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Bills' Stephon Gilmore Says Bills Plan To Take Gronk 'Out Of The Game'

By Matt Dolloff (@mattdolloff)

BOSTON (CBS) -- It's been practically impossible for teams to neutralize Rob Gronkowski in the Patriots' passing attack this season, or at any point in the superstar tight end's career. But Rex Ryan's Buffalo Bills feel they have found a way.

Cornerback Stephon Gilmore was asked Tuesday about covering Gronkowski in the teams' second meeting of the season, a Monday Night Football showdown at Gillette Stadium. There's nothing wrong with being confident, but Gilmore basically said the Bills are going to do what practically no team has been able to accomplish.

"We got a game plan to take [Gronkowski] out of the game," he said (via ESPN). "We're gonna be ready for him."

There's a difference between being ready and actually executing the plays you prepared. Gilmore may be as well-prepared as any corner facing Gronk, but once No. 87 gets in your face preparation can only take you so far.

The closest any Gronkowski opponents have come this season to "taking him out" are the Washington Redskins, who held Gronk to 4 catches on 5 targets for 47 yards, and the Dallas Cowboys, who also held him to 4 catches but for 67 yards. Other teams have held Gronk under 100 yards but could not keep him out of the end zone. And everyone else just got roasted.

The Bills will certainly have to do a better job against Gronkowski on Monday night than they did in Week 2 at Ralph Wilson Stadium, when Tom Brady shredded them for 466 yards and 3 touchdowns and Gronk caught 7 of 13 targets for 113 yards and a touchdown.

Of course, covering Gronk and the Patriots' entire receiving corps will be much less of a challenge in that game; Julian Edelman is expected to miss at least 6-8 weeks as he recovers from a broken foot. For Gronk, it only means more targets - but for the Bills it means they can devote extra attention to him as by far Brady's most dynamic weapon on the field.


UPDATE: Gronkowski responded to Gilmore's comments in a very Belichickian manner: "He's an excellent player. He means a lot to their defense, and they have many other great players too. ... Just have to go out to practice, prepare how I have been all year, and come Monday night we'll see what happens."


Gilmore also commented on the New York Giants' ability to get to Brady on the pass rush at a surprisingly successful rate for one of the league's lowest-ranked units in that area. The Giants do have Tom Coughlin, who always gets his Giants to play the Pats tough - but he and Rex still believe that the Bills have greatly improved from week 2 and plan to play much better at all levels of the defense.

"We got to tighten up what we do coverage wise. There is no question about it," Ryan said. "Like I said, we will see how much we improved from that time."

Gilmore said that the Bills will need to do to Brady what defenses have said you need to do to him for years: disrupt his timing, get him off "the spot". "You have to get him to make him mess up," Gilmore said.

Brady obviously makes very few mistakes and has greatly improved his footwork and movement in the pocket in recent years, so that is much easier said than done. But as many Patriots opponents have found out the hard way - including the Bills, this season - talk is cheap, and the Patriots don't really "ignore the noise" as much they claim they do.

The Patriots often use comments like this as motivation, and Gronk didn't need more than he already had - but he got some anyway. Gilmore better hope he doesn't get caught behind Gronk on any plays, because Brady could be looking to emasculate him on national TV.

Monday night will be the final judgment as to how much the Bills' game plan against the Patriots has improved. After Week 2, they can only get better.

Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.

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