3 thoughts on Rob Gronkowski's run of dominance against Steelers

FOXBOROUGH — Rob Gronkowski is preparing to face one of his favorite opponents this weekend in the Steelers. The big tight end has enjoyed some of the finest moments of his career at Pittsburgh’s expense — here are three thoughts on his work against the Steelers and what we might see Sunday at Heinz Field.


1. The first time we really recognized what he might be capable of was his first career game against the Steelers, Nov. 14, 2010. There were flashes in the preseason as well as the first few games of that regular season, but the then-rookie was a real force that Sunday night in Pittsburgh. Coming off an awful outing against the Browns where he helped botch a special teams play that was one of the low points of the season and fumble the ball on the goal line, Gronkowski found redemption with five catches on five targets for 72 yards, punctuating his performance with three touchdowns. It was like seeing the moment when SkyNet became self-aware. (It’s also fun to go back to a time before Gronk spikes became a thing.)



I remember being a part of a surprisingly small media contingent around Gronkowski after the game in the visitor's locker room. Veterans kept coming over to him to offer congratulations, and he was just sort of wide-eyed at the whole thing.

“It definitely feels good,” he said after the game. “We practiced hard all week as a team. I just had to go out there and do my job, and everyone else did their job, and we just played as a team. That’s what we did, and we got the ‘W’ and it feels a lot better.”

2. For his career against Pittsburgh, he has 39 catches on 49 targets for 664 yards and eight touchdowns. His 17.03 yards per catch against the Steelers is the highest per-game average against any opponent he has faced at least six times. His 110.7 yards per game against the Steelers is the best per game average of any team he has faced six or more times. And his catch percentage of 79.6 is second-highest of any team he has faced six or more times. (His best is against Indy, with an 83.9 clip.)



His finest performance came late last season when he helped power what turned out to be the game-winning drive at Heinz Field, ending with nine catches on 13 targets for 168 yards. The signature moment was a reception off his shoetops to keep a late New England drive alive.

“The greatest tight end performance I’ve ever seen live,” teammate Dwayne Allen said of Gronkowski after the game. “That final drive, the last one he took off his toes? Incredible. Six-foot-seven guys aren’t supposed to do stuff like that. But Rob Gronkowski can.”

Asked why he’s been able to find such consistent success against Pittsburgh on Thursday, he shrugged.

“Just playing ball,” he said. “Just going out and just doing what we’ve got to do, preparing throughout the week and going out and executing. Just executing plays, and that’s what we’ve got to keep on doing. (We’ve) been having a good practice week this week — got to keep on building chemistry out there with the whole offense, and when we go out there Sunday, we’ve got to be prepared mentally and physically, and we’ve got to execute plays in order to put up points.”

3. In terms of what he might see this week, Dale Lolley noted here the Steelers might try and shuffle their defensive personnel and go with Cameron Sutton at slot corner in place of the more diminutive Mike Hilton. Sutton told Lolley Wednesday he worked with the first-team defense in that position. But safety Morgan Burnett also could be in the mix to match up on Gronkowski.