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in their week 15 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers last year [url=https://www.texansfanshop.com/Jadeveon-Clowney-Jersey]Jadeveon Clowney Color Rush Jersey[/url] , the New England Patriots unleashed the Gronk: tight end Rob Gronkowski was targeted four times on the eventual game-winning drive (a series that spanned just five plays in total), registering three catches for a combined 69 yards. On top of it, he also caught a critical two-point conversion after Dion Lewis’ go-ahead touchdown.His performance during New England’s 27-24 win last season was just the latest in a string of outstanding games Gronkowski has produced when going against the Steelers. In six meetings with Pittsburgh’s defense, the future Hall of Famer combined to catch 39 passes for 664 yards and eight touchdowns. In short: Gronkowski was near unstoppable every time New England met the Steelers since 2010.Naturally, the 29-year old will be a priority target for Pittsburgh on Sunday. “It is a serious job to work to minimize his impact on the game,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said about the matchup earlier this week. “He’s a dangerous man. He’s Gronk. He’s a vertical matchup. He’s a big-time play-maker. He’s good with the ball in his hands after the catch. He’s a big-time competitor.”Last year, the Steelers tried slowing Gronkowski down by using more man-coverage concepts against him. The plan did not work: he finished the game with nine receptions for 168 yards and, as noted above, was indefensible on the game’s final drive. Tomlin knows that he presents a serious challenge for his team again this year, despite not producing at the same level this season as he did in years past.“Gronk has missed some time this year but he’s finding his rhythm,” the Steelers’ head coach said. “He has been playing the last several weeks. You know the matchup issue he is for everybody globally and he is [url=https://www.texansfanshop.com/Johnathan-Joseph-Jersey]Johnathan Joseph Color Rush Jersey[/url] , and has been, for us in the past. We’ll be thoughtful about putting together a plan to minimize him and his impact on the game. When you play a guy like him it’s going to take multiple people and multiple techniques.”Gronkowski himself is aware of the fact that the Steelers will be focusing on him tomorrow. “I feel like they’ll throw a lot of things,” he told reporters during a press conference on Thursday. “I mean, I’ve seen a lot from them before — a lot of coverages, a lot of split-safety, post-safety, man, zone. They switch it up a lot, too, and so I’ve had a couple guys before — like a linebacker covered me one time, a safety or a corner.”“To tell you the truth [url=https://www.texansfanshop.com/Bruce-Ellington-Jersey]Bruce Ellington Color Rush Jersey[/url] , they actually mix it up a lot and you’ve got to be prepared for it all, whatever coverage, whatever guy it is,” Gronkowski continued. No matter what the Steelers have thrown at him in the past, he has countered it effectively and provided a reliable target for quarterback Tom Brady — who himself has a history of playing well against the team — in each of his six matchups versus the Pittsburgh defense.Tomlin, meanwhile, knows that Gronkowski has been a problem his team was unable to solve over the past few seasons. “As far as stopping him, it’s not as easy as A-B-C,” he said. “We haven’t been a part of it. We’re looking to be.” HOUSTON (AP) — The Tennessee Titans were down by four with the ball on the 3-yard line in the second quarter Monday night against the Houston Texans when coach Mike Vrabel chose to go for it on fourth-and-inches.Tight end Luke Stocker took the handoff and was immediately met by Zach Cunningham and Bernardrick McKinney and stopped for no gain. Lamar Miller ran 97 yards for a touchdown on the next play to make it 21-10, and the Texans went on to a 34-17 win.“If you look at their goal-line defense and having a lot of good knowledge of what they do on the goal line, that’s one play that had worked [url=https://www.texansfanshop.com/Whitney-Mercilus-Jersey]Whitney Mercilus Color Rush Jersey[/url] ,” Vrabel said. “It didn’t work tonight and that’s not the reason that we lost. That’s a bad play.”Vrabel spent a good part of his postgame news conference fielding questions about the play and why he chose to hand the ball to Stocker, an eight-year veteran who had zero carries entering the game. In fact, Stocker said after the game that the last time he remembered carrying the ball was in high school.“I’d like to have that back and have a chance to go lower or dive or reach the ball out or something,” he said. “That’s on me. I’ve got to figure out a way to convert that.”Some wondered why Vrabel didn’t give the ball to 6-foot-3, 247-pound running back Derrick Henry in that situation.“That’s something we’ve repped in practice,” Vrabel said about using Stocker. “Just having watched that play be successful against their goal-line look, we felt good about it.”The fact that Tennessee’s defense allowed the huge run by Miller seconds after the failed fourth-down attempt was just another disappointment for the Titans.“Runs like that can’t happen,” cornerback Logan Ryan said. “They shouldn’t happen, but it did. We’ve got to learn from it.”Marcus Mariota, who missed the second half of last week’s game with a stinger, was 22 of 23 for 303 yards and two touchdowns. He completed his first 19 passes before an incompletion with just more than a minute remaining.Vrabel couldn’t celebrate Mariota’s effectiveness on a night when the Titans allowed the Texans to set a franchise record with 281 yards rushing [url=https://www.texansfanshop.com/Martinas-Rankin-Jersey]Martinas Rankin Color Rush Jersey[/url] , led by 162 from Miller.“The stats are the stats,” Vrabel said when asked about Mariota’s completion percentage. “The loss is really what I’m going to try to focus on. We’ve got to stop the run. There’s a lot of things other than guys’ individual stats that we’re trying to concentrate on.”The Titans (5-6) have lost two straight to drop into third place in the AFC South behind first-place Houston (8-3) and Indianapolis (6-5).“We’ve got to stick together and we’ve got to go win,” Vrabel said. “We’re going to get as prepared as we can and we’ve got to go out and play. We just didn’t get it done tonight.”The Titans jumped out to a 10-0 lead before Houston scored 27 straight points to take control. Tennessee finally scored again on a 48-yard reception by Corey Davis late in the third quarter, but a 10-yard TD by Demaryius Thomas made it 34-17 with just more than eight minutes left.“We did a good job of coming out, but we got flat and couldn’t pick it back up,” Tennessee left tackle Taylor Lewan said. “We’ve got the guys to do it, but we’ve just got to figure out a way to stop the bleeding and get it going.”
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