Rob Gronkowski Proving to Be More Beast Than Man, Improving Every Week

FOXBOROUGH, Mass—Is there anyone, or anything, that can stop New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski?

So far, the only one or thing that's come close are injuries and a quick bout of dehydration.

The Chicago Bears found that out the hard way in a 51-23 blowout at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. Gronkowski went off with nine receptions on nine targets, picking up 149 yards and three touchdown catches, the second time in his career he's posted a hat trick and the first time since his rookie year.

There's really no deep secret to Gronkowski's dominance, at this point.

"He's a great player," Patriots tight end Tim Wright said of his teammate. "Very big, very strong, fast—deceptive, I guess, to the few people that don't know everything he can do yet."

Coming off of a season-ending ACL injury in 2013, Gronkowski didn't look 100 percent of himself early in the season. He has improved gradually as the weeks have gone on, and there appears to be no dropoff from the Gronkowski of old and the Gronkowski of new.

Year	Games	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD
2010	16	42	546	13	10
2011	16	90	1327	14.7	17
2012	11	55	790	14.4	11
2013	7	39	592	15.2	4
2014	8	40	558	14	7

In fact, the numbers are almost exactly the same through eight games this year as in Gronkowski's seven-game injury-shortened 2013 season—with 34 fewer yards and three more touchdowns this year than last year.

It's no surprise that a 6'6", 265-pound behemoth is so difficult to stop—especially when he gets into position in front of defenders and wins the leverage matchup.

"Being a big guy, obviously, I'm not as fast as the DBs and the safeties, and some of the linebackers are really fast, too," Gronkowski said. "I've just got to use my body as leverage to outflank the guy, to use it as like a basketball move—to box out."

Catch after catch, third-down conversion after third-down conversion, with one chunk play after another, Gronkowski proved that he is less human than beast.

"That's what he's been since he joined our team—fortunately for us," quarterback Tom Brady said. "He's a tough matchup. He's big, fast, strong, and when he plays like beast mode, he's tough to stop."

Not only is Gronkowski tough to stop, but when Gronkowski is playing at his best, his teammates can be tough to stop, as well. 

"It's helpful, man. You can't double-team us," wide receiver Brandon LaFell said. "You've got to respect Gronk running down the middle of the field, or he'll do the things he did today—[149] yards receiving, that's a great day, and he did that all in the first half." 

It's scary to think what could have been if Gronkowski had stayed in the game. He was only 12 yards away from setting a new single-game career high and needed only one scoring reception to have his first ever four-TD game.

Another play like his 46-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the third quarter would have not only gotten him over the hump, it might have turned Gillette Stadium to rubble from the stadium shaking so hard.

That rubble may have been produced by the roar of the fans, but may have also been produced by Gronkowski himself simply rumbling over everyone in his path. It was certainly enough to send his teammates into an excited frenzy.

"If you watch me, I'm standing like 20 yards behind him just turning my body [along with Gronkowski]," LaFell said of his reaction to the long touchdown catch-and-run. "And he made it, he was about to dive and I was a fan for a whole six seconds. I love it."

The Patriots will need more plays like that next week against the 6-1 Denver Broncos, in a game that could have an impact in determining home-field advantage in the AFC playoff picture. Truth be told, they'll take plays like that in any game they can get them.

The only hope is that Gronkowski's rumbling style of play doesn't result in an injury. With that being said, New Englanders everywhere held their collective breath when Gronkowski went to the locker room after his third and final touchdown of the game. Fortunately, dehydration should not impact his ability to play next week.

Because it seems the only thing that can keep Gronkowski from having a huge impact on the football field is for him to not be on the field to begin with.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand.

Follow @ErikFrenz