New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski only has one touchdown in 2018 and it came all the way back in the season opener. He is on pace for 74 receptions Youth Joe Thuney Jersey , 986 yards, and a mere three touchdowns this year.For the record, this is still a great year for a tight end, especially with Gronkowski still blocking at an extremely high level. Over the past decade, Jason Witten (5 times), Jimmy Graham (4 times), Greg Olsen (3 times), Tony Gonzalez (2 times), Vernon Davis (2 times), and Travis Kelce (2 times) are the only tight ends to exceed 900 receiving yards multiple times.The four other First or Second Team All Pro awards:Dallas Clark, 2009 First TeamAntonio Gates, 2009 Second Team, 2010 Second TeamMarcedes Lewis, 2010 Second Team (there was a tie for second)These tight ends make up all but four of the past First or Second Team All Pro distinctions over the past decade. Gronkowski has exceed 900 receiving yards four times and each time he was named First Team All Pro. But we also have a different set of standards for Gronk and 3 touchdowns would tie his 8-game 2016 season for the least in his entire career.There are reasons for the “lack” of production, too. Against the Jacksonville Jaguars, when Gronk had a mere 15 yards on 2 catches, free safety Tashaun Gipson covered the tight end “man on man” for “much of the game.” Gipson said that “the key was getting his hands on Gronkowski early in routes and being physical.” Gipson did a great job, but he also had some help underneath from coverage linebackers Telvin Smith and Myles Jack, who helped out with the high-low bracket coverage. Against the Detroit Lions, Gronkowski had 51 yards on 4 catches and Lions head coach Matt Patricia went heavy with the bracket coverage, too. He had safeties on the inside and outside of Gronkowski and made sure to hit the tight end at the line of scrimmage as often as possible to prevent him from building into his routes.Both the Jaguars and Lions were able to dedicate their defensive resources to stopping Gronkowski because they didn’t believe anyone else could carry the Patriots offense. Telvin Smith mentioned that there were only two players that Brady could rely on in the offense: Gronkowski and running back James White. White had 84 yards against the Jaguars, but no other Patriots player was able to step up and deliver.The introduction of Josh Gordon, the return of Julian Edelman Youth Ja'Whaun Bentley Jersey , and the continued development of Sony Michel should help Gronkowski face softer coverages. But these three factors coincided with Gronkowski suffering an ankle injury ahead of the week 4 match-up against the Miami Dolphins that has lingered through week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts.So whether it’s a combination of great defensive play or Gronk battling an injury, the end result is a measly 46.3 yards per game over the past four weeks and Gronkowski hasn’t scored a touchdown. This is only the second time in Gronkowski’s entire career that he’s gone four straight games without at touchdown.The other time? Gronkowski’s historic 2011 season, when he failed to record a touchdown in games 4-7.He finished that season with 1,329 yards and 18 touchdowns. Maybe Gronkowski will go on a tear and start scoring more. I would be thrilled to see that happen. More realistically, I think Gronkowski’s days of averaging a touchdown per game are a thing of the past. When looking at Gronkowski’s 16-game moving total over the course of his career (ie: looking at how many touchdowns he’s scored over the previous 16 games), Gronkowski peaked in 2011 after the divisional round blowout against the Denver Broncos, with 20 touchdowns in the previous 16 games.Gronkowski has scored 10 or fewer touchdowns over the previous 16 games in just 33 of his 105 weeks that qualify (ie: everything after the 16th game of his rookie season). Three of those weeks came at the end of his rookie year when he had 10 touchdowns, and into the first week of 2011. A fourth time came after his previous 4-game scoreless streak in 2011.Gronk then averaged 11 or more touchdowns in his 16-game rolling total in 64 of his next 65 weeks (the one exception: week 7 of 2014, which includes his hobbled 2013 season).But since the start of the 2016 season, Gronkowski has averaged 10 or fewer touchdowns in 28 of a possible 30 weeks. He’s entering his third consecutive season of reduced scoring where we have to legitimately ask ourselves if the injuries have caught up to Gronkowski.The tight end started the 2016 season with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for two games and then he suffered a back injury that required his third career back surgery. He missed Julian Edelman in 2017, but Gronkowski still had his least-productive All Pro season (cue the eye rolls). Whatever’s happened to Gronkowski, he’s still the best tight end in the NFL. It should be noted that Gronkowski’s decline in touchdowns hasn’t really impacted his yardage total as he’s ranged between 1,100-1,300 yards for most of his career. He’s the best run blocking tight end and he remains one of the top receiving targets. I expect Gronkowski to start scoring more touchdowns, even if he never comes close to his 18-touchdown season in 2011. But the distance between Gronkowski as a receiver and the rest of the tight ends in the league has shrunk.And, if we’re lucky, Gronk will score three touchdowns against the Kansas City Chiefs and will end up spiking this entire article into the dirt. Matt Patricia tried not to send mixed signals as he sought to decipher the cause behind the Detroit Lions' worst loss in a home season opener in franchise history.The first-year Detroit coach said the difference in Monday's 48-17 loss to the New York Jets came down to a simple aspect of football: The Jets made plays and the Lions did not."I don't think it was a situation where we were outmatched or outmanned," Patricia said. "We obviously just got out executed."In Patricia's opinion, the Jets defense being able to read some of his team's offensive signals was not the main reason for Detroit's lopsided setback at Ford Field."I would say in general, there are a lot of things that go on in the games that are identifiable to the players on both sides of the ball through the course of the game and that happens at times," Patricia said. "There are certainly very specific things that are used in the course of a game where guys do a good job of steering things or studying things and seeing stuff at that standpoint."We certainly have the same situation from our side. We study opponents the same as everybody else does and you kind of, group, I would say Youth Tom Brady Jersey , things into categories based on schemes and systems. So, if you do that, sometimes that's helpful and sometimes it's not."In terms of points allowed, the loss was the worst suffered by the Lions in a season opener since a 49-21 setback at Miami in 2002. As far as point differential, the 31-point margin was the widest since a 45-0 loss at Washington in the 1991 opener."We have to go back, look in the mirror, and figure out a way to get it fixed," Lions safety Glover Quin said.Besides the four touchdowns given up by the Detroit defense, the Lions offense served up a pick-6 to Jets linebacker Darron Lee, and the special teams were beaten for a 78-yard punt return for a score by Andre Roberts."We obviously have a lot of work to do on both sides of the ball and all three phases," Patricia said. "And we're trying to build on those things that we looked at last year that need to improve on, and we're trying to take steps to do it and get it done in the right way."Several Jets players insisted what they saw on the field Monday was similar to schemes run by the New England Patriots, where Patricia served as defensive coordinator prior to taking the Lions' job this season.If that's indeed the case, there could be a couple more rough weeks in store for the Lions. They'll face former Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco this week, and play host to the Patriots in Week 3."For us, it's real important to get the things that were wrong fixed as soon as possible," Patricia said. "And try to get those mistakes cleaned up so they don't happen again."RECORD SETTERPatricia can already lay claim to a pair of Lions coaching records. The 48 points surrendered was a new mark for the most allowed by a coach in his first season opener, supplanting Bo McMillin's 44-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in 1948. And Patricia easily eclipsed the previous standard for the worst loss in a home season opener by a new Lions coach, beating Harry Gilmer's 20-0 defeat by the Rams in 1965.Only Bill Karcis, beaten 38-0 by the Green Bay Packers in 1942, absorbed a loss by a wider margin as a Lions coach in his first opener.