The Super Bowl is all about marquee players playing on the biggest stage of all. In Rob Gronkowski, the New England Patriots might have the single most dominant and unstoppable offensive weapon in the game, and the Seahawks' effort to slow him down is going to be one of the key matchups of the game.
It is no coincidence that the Patriots' offense has been at its most dominant over the past few seasons with Gronkowski in the lineup, and this season the turnaround in the team's fortunes closely relates to an increase in workload after Gronkowski had returned from injury and approached full fitness.
Over the first four weeks of the season, Gronkowski was playing an average of 51.9 percent of the team's snaps, but since then his average has shot up to 88.8 percent, with a corresponding increase in workload in the passing game. After the loss to Kansas City in Week 4, the Patriots won 10 of their next 11 games, falling only to the Green Bay Packers on the road before dropping a meaningless Week 17 encounter to Buffalo.
Over that stretch, Gronkowski scored nine touchdowns and averaged 85.6 yards on 5.3 receptions per game. The 33.4 points per game the team averaged were the most in the NFL.
If Seattle wants to contain this New England offense, job No. 1 is limiting Gronkowski.
So what exactly is the blueprint for doing that? Is it as simple as defenders getting their hands on Gronk at the line of scrimmage, as Seattle cornerback Jeremy Lane suggested last week?