Super Bowl XLIX: Rob Gronkowski poses a difficult challenge for the Seattle Seahawks

Jan 18, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts in the third quarter in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Super Bowl XLIX is just hours away. The Seattle Seahawks installed their game plan almost two weeks ago, and they aren’t about to share with us what it is. We do know that slowing down Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will be a big part of it.

Pete Carroll even indicated as much. His quote from media day was that the Seahawks were “obsessed” with trying to stop Gronk. There’s good reason for that too. The Patriots other weapons aren’t going to consistently beat Seattle. If the Seahawks shut down Gronkowski, the Patriots offense will sputter.

What Seattle Is Up Against

The Seahawks actually have a good record against the league’s best tight ends. The completely shut down Saints star Jimmy Graham twice a year ago. They and did the same with Denver’s Julius Thomas in Super Bowl XLVIII and again earlier this season.

Gronkowski is a completely different problem though. Graham and Thomas are mismatches due to their speed, but Seattle has tremendous team speed on defense. The Seahawks have multiple people who can run with those guys. Gronkowski has the speed of those other guys, and combines that with being an incredibly physical player.

This difficulties that Gronk creates using both his physicality and his speed can be seen on back to back plays from the first quarter of the AFC Championship game. In the first play, the Raven try to jam Gronkowski at the line. Gronk simply throws the linebacker to the ground, and runs uncovered across the middle for a 16-yard gain.

On the next play, the Ravens give Gronkowski a free release at the line of scrimmage. He then precedes to outrun a cornerback down the seem. The Ravens were in cover-3, and Gronk was still able to get behind the defense for 46-yard reception.

Both of these types of plays can be found throughout every game in which he has played this season. Finding a way to slow him down will not be an easy task for the Seahawks.

The Gates Problem

That headline isn’t a reference to some dispute between Seahawks owner Paul Allen and his former business partner, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates. No, it is a reference to San Diego tight end Antonio Gates.

Gates is certainly a Hall of Fame player, but he’s also at the end of his career and not the same caliber of player he once was. Gates also torched the Seahawks for 96 receiving yards and three touchdowns this season.

The best example of what he was able to do came on his final TD catch. K.J. Wright was in coverage, and wasn’t able to get proper leverage. Gates was able to use this maintain his position all the way into the end zone for a huge score.

Against a slower or less physical player, Wright would have been able to reestablish proper leverage and deny the completion.

Gates is a similar type of tight end to Gronkowski. They do similar things well, though Gronk is faster, quicker, stronger and simply better at this point. Given the trouble that Gates gave Seattle, Gronkowski is going to be difficult for Seattle to stop.

What Seattle Can Do

Luckily for Seattle, the have one thing that no other team does: strong safety Kam Chancellor.  He’s 6’3″, 234 lbs. and is easily the most physical safety in the NFL today.

Chancellor was also badly hobbled with hip and ankle injuries when the Seahawks played the Chargers, which contributed to Gate’s big day. Chancellor is healthy now, and will likely be matched up on Gronkowski for much of the Super Bowl.

But Chancellor shouldn’t be asked to take on Gronkowski by himself. This one matchup is too important in determining the outcome of the game.

Instead, I expect the Seahawks to the bump and release tactic on Gronkowski, especially when he lines up close to the offensive tackles. I expect we’ll see a linebacker, most likely Bruce Irvin, who will jam Gronkowski at the line of scrimmage and prevent him from getting a good release. The linebacker will then release him to Chancellor to cover.

This works because it negates Gronkowski’s strength at the line. He won’t be able to get Chancellor off balance at the line, and use that as an advantage to get separation.

The drawback is that it’ll slow Irvin down on his other responsibilities, be that setting the edge, covering the back out of the backfield, or rushing the passer. It’s a big trade-off, but worth it in this case.

This would ben’t be the first time Seattle has employed this method either. While never a full game-plan move, it was a technique used occasionally throughout the season.

He’s an example against Vernon Davis and the 49ers. Davis wants to run a simple 5-yard out. The problem is that he’s met at the top of his route by a linebacker who stands him up. He is then released to the defensive back.

If didn’t matter what route Davis has run after the initial contact. He was going to be well covered. His momentum was almost completely stopped when he was jammed. It completely took him out of the play.

This is the type of thing we should expect to see from Seattle on Gronkowski.