Where does Sunday rank in the pantheon of Rob Gronkowski's greatest games?

Dwayne Allen said Rob Gronkowski’s nine-catch, 168-yard performance against the Steelers Sunday night was the best performance by a tight end he had ever seen live. But where does it rank in terms of all-time Gronkowski Games? We went deep inside the numbers for a closer look. Here's our Top 10.


10. 8/26/10 vs. St. Louis — three catches, 66 yards, two touchdowns: This is a much-overlooked game in the Gronkowski collection. The rookie had a mostly quiet preseason that summer, but in Week 3 of the preseason, showed some of what he was capable of on the first of his two touchdowns, a 14-yarder from Tom Brady. On the play, Rams linebacker James Laurinaitis catches him from behind, but Gronkowski drags him roughly seven yards into the end zone for the score. A sign of things to come.



9. 10/28/12 vs. Rams in London — eight catches on 13 targets for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns: New England overwhelmed St. Louis that afternoon, and Gronkowski was a sizable reason why, catching a 7-yard touchdown pass in the first half and a 14-yarder in the second half on the way to a 45-7 win over the Rams. The highlight of the day? His celebration.



“That little nutcracker dude that’s guarding the house,” Gronkowski said when asked what his his first celebration was all about. “I like how he sits there but doesn’t stay still.”

8. 1/2/11 vs. Miami — six catches on 10 targets for 102 yards and a touchdown: It was his first 100-yard game, and at that point in his career, represented the most catches he had in a game in his career. (One of the reasons he put up the numbers that he did was because the Patriots had already clinched home-field, and Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker and Deion Branch were all inactive.) The touchdown catch was his 10th of the season, setting a Patriots' rookie record for receiving touchdowns. "That's cool," Gronkowski said when informed of the new mark. "Records really don't matter, but at the same time, it's cool. I just need to stay focused and hopefully great things keep happening."

7. 10/30/16 vs. Buffalo — five catches on seven targets for 109 yards and a touchdown: Gronkowski has had so many great games against the Bills in Buffalo, but we went with this one for a few reasons, including the fact that it included his 69th career touchdown, a 53-yard scoring strike that came late in the first half. The big tight end raced for the end zone, and when he got there, he bowed theatrically before delivering another patented spike.



6. 11/16/14 vs. Indy — four catches on five targets for 71 yards and a touchdown: Otherwise known as the night that Sergio Brown got thrown out of the club. (Or the night Jonas Gray became a surprise star.) He’s had bigger nights against the Colts, but his 26-yard touchdown catch put the stamp on a 42-20 blowout of Indy on the road. He also bulldozed Brown right off the field and into a camera while clearing the way for Gray’s last touchdown.



5. 12/11/11 vs. Washington — six catches on 10 targets for 160 yards and two touchdowns: That afternoon against the Redskins, he set the NFL single-season mark for touchdown receptions by a tight end. His 14th was an 11-yard grab that moved him ahead of Antonio Gates (2004) and Vernon Davis (2009), and No. 15 was a 24-yard scoring strike in the second half. But more than anything, that day will be remembered for this 49-yard pickup that was so very emblematic of the pre-injury Gronkowski, a ridiculous combination of speed and strength.



"That play was right in front of us," Bill Belichick said after the game. "He did a great job there, getting the ball off the ground, breaking a couple tackles, staying in bounds -- he had almost no room to work with on the sideline. ... He's a tough guy to cover, a tough guy to match up on."

4. 10/26/14 vs. Chicago — nine catches on nine targets for 149 yards and three touchdowns: In the midst of one of the best five-game stretches of his career, Gronkowski simply overwhelmed the Bears on the day. In the red zone (where he had a 6-yard and a 2-yard touchdown reception) or as a deep threat (a 46-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter), he did it all. The 46-yarder was a catch-and-run masterpiece that’s one of the underrated offensive highlights from that Super Bowl season.



In that five-game stretch, he averaged seven catches, 103 yards and a touchdown per game.

3. 12/17/17 vs. Pittsburgh — nine catches on 13 targets for a career-high 168 yards: On the heels of a one-game suspension for a late-hit on Buffalo’s Tre’Davious White, the tight end was at his best down the stretch in a comeback win over the Steelers. He powered a late drive with three successive catches (for 26, 26 and 17 yards) to put New England in position for the eventual game-winning touchdown from Dion Lewis, and then followed that up with the catch on the two-point conversion.

“He’s a beast, baby,” said Lewis with a smile. “He had a week off. He’s probably feeling good out there today. Knowing Gronk, I knew he was going to come out, that whole week off … you got to eat.”

2. 1/24/16 vs. Denver — eight catches on 15 targets for 144 yards and a touchdown: In defeat, this was one of his finest moments. The Patriots were without a running game, any real depth at the wide receiver position (other than Julian Edelman) and the offensive line couldn’t protect Brady at all. But Gronkowski delivered with a series of brilliant catches, including this amazing fourth-down reception.



In addition, there was the touchdown grab with 12 seconds left that got New England to within two. While it wasn’t enough to get the Patriots over the hump and back to the Super Bowl, Gronkowski was heroic in the loss.

1. 1/14/12 vs. Denver — 10 catches on 12 targets for 145 yards and three touchdowns: This was his tour de force. On a night when the whole world was watching Tim Tebow quarterback the Broncos into the divisional round, Gronkowski stole the show with one touchdown catch in the first and a pair in the second to spark a rout of Denver. Given the postseason stage, the production, the overall production and the fact that the Patriots emerged with a thunderous 45-10 win, we have to put this one at the top of our list.

“I knew he was good,” Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil said of Gronkowski after the game. “But damn, I didn’t know he was that good.”

While it wasn't a complete enough game to make this list, we wanted to give him an honorable mention for another performance against the Broncos from 2014, which included this one-hander.