Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady have come up big in a lot of playoff games over the years, and I expect that will be continuing on Sunday. Everything’s lining up for a big game, it seems.
With Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown removed from that offense, it looks safe to assume Gronkowski will get plenty of looks, both in the red zone and otherwise. And the matchup could hardly be better.
Philadelphia, as luck would have it, was the worst team in the league against tight ends in the regular season, allowing a league-high 107 completions and a league-high 14 touchdowns.
Contrast that to the Bills, Patriots and Cardinals, who are also still in play. Those are the three teams that in the regular season allowed fewer than 60 catches to tight ends, and 2-4 TDs for each of those teams. Combined, those defenses allowed 9 TDs to tight ends in the regular season – 5 fewer than the Eagles.
Below see the rundown of all tight ends who put up at least 5 points (using PPR scoring) against one of those four defenses. Eight of the top 10 were against the Eagles, and 15 of the top 25.
I would be very comfortable rolling with Gronk this week.
| TIGHT ENDS AGAINST EAGLES, PATS, BILLS & CARDS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player, Tm | Opp | Result | No | Yds | TD | PPR |
| Dalton Schultz, DAL | PHI | W 41-21 | 6 | 80 | 2 | 26.0 |
| George Kittle, SF | ARI | L 17-31 | 6 | 101 | 1 | 20.1 |
| T.J. Hockenson, DET | PHI | L 6-44 | 10 | 89 | 0 | 18.9 |
| Foster Moreau, LVR | PHI | W 33-22 | 6 | 60 | 1 | 18.0 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | BUF | L 20-38 | 6 | 57 | 1 | 17.7 |
| Dalton Schultz, DAL | at PHI | W 51-26 | 3 | 21 | 2 | 17.1 |
| O.J. Howard, TB | at PHI | W 28-22 | 6 | 49 | 1 | 16.9 |
| Adam Trautman, NO | at PHI | L 29-40 | 5 | 58 | 1 | 16.8 |
| Stephen Anderson, LAC | at PHI | W 27-24 | 4 | 39 | 1 | 13.9 |
| Donald Parham, LAC | at PHI | W 27-24 | 3 | 39 | 1 | 12.9 |
| Dalton Schultz, DAL | at NE | W 35-29 | 5 | 79 | 0 | 12.9 |
| Austin Hooper, CLE | at NE | L 7-45 | 4 | 25 | 1 | 12.5 |
| Logan Thomas, WAS | at BUF | L 21-43 | 4 | 42 | 1 | 12.2 |
| Evan Engram, NYG | at PHI | L 10-34 | 4 | 17 | 1 | 11.7 |
| Dalton Schultz, DAL | ARI | L 22-25 | 6 | 54 | 0 | 11.4 |
| Rob Gronkowski, TB | BUF | W 33-27 | 5 | 62 | 0 | 11.2 |
| Noah Fant, DEN | PHI | L 13-30 | 5 | 59 | 0 | 10.9 |
| Jared Cook, LAC | at PHI | W 27-24 | 4 | 48 | 0 | 10.8 |
| Albert Okwuegbunam, DEN | PHI | L 13-30 | 3 | 77 | 0 | 10.7 |
| Dan Arnold, JAX | BUF | W 9-6 | 4 | 60 | 0 | 10.0 |
| Mike Gesicki, MIA | at BUF | L 11-26 | 3 | 48 | 0 | 9.8 |
| Ryan Griffin, NYJ | PHI | L 18-33 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 9.5 |
| Tommy Tremble, CAR | PHI | L 18-21 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 9.2 |
| Dawson Knox, BUF | at NE | W 33-21 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 9.1 |
| Chris Myarick, NYG | PHI | W 13-7 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 9.1 |
| Jimmy Graham, CHI | ARI | L 22-33 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9.1 |
| Kyle Pitts, ATL | at BUF | L 15-29 | 2 | 69 | 0 | 8.9 |
| Antony Auclair, HOU | NE | L 22-25 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 8.1 |
| Nick Vannett, NO | BUF | L 6-31 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 8.1 |
| Ian Thomas, CAR | PHI | L 18-21 | 4 | 40 | 0 | 8.0 |
| Robert Tonyan, GB | at ARI | W 24-21 | 3 | 49 | 0 | 7.9 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | ARI | L 20-37 | 4 | 36 | 0 | 7.6 |
| Joe Fortson, KAN | at PHI | W 42-30 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7.2 |
| Blake Jarwin, DAL | at NE | W 35-29 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.1 |
| Kyle Pitts, ATL | PHI | L 6-32 | 4 | 31 | 0 | 7.1 |
| Mike Gesicki, MIA | BUF | L 0-35 | 3 | 41 | 0 | 7.1 |
| Cole Kmet, CHI | ARI | L 22-33 | 3 | 41 | 0 | 7.1 |
| Ricky Seals-Jones, WAS | at PHI | L 17-27 | 4 | 29 | 0 | 6.9 |
| Hayden Hurst, ATL | PHI | L 6-32 | 4 | 28 | 0 | 6.8 |
| Evan Engram, NYG | PHI | W 13-7 | 3 | 37 | 0 | 6.7 |
| Gerald Everett, SEA | ARI | L 13-23 | 3 | 37 | 0 | 6.7 |
| John Bates, WAS | PHI | L 16-20 | 3 | 35 | 0 | 6.5 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | at PHI | W 42-30 | 4 | 23 | 0 | 6.3 |
| Mo Alie-Cox, IND | at ARI | W 22-16 | 2 | 42 | 0 | 6.2 |
| Parker Hesse, ATL | at BUF | L 15-29 | 3 | 31 | 0 | 6.1 |
| Jack Doyle, IND | at BUF | W 41-15 | 3 | 30 | 0 | 6.0 |
| Kyle Pitts, ATL | NE | L 0-25 | 3 | 29 | 0 | 5.9 |
| George Kittle, SF | at PHI | W 17-11 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 5.7 |
| Cameron Brate, TB | at PHI | W 28-22 | 3 | 26 | 0 | 5.6 |
| Durham Smythe, MIA | NE | W 33-24 | 2 | 32 | 0 | 5.2 |
—Ian Allan