New York Giants: How to (attempt to) stop Rob Gronkowski

The New York Giants are going to get beat by Rob Gronkowski. That’s not a prediction, that’s a spoiler. Going into Sunday’s pivotal game, the Giants have the tough task of containing Gronk.

This is almost impossible to do, I know. NFL.com’s Dave Dameshek called Gronk the best player to ever player their respective position, and it’s hard to argue that. When healthy, he’s an uncontainable animal. Lucky for the Giants, he wasn’t during Super Bowl 46.

I don’t know how Gronk thinks — I don’t think anybody does, to be frank — but I would have to imagine he’s going to be seeking some revenge from the first Super Bowl he played in.

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Gronk is healthy now, and he’s kicking ass this season. So how can the Giants, who have struggled mightily with defensive lapse this year, stop Gronk?

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Go back to 2013, pull up film from the matchup between the Saints and the Patriots and watch how then-Patriots corner Aqib Talib single-handedly shut down All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham. And when I say shut down, I mean really shut down, as Graham was held to zero catches. It was surprising to see, since Graham was almost unstoppable that year.

Now, I know the Giants don’t have a corner nearly as aggressive as Talib on the roster, but they do have Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who’s playing at an All-Pro level, in my humble opinion. He might not be as physical as Talib, but I would imagine if anyone is going to limit Gronk, it’s going to be him.

Is putting DRC on Gronk going to stop the behemoth? No, but it’s probably the best way the Giants can go about stopping him.

Let’s be honest, if the Giants have Landon Collins or Johnathan Casillas try to match up with Gronk, it’s likely not going to end well.

The big issue defenses have with covering Gronk is that he’s too fast for linebackers and too big for defensive backs. DRC isn’t exactly on the same level as Gronk from a physical standpoint, but he’s not a small corner, either. Rodgers-Cromartie is a lanky 6-2, but he has the speed to keep up with Gronkowski.

If I’m Spagnuolo, I’m having DRC shadow Gronkowski the entire game. The obvious caveat with that strategy is that New York will likely get killed across the middle by Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola. With Prince Amukamara out, DRC is by far the best cornerback on the Giants, so manning up Trumaine McBride, Jayron Hosley and Trevin Wade against one of the Patriots’ receivers is going to be troublesome.

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Essentially, by focusing solely on Gronkowski, the Giants are almost bound to struggle to contain the rest of New England’s weapons.

It also goes without saying that getting pressure on Tom Brady is going to make New York’s defense’s job a whole lot easier. The only problem is Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan are no longer on the team. The return of Jason Pierre-Paul will help the unit, but if the pass rush is absent once again, the Gronkowski is going to feast.

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