You'll find this hard to believe, but Rob Gronkowski is pretty good. He has 51 catches for 843 yards and eight touchdowns this season, and by any measure -- either standard stats or advanced metrics -- he's the NFL's best tight end.

Put another way: The Broncos' defense is going to have its hands full when they host the Patriots on Sunday night. This fact is not lost on cornerback Aqib Talib. When asked how you stop Gronk, he didn't hedge.

"Uh ... triple-team," he said, via the Denver Post. "It's his size and that speed. And that quarterback."

Talib and Gronkowski played together in New England in 2012 and 2013, and now Talib is part of the NFL's best defense, according to Football Outsiders. Unfortunately, they're facing the NFL's No. 2 offense, of which Gronk is a huge part.

In five previous games against the Broncos, Gronkowski has 34 receptions for 428 yards and five touchdowns. The Patriots went 5-0 in those games. According to Pro-Football-Reference, in those five games Gronk averaged 10.2 yards per reception, 62 percent of his catches went for first downs, and he caught 81 percent of the passes thrown in his direction. No other tight end in the history of the game has been as productive against the Broncos.

And although Denver's defense is No. 1 against the pass and does a great job of shutting down opponents' wide receivers, it's only average against tight ends, ranking 16th.

"He's a great player and you have to be aware of him," defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said, adding, "They do the same thing defensively against teams they play. If you try to take away what they do best or take away their best player, that's what you have to try to do. It means doubling him a lot, certainly, but it also means putting enough pressure on the quarterback where the guy doesn't have time to throw to the guy even when he gets open sometimes. You can't double-cover him every play, but there are certain things that we will. You have to."

Gronkowski, who seems unfazed by just about everything, tried to explain the nuances of stopping him.

"Any coverage can work best on me," he said, adding, "Obviously there are some better ones out there, but when you always get doubled a lot it's definitely hard to get open."

Meanwhile, Broncos nose tackle Sylvester Williams was more pragmatic about what it means to face the Patriots' high-powered offense.

"I think they've got the main pieces and that's Gronk and Tom Brady," he said. "As long as they've got those guys, I think they're going to always be in pretty good shape."

The Broncos will have a tough time stopping Rob Gronkowski. (Getty Images)
The Broncos will have a tough time stopping Rob Gronkowski. (Getty Images)