Every team has one, the player who makes the entire squad better just by their presence, but rarely does one have the level of impact that Rob Gronkowski is about to have for the New England Patriots.
The Patriots have been preparing themselves for Gronkowski's return, and knew that his return was imminent as quarterback Tom Brady and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels threw a couple of Gronk plays into their game plan last Sunday against the Saints, tight end Michael Hoomanawanui taking the reps and producing as he never had before.
Because integration works both ways - not only does the player need game reps to get up to speed, but the offense itself must be prepared to accommodate the player and make the transition as smooth as possible.
The real highlight of the entire episode was that Hoomanawanui showed that he was capable of a more expanded role in the offense, and with Gronkowski returning, who's to say that Hooman can't or won't fit into a two-tight end package as the move?
Ah, madness - but the return of the beastly man-child opens up the playbook, because despite what Hooman and the rest of the offense has done thus far in the 2013 season - which is grind out victory after victory despite being severely limited by youth - from this point forward, it's a whole new ball game.
Gronkowski is not a savior, however. He can not miraculously turn field goals into touchdowns, and he can not cause the receivers to suddenly start catching everything that Brady throws at them. He can only do what Gronkowski does - block, catch and run, stomping anyone who tries to get in his way...
...drawing a lot of attention to himself and make things a lot easier on everyone else - which helps, but also puts a little more pressure on the other weapons to make plays with the newly found extra split-second that Gronkowski's football magnetism creates for them.
And what incredible timing, as Gronkowski returns just in time for the Patriots to play their most hated Rival this Sunday.
The New York Jets have been spouting off at a record pace, particularly coach Rex Ryan and his two prize bull defensive linemen, End Mohammad Wilkerson and rookie tackle Sheldon Richardson - the former vowing to lay Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady flat while the latter is a not so reserved mouthpiece for Ryan, as if the mouth that roared needed one.
Maybe Ryan is feeling the heat of the hot seat, but given what he's had to work with on offense, playing .500 ball is an accomplishment - the swagger and violent intent on his fourth ranked defense the driving force, a defense that needs no additional motivation when it comes to playing against the Patriots.
“It’s very intense, cheap shots and all,” Richardson said in an interview recently, “It’s on film. Go back and watch. You’re going to see a lot of stuff, man, that the Patriots can do to you, that they get away with, that we can’t do to the Patriots. It’s just the way it is.”
Richardson's body of work against the Patriots consists of exactly one game, which makes him new to the rivalry - so the hatred that courses through the arteries of Jets' headquarters at Met Life Stadium has to be real and intense for a rookie with exactly six games under his belt to be so versed in the extra bit of nastiness that goes on in the trenches between the two teams...
...his paranoid ranting conjuring images of old-school defensive tackles getting punked by Conrad Dobler, who always claimed that defensive linemen made up stories about how dirty he played:
"I played a rough, tough game the way it was supposed to be played," Dobler said of battling in the trenches, "The whole dirty thing came from my opponents. And why did my opponents do that? Because I kicked their f---ing ass."
That said, are Richardson's, Wilkerson's and Ryan's comments to anyone that will listen - and at every opportunity - a symptom of the frustration associated with getting punked by Brady and the Patriots time and again?
Truth is, that defense is for real and has earned the right to carry that swagger and this Sunday they are defending home turf, and the line they've drawn in the dirt yields just three yards per carry to their opponents - but the no fly zone that they've established has been easier for teams to defy...
...which should be the case for Brady and the Patriots, even without the perpetually injured Danny Amendola - who has been more rumor than participant - but his fragility has enabled the often-maligned rookie receivers to gain valuable experience in his stead and allowed Julian Edelman to emerge as a legitimate weapon.
New York's pass defense isn't scaring anyone, their deficiencies masked by their prison wall rush defense - which has been enough thus far to keep the Jets competitive despite their abysmal offense, both of which were exposed by the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday.
Which is important to remember, that the offense is so bad that they regularly put the defense on the spot to bail themselves out on a short field. None of the Jets' wins have been easy, as the offense's inability to move the ball consistently equates to losing the field position battle, which is why the Jets have a middle of the pack scoring defense despite their stinginess in regard to giving up yardage.
By themselves, New England's young receivers are ions better than the last time these two teams met, and should be much better still with the presence of Gronkowski, whom many believe will make his long-awaited season debut against the Jets, drawing a safety and a shadow at the very least, opening up the rest of the field a bit more for everyone else.
Obviously, the Patriots would like to see one of the rookies emerge as a legitimate threat both to compliment Gronkowski's skill and to take some of the heat off of his surgically repaired body, Marshall University alum Aaron Dobson likely to see opportunities, also Josh Boyce if he's active, their speed enough to stretch the Jets' pass defense thin and opening the middle and the flat.
The only real question with the Patriots' offense is whether Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels try to establish the running game with sheer brute force, or use aerial bombardment to soften up the front seven - and despite the violent intent of Wilkerson and Richardson, the key may be to try and move second year nose tackle Damon "Snacks" Harrison...
...his nickname more because he feasts on running backs than because of his imposing 6' 4", 350 pound pillar of a frame - his ability to play both gaps on either side of Patriots' center Ryan Wendell allows the mouths on either side of him more autonomy to make plays - a tough task for anyone, so the Patriots must decide whether to try and move him or to run around him.
It could simply be a matter of using the Jets' aggressive pass rush against them with draws and screens on the play action, and by wearing the big boys down with the no-huddle, up tempo game which they never gave a chance in week 2, when the Patriots couldn't seem to do anything right yet still escaped with a close win.
So given the factors involved - clutch expereince for the rookie receivers, the ability of Brady with the up-tempo offense, the explosive running game with Stevan Ridley and the return of All World tight end Rob Gronkowski - the Patriots have evolved into a much more dangerous entity than they were that misty night a month and a half ago...
...and even though the Jets' defense has become more experienced and violent themselves - and mouthy - New England certainly has the talent and coaching to take advantage of them. Execution is key no matter how Belichick chooses to attack them - which was the largest issue in the first game, and which has gotten progressively better each week since.
After all these years, Rex Ryan still hasn't learned that his trash-talking ways motivate Belichick and his charges to stomp them at every chance - or maybe he's trying to draw the Patriots into some sort of trap, but either way, it's going to take solid execution and effort to beat Ryan's defense.
But given the state of his offensive offense that regularly puts the defense on the spot with poor field position, it's not going to take an offensive explosion to win this game - rather - just executing better should do the trick.
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