PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers weren't good enough to solidify the rematch with the New England Patriots that their own locker room spent time hyping. The Jacksonville Jaguars made sure of that with a 45-42 divisional round win, and a question?

"It's not [Steelers-Patriots in the AFC title game], but can you please ask them to give us the game tape they were watching to prepare for them so that we can use it and get better?" Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson said."Just give us their notes. We can really use them."

Turns out the Steelers did have a few Patriots notes left over, just in case.

Cornerback Joe Haden missed the Week 15 matchup with the Patriots, and after observing from the sideline, he had a loose plan for attacking their best playmaker in tight end Rob Gronkowski.

"Just looking at it, we make a couple more plays on Gronk and we'll be straight," Haden said. "It didn't look like they were doing anything too crazy to us. It didn't look like they were just slinging it all over the yard. We have to be able to cover those other dudes, lock them up, and at the end of the day, maybe we put two on Gronk. If everyone is holding down the outside where they have to make those tight throws, I like that battle."

The Patriots produced a modest (for their standards) 360 total yards in that game in Heinz Field, but Gronkowski has done a season's worth of damage in six career games against Pittsburgh, posting 39 catches for 664 yards and eight touchdowns, including nine catches for 168 yards in Week 15.

Haden was able to look ahead to New England and still have a productive game against Jacksonville -- one of the few Steelers who did. Now, the Steelers have all offseason to consider how they might have handled the rematch.

Safety Sean Davis, who covered Gronkowksi for most of the game, said last week that he wanted another crack at the All-Pro tight end but added, "we've got to beat the Jags, first. I don't want to get ahead of myself."