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PHOENIX – The best and most interesting matchup of Super Bowl XLIX should be New England tight end Rob Gronkowski vs. Seattle strong safety Kam Chancellor.
The gifted and punishing Chancellor might be the only tight end in the NFL who can consistently cover the tough and talented Gronkowski, a unanimous first-team All-Pro selection this season.
Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor speaks to reporters during Super Bowl Media Day at US Airways Center on Tuesday in Phoenix. (Elsa/Getty Image)
“It would be a classic matchup,” Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright said. “Our best against their best.
“Of course, I’ve got my money on Kam. He’s an All-Pro, the captain of our defense. I expect him to win every battle.”
Chancellor (6-foot-3, 232 pounds) is the enforcer who provides the pop for the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom secondary.
Gronkowski (6-foot-6, 265 pounds) caught 82 passes for 1,124 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.
“That’s their playmaker, their go-to guy,” said Chancellor, a fifth-round pick from Virginia Tech in 2010. “They’re definitely going to try and target him a lot.
“It’s hard for a guy that big to move the way he does. He’s a big, physical guy, but it’s just big-on-big. Just play big-on-big.”
Gronkowski has seen every kind of coverage, but he hasn’t been forced to tangle with many strong safeties who didn’t have help. Not only is Chancellor big and physical for his position, but he’s been blessed with impressive athleticism.
“He’s a great player, no doubt,” Gronkowski said. “He plays fast, and he’s all over the field. He knows how to make plays. We’ve got to be prepared and bring all we’ve got.”
Last week, Seattle nickel cornerback Jeremy Lane said he didn’t think Gronkowski “was that good” and called him just “OK.”
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll responded by saying Lane must “not have watched the film yet.”
Gronkowski is eager to see how the Patriots’ explosive offense competes against the Seahawks’ No. 1 defense.
“You always want to play against the best,” Gronkowski said. “This is what the Super Bowl is played for, going against the best. It’s definitely an honor to be going against a very good defense.”
Carroll and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn have a plan designed to contain Gronkowski, who’s been Tom Brady’s go-to guy in clutch situations.
“We have an excellent opportunity to match up as good as anybody,” Carroll said. “Kam Chancellor’s about as big a strong safety as you can find. It’s just about bodies on bodies, you know? We’ll have to play him a number of different ways to have a chance to slow him down.
“He really has all of the elements that you’re looking for from a big-time tight end. I was looking real close again just to see if there’s a way to find some approach that we could slow him down. It’s something that’s very important to us because he’s such a key factor on their team.”
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (pictured) and Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor sat at the same podium — an hour apart — at Super Bowl Media Day on Tuesday in Phoenix. (David J. Phillip/AP Photo)
Wright is another defensive player who could be matched up on Gronkowski.
“You see some tight ends that aren’t as physical as Gronkowski,” Wright said. “He’s not like anyone else out there. He does a good job in getting into you, using his body, giving you a little shove here and there.
“He’s got good speed and good hands. He does a good job of getting open, especially when (Brady) is throwing to you all the time. And he does a good job of getting yards after the catch.”
Seattle finished with the NFL’s best defense for the second consecutive season. If the Seahawks are going to repeat as champions, it makes sense that they’ll have to keep Brady for completing a lot of passes to Gronkowski.
“I wouldn’t call him a problem,” Seahawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner said about Gronkowski. “They move him all around the field. They have him on the outside, and they have him on the inside.
“Sometimes he’s double-teamed and catches the ball, but I definitely feel like we have the athletes that match up with him and the athletes to definitely hold him.
“I think we just need to be physical back with him, make sure we get our hands on him. He likes physicality, so he’s going to put his hands on us. When you go against a tight end like that, it’s always fun because he’s not shying away from contact, and neither are we. We definitely are going to have fun with this matchup.”
During Media Day, Chancellor and Gronkowski sat at the same podium during their sessions.
“I guess it was destiny,” Chancellor said. “It was destiny for us to have the same seat.”
Seahawks at Super Bowl XLIX Media Day
Author John McClain has covered the NFL for the Houston Chronicle for more than 30 years. Visit seattlepi.com for more Seattle Seahawks news. Contact sports editor Nick Eaton at 206-448-8125, nickeaton@seattlepi.com or @njeaton.
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The gifted and punishing Chancellor might be the only tight end in the NFL who can consistently cover the tough and talented Gronkowski, a unanimous first-team All-Pro selection this season.
Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor speaks to reporters during Super Bowl Media Day at US Airways Center on Tuesday in Phoenix. (Elsa/Getty Image)
“It would be a classic matchup,” Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright said. “Our best against their best.
“Of course, I’ve got my money on Kam. He’s an All-Pro, the captain of our defense. I expect him to win every battle.”
Chancellor (6-foot-3, 232 pounds) is the enforcer who provides the pop for the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom secondary.
Gronkowski (6-foot-6, 265 pounds) caught 82 passes for 1,124 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.
“That’s their playmaker, their go-to guy,” said Chancellor, a fifth-round pick from Virginia Tech in 2010. “They’re definitely going to try and target him a lot.
“It’s hard for a guy that big to move the way he does. He’s a big, physical guy, but it’s just big-on-big. Just play big-on-big.”
Gronkowski has seen every kind of coverage, but he hasn’t been forced to tangle with many strong safeties who didn’t have help. Not only is Chancellor big and physical for his position, but he’s been blessed with impressive athleticism.
“He’s a great player, no doubt,” Gronkowski said. “He plays fast, and he’s all over the field. He knows how to make plays. We’ve got to be prepared and bring all we’ve got.”
Last week, Seattle nickel cornerback Jeremy Lane said he didn’t think Gronkowski “was that good” and called him just “OK.”
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll responded by saying Lane must “not have watched the film yet.”
Gronkowski is eager to see how the Patriots’ explosive offense competes against the Seahawks’ No. 1 defense.
“You always want to play against the best,” Gronkowski said. “This is what the Super Bowl is played for, going against the best. It’s definitely an honor to be going against a very good defense.”
Carroll and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn have a plan designed to contain Gronkowski, who’s been Tom Brady’s go-to guy in clutch situations.
“We have an excellent opportunity to match up as good as anybody,” Carroll said. “Kam Chancellor’s about as big a strong safety as you can find. It’s just about bodies on bodies, you know? We’ll have to play him a number of different ways to have a chance to slow him down.
“He really has all of the elements that you’re looking for from a big-time tight end. I was looking real close again just to see if there’s a way to find some approach that we could slow him down. It’s something that’s very important to us because he’s such a key factor on their team.”
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (pictured) and Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor sat at the same podium — an hour apart — at Super Bowl Media Day on Tuesday in Phoenix. (David J. Phillip/AP Photo)
Wright is another defensive player who could be matched up on Gronkowski.
“You see some tight ends that aren’t as physical as Gronkowski,” Wright said. “He’s not like anyone else out there. He does a good job in getting into you, using his body, giving you a little shove here and there.
“He’s got good speed and good hands. He does a good job of getting open, especially when (Brady) is throwing to you all the time. And he does a good job of getting yards after the catch.”
Seattle finished with the NFL’s best defense for the second consecutive season. If the Seahawks are going to repeat as champions, it makes sense that they’ll have to keep Brady for completing a lot of passes to Gronkowski.
“I wouldn’t call him a problem,” Seahawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner said about Gronkowski. “They move him all around the field. They have him on the outside, and they have him on the inside.
“Sometimes he’s double-teamed and catches the ball, but I definitely feel like we have the athletes that match up with him and the athletes to definitely hold him.
“I think we just need to be physical back with him, make sure we get our hands on him. He likes physicality, so he’s going to put his hands on us. When you go against a tight end like that, it’s always fun because he’s not shying away from contact, and neither are we. We definitely are going to have fun with this matchup.”
During Media Day, Chancellor and Gronkowski sat at the same podium during their sessions.
“I guess it was destiny,” Chancellor said. “It was destiny for us to have the same seat.”
Seahawks at Super Bowl XLIX Media Day
Author John McClain has covered the NFL for the Houston Chronicle for more than 30 years. Visit seattlepi.com for more Seattle Seahawks news. Contact sports editor Nick Eaton at 206-448-8125, nickeaton@seattlepi.com or @njeaton.
Continue reading...