Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan knows having one single player match up with New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is just about impossible.
According to Tyler Dunne of The Buffalo News, Ryan said if he decided to single-cover Gronk throughout the game, that defender better look like a certain 25-foot tall animal.
Rex on covering Gronk: "We're not going to ask one guy to say, 'He is your guy.' He'd have to look like King Kong or something."
— Tyler Dunne (@TyDunne) September 16, 2015
Heading into the 2015 season opener, the Pittsburgh Steelers discussed their grand plan to defend Gronkowski. They were going to bump the All-Pro tight end at the line of scrimmage to disrupt the timing of the Patriots offense.
Well, the Steelers didn’t exactly follow through on that scheme.
Gronkowski only caught five passes, but he racked up 94 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Patriots to a 28-21 victory.
Ryan had decent success limiting Gronk last season, considering the Jets allowed five receptions for 68 yards and six catches, 31 yards and one score.
However, it certainly took Ryan a healthy bit of trial and error—and a whole lot of the latter.
In the three previous meetings, the 6-foot-6, 265-pound Gronkowski tallied eight receptions, 113 yards and two touchdowns (2011), six grabs for 78 yards and two scores (2012) as well as eight catches for 114 yards (2013).
Buffalo’s defense—especially its linebackers and safeties—are facing perhaps their toughest assignment of the year, and unfortunately, none of them look like King Kong. The Bills will employ double- and triple-coverage throughout the game, which kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sep. 20.