Rob Gronkowski runs over Colts. Five of them on this play, as he jukes, spins, stiff-arms and hurdles Indianapolis Colts defenders on the way to the end zone in the New England Patriots 42-20 victory. Mark Schofield breaks down the film.
With a 15-point lead and 6:58 remaining in the game, stood in the shotgun facing 3rd and 4 at the Indianapolis 26-yard line. Just prior to the snap he gestures, and tight end comes in motion from right to left, running a simple 5-yard out pattern. He secures the reception at the 21-yard line:
He scores:
Let’s break this down. First, Gronkowski executes a tremendous spin move on , who was responsible for him in man coverage:
Second, he swats away the feeble arm tackle from :
Next, Gronkowski gets by like a grown man stepping over a Chihuahua at feeding time:
Gronkowski runs over Colts, sprinting to the goal-line and capping off this tour de force with an explosive hurdle into the end zone:
Cue Gronk Spike. On to Detroit.
All video and images courtesy the NFL and NBC Sports.
Mark Schofield, SoSH Football Central’s quarterback, writes about play design, receivers, great offensive performances and terrible offensive disasters.
Mark Schofield
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I love how he moved the ball from his right hand to his left, even as he was preparing to stiff arm or juke Brown. Given the focus on defenders stripping the ball, is that still the way it is taught?
And I suspect Brown went low because Gronk had just thrown him off the field. Brown probably knew he wouldn’t make the tackle up high, but he might have prevented a TD if he slowed him down by wrapping him up.
The general rule is “ball to the outside,” so you would shift the football to the arm next to the sideline. So as he is cutting upfield, spinning and hurdling, he still tucks the football away. A very subtle but impressive aspect of the play. Nice catch.
Nice piece. But isn’t that Mike Adams, not Phillip?
So it is. Thank you for the correction.