denver Broncos offense early and often. It was a heavy dose of Chancellor that made ideas of rallying for a victory a distant, fleeting fantasy for the Broncos.
Now if Seattle wants that same snarl to their game, they’ll need their own big man to handle the one running around for the Patriots. Tom Brady heavily relies on timing and precision to get his first down passes complete and that means a big guy like Chancellor will need to help clog the middle and throw off Gronk’s timing in the pass game.
It hasn’t always been easy to throw Gronk off his game, mainly because he vastly outweighs most defensive backs who line up across from him. But the Seahawks secondary is a different animal, led by Chancellor. They won’t be shy with Gronkowski or any of the Patriots receivers.
Even the cornerbacks are taller and more physical than the average defensive backs, which will make life difficult for Brady’s outside targets, who must step up in order to free up room for Gronkowski over the middle.
We’ll know early on how the Seahawks plan to neutralize Gronkowski. How well they do that will go a long way in determining how the critical matchup between the Pats offense and this defense will affect the game.
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