Going into Thursday night's season-opener, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a solid plan to stop New England Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski — to jam him and make him uncomfortable off the line of scrimmage
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Pittsburgh completely and utterly failed at arguably the most important aspect of their defensive philosophy, allowing Gronk to run rampant for five catches, 94 yards and three touchdowns.
Just take a look at New England's first score:
Gronkowski got off the line of scrimmage, ran up the seam through a zone coverage and was hit for a wide-open gain. Quarterback Tom Brady proceeded to run the no-huddle, not allowing the defense to change its coverage, and that's an easy first touchdown for the Patriots on essentially the same play design, with coverage coming way too late.
His second touchdown, was a play-action pass, where the defense focused on the run, allowing Gronkowski to run right up the middle of the end zone and snag a floater for the scorer.
On the third, despite being lined up directly over a defender, a foot shuffle at the line creates separation and the tight end leaps for the touchdown on a fade route instead of the defender jamming him at the line and pushing him off his path.
If you're going to stop Gronkowski, you'll have to at least put your hands on him. The Steelers had the right idea in theory, but when put to practice, they were torn apart by Brady and what could be the best ever at his position, Gronkowski.
