Expect ex-Patriots CB Ryan to be part of plan to defend Rob Gronkowski

FOXBOROUGH — Don’t be surprised if the Patriots see a familiar face lined up opposite Rob Gronkowski Saturday night.



On multiple occasions last week against Kansas City, the Titans had former New England cornerback Logan Ryan against Travis Kelce in a combination of man and zone coverage. Ryan, who moves from the boundary down into the slot when Tennessee goes into its nickel package, was opposite Kelce on five occasions last week, and managed to hold his own against the big tight end.

So what can we take from that? It’s important to note that Kelce and Gronkowski are not the same tight end. And there are differences between the New England and Kansas City offenses. But when it comes to figuring out how the Titans might try and slow Gronkowski in Saturday’s divisional playoff, it’s reasonable to think, given the makeup of the Chiefs and Patriots offenses, the Tennessee defense might use Ryan against Gronkowski when the tight end is in the slot. (According to Pro Football Focus, Gronkowski lined up in the slot on 258 of his 487 routes -- 53 percent -- in the regular season.)

Overall, the Titans were 24th this season when it came to defending tight ends (per Football Outsiders), yielding an average of 8.4 catches per game and 59.7 yards per contest. Titans coach Mike Mularkey knows that it’ll take more than just one guy to try and corral Gronkowski.

“He can do it all,” Mularkey said of New England's All-Pro tight end. “He can mix it up in the run game. That’s unique in this day in age that you can get a guy that can do both very well and still continues to do it year after year. No matter what teams try to do to try to take him out of games, it’s been very difficult to do that. So, he’s just impressive.”

In New England, Ryan carved out a niche as a complementary part of a good secondary, working as a No. 2 or No. 3 corner behind the likes of Malcolm Butler and Darrelle Revis in his four seasons with the Patriots and occasionally taking on bigger targets like Denver’s Demaryius Thomas. Now, with the Titans, the 5-foot-11, 195-pounder occasionally finds himself matched up on bigger targets, including tight ends, while working in the slot.

In Kelce, Ryan was opposite the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Kelce on multiple occasions, and while Kelce was only in the game for just under two quarters before leaving with a concussion, he didn’t catch a ball on Ryan when the two were lined up against each other in man coverage. For what it’s worth, Ryan was competitive against Kelce, bodying up against him and making it as tough as possible, either when he was in man coverage or part of a zone, like he was here.



Overall, Kelce saw 26 snaps (not including plays blown dead because of penalty) before he left after a head injury late in the first half. On 15 times, he ran pass routes against the Titans with someone opposite him. On five times he was in the slot, he was covered by Ryan. He was opposite linebacker Wesley Woodyard on four occasions, and twice against safety Johnathan Cyprien and cornerback Tye Smith, but on all of those occasions, he either started flush against a tackle or split wide.

A few more takeaways:

--Maybe the most well-executed play of the day for the Chiefs came on this first-half play. Kelce starts out next to the right tackle, and makes an initial block before starting his route. Wide receiver Albert Wilson, also lined up on the right, takes a defensive back with him and clears things out deep. Meanwhile, Cyprien bites hard on the play-action fake to Kareem Hunt. That leaves a huge swath of real estate underneath for Kelce, who hauls in the pass from Alex Smith for a 27-yard gain. I can see the Patriots’ watching this and having Brandin Cooks play the role of Wilson and Dion Lewis as Hunt, with Brady delivering the ball to Gronkowski.



--One other note on why Cyprien might be a target of the Patriots’ passing game, and not just as it relates to Gronkowski: According to Pro Football Focus, Cyprien allowed a passer rating of 141.4 in the regular season, the third highest among all safeties in the NFL. Furthermore, quarterbacks completed 22-of-28 passes into Cyprien’s coverage for 262 yards and three touchdowns while the Tennessee safety failed to break up or intercept a pass this season.

--On the touchdown pass from Smith to Kelce, the Chiefs take advantage of a slow-to-react Tennessee defense. Kelce is lined up next to the left tackle, and he’s joined on the left side by fellow tight end Demetrius Harris. The Titans aren’t quite ready for the overload, and Kelce gets a free release, and beats linebacker Avery Williamson to the end zone. Cyprien is too late to make it.



--One more thing worth noting: there were multiple pass plays — like the 27-yarder to Kelce — where there were defensive breakdowns and Kelce was running free. That happened on short pass plays. (He’s starts lined up on the hip of the left tackle here.)



And longer ones. (Kelce is wide left on this play.)



Ultimately, Kelce departed just before the half, and finished with four catches on four targets for 66 yards and a touchdown, a very good two quarters for the Kansas City tight end. If the Patriots can get that level of production for four quarters out of Gronkowski Saturday night, it’ll go a long way toward them punching their ticket to the AFC title game. They’ll also get a chance to send their old teammate home for the season.

“He’s a brother to a lot of us in there, a real good friend of mine,” New England safety Devin McCourty said of Ryan. “But there’s nothing I want more than to see him lose Saturday night.”