We have seen countless times the issues the Patriots cause defenses with Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski on the field together. As good as Gronkowski is, it’s Hernandez that poses the more dangerous threat. Why? Because he, like Gates, can win one-on-one versus corners, especially nickel corners. That’s where the problem arises. You match up to defend the pass, and you still face mismatches in man-to-man coverage. And we haven’t even factored in the running game, which the Patriots consistently utilized effectively with Stevan Ridley to hurt nickel defenses.