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PHOENIX - On some point Sunday it will happen. At least everyone hopes it happens.The biggest, most athletic tight end in football will be running downfield and be met in a full-speed collision with the hardest-hitting strong safety in the game today.What will happen when the NFLs version of Thunderdome comes to the Super Bowl, featuring Rob Gronkowski in one corner and Kam Chancellor in the other?I dont know. Ill be sitting there with popcorn, Seattles Richard Sherman said. Itll be good football.There are a bevy of important individual matchups when New England and Seattle meet on Sunday. Will Tom Brady throw at Sherman? Can the Patriots defensive front slow down Marshawn Lynch? What about LeGarrette Blount trying to run against the best defence in the NFL?All those factors could matter in the final outcome. Trumping them all might be whether Chancellor and the Seahawks are able to keep Gronkowski under control.Even the NFL anticipated the potential matchup: Both Gronkowski and Chancellor sat at the same podium on media day.I guess it was destiny. It was destiny for us to have the same seat, Chancellor said.While Seattle nickel cornerback Jeremy Lane said last week that he didnt think Gronkowski was that good, most of the Seahawks have been respectful of his skill.Rightfully so.Gronkowski might have been better in 2011, but considering the injuries hes overcome, 2014 could be his most impressive season. He had 51 receptions and eight touchdowns in the final eight games of the regular season and another 10 receptions and two scores already in the playoffs. Only once this season did Gronkowski have fewer than three catches in a game.Aw man, Beast Mode. Hes an animal, man, New England wide receiver Brandon LaFell said stealing a phrase normally used to describe Lynch. When you put a corner on him, hes too small. When you put a safety on him, hes too slow, man. You know, when Gronk is out there doing his thing he is demanding a double team and if hes not being double teamed, hes out there making plays for us.The difference with Seattle is they have Chancellor — a safety with a linebacker build and cornerback speed — who can match up with Gronkowski. Many felt it was Chancellor and not Malcolm Smith that should have been Super Bowl MVP a year ago. It was Chancellors hit on Demaryius Thomas on Denvers second possession that set the tone for Seattles rout.That hit alone could have gotten him Super Bowl MVP, Sherman said.Seattle struggled earlier in the season defending tight ends, breaking from a trend of being able to shut down elite players at that position in the past. San Diegos Antonio Gates caught three touchdowns in Week 2 against Seattle and Oaklands Mychal Rivera had eight catches and two TDs in early November.Those performances were outliers. Against most elite tight ends, Seattle has been at its best. In two games last season against New Orleans, Jimmy Graham had a combined four catches for 50 yards against the Seahawks. Vernon Davis hasnt caught more than three passes against Seattle in five games over the past two seasons. Julius Thomas was limited four catches for all of 27 yards in last years Super Bowl romp.They definitely have an image of being physical. Theyve got an image of coming out and being ready to dominate, Gronkowski said.Why is Seattle so good at defending tight ends? A lot of credit falls to Chancellor. His size, speed and strength can counter the matchup problems many tight ends create.But the rest of Seattles defensive scheme was formulated so Chancellor is not alone. Especially when Seattle is playing zone defence, responsibility is placed on linebackers K.J. Wright and Bobby Wagner to cover those hook areas as defensive co-ordinator Dan Quinn calls it, where tight ends often roam.You have to have the speed to play when the quarterback throws it how fast can you close and make the tackle. I think the speed and the length of K.J. in specific, allows him to do that and Bobby, his instincts to know after the ball is thrown, weve all seen the speed that he has to close, Quinn said. And then when we play man-to-man, both of those guys are able to match up, whether it be on tight ends or backs, again due to their speed and cover ability. I think its a combination of the way we play zone, their speed to do it, their quarterback keys and the ability for them to play in man-to-man.___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Adidas Ryan Callahan Jersey . The Brazilian heads into Saturday afternoons race coming off a close runner-up finish to Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Indianapolis 500. 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SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Mercedes Nico Rosberg was fastest in the second practice for Formula Ones season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix on Friday, edging Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber on a wet Interlagos track. Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Rosberg timed one minute 27.306 seconds in the afternoon session at the 4.3-kilometre track in Sao Paulo, .225 ahead of Vettel and .286 in front of Webber, who is competing in his last F1 race at the Brazilian GP. The Australian driver, who will join Porsches endurance program, has won two of the last four races at Interlagos. Rosberg had been fastest in the first practice session with a lap of 1:24.781, when track conditions were better. "I had a good start into the weekend, I was very quick in the rain," said Rosberg, who won twice this year and is sixth in the drivers championship. "I have higher hopes now that perhaps we can give Red Bull a hard time this weekend." Rosbergs Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton was second and Vettel was third in the morning despite briefly running off the track near the end of the session. Hamilton spun and recovered in both sessions. It rained heavily in the afternoon and drivers couldnt switch to intermediary tires until the final minutes. "We were working on understanding the tires in both conditions today (Friday)," Webber said. "We had the full wet and intermediate tires on the car and we did quite a few laps. It was a productive day in preparation for tomorrow (Saturday), as we expect ssome more wet conditions.dddddddddddd" More rain is expected for Saturdays qualifying run and maybe for Sundays race. "We all know that the weather plays always a big role here at Interlagos and can catch you out," Rosberg said. "We were not able to run that much but the track feels really great and it was great fun to be out there and find the limit in these difficult conditions." Vettel was the only driver to test the prototype dry weather tires that will be used by teams in 2014. Vettel ran a lap with them in the first session despite the damp track, but it was enough to give engineers at least some information that might be useful for next season. "We knew it would be wet today (Friday) and might be tricky. It was good to get a bit of a base line in these conditions. We need to be sharp for the next two days and make the right calls. The main loss from the rain was that we didnt run on the 2014 tires." Teams and drivers know little about what to expect next year because the series will go through a major change in engine rules, switching from the current 2.4-litre V8 units to a 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged engine, a move that will demand significant alterations in the design of cars. The Brazilian GP marks the last race before several driver changes at some of F1s top teams. World champion Kimi Raikkonen of Finland leaves Lotus for Ferrari, where Felipe Massa lost his ride before joining Williams. The Brazilian replaces Pastor Maldonado of Venezuela, who could be up for the Raikkonen seat at Lotus. McLaren will replace Mexican Sergio Perez with rookie Kevin Magnussen of Denmark, and Australian Daniel Ricciardo, from Red Bulls sister team Toro Rosso, will replace Webber. ' ' '