Rob Gronkowski Baffled By Ravens’ Game Plan In Patriots Win

Like many NFL fans, Rob Gronkowski spent the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s game looking for Derrick Henry.

The star running back tallied 128 yards and two touchdowns in the Week 16 clash, but the Baltimore Ravens curiously stopped using him down the stretch. Henry didn’t garner a single touch after finding the end zone with 12:50 remaining, and the New England Patriots erased an 11-point deficit to clinch a playoff spot with a 28-24 road win.

Gronkowski questioned Baltimore’s odd strategy on Tuesday’s “Up & Adams.”

“Derrick Henry was absolutely demolishing the secondary, the linebackers. He was getting through the holes and getting to the second level,” Gronkowski said. “And then, all of a sudden, the Baltimore Ravens pull him. I don’t understand the Baltimore Ravens’ game plan.”

Henry has traditionally bullied tired opponents with more reps, averaging 93.7 rushing yards per game in December during his career and 4.8 yards per carry in the fourth quarter. Gronkowski wondered why Ravens head coach John Harbaugh stopped feeding the five-time Pro Bowler when they had New England on the ropes.

“Everyone knows Derrick Henry gets better as the season goes on,” Gronkowski said. “Everyone knows that when Derrick Henry gets the ball more and more and more, he warms up more and more and more. He gets stronger. He gets faster. He gets quicker. He gets more explosive … And they stopped handing him the ball.”

Harbaugh explained after the game that he was working a backfield rotation between Henry and Keaton Mitchell, who turned two runs into four yards on a fourth-quarter drive that resulted in a punt. While the Patriots legend is happy the primetime game ended well for his old team, Gronkowski remained confused by Baltimore’s approach.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said. “It was great for the New England Patriots that they stopped playing him, but the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive game plan is a little iffy. I don’t know what’s going on over there with the coaching staff.”