Tag Archives: #Gronk

Gronk Is Looking like His Old Happy Self at Camp

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Gronk Is Back and Healthy

Training camp wouldn’t be the same without Gronk, and it sure is good to see him on the practice field. Both Brady and Gronkowski decided to skip voluntary OTA’s earlier this offseason. Tom was away to spend time with his family, and maybe a little time away from the boss. Meanwhile, Gronk could’ve been away for many reasons. Retirement, as he stated after the loss to the Eagles last year, is not one of them. If my opinion matters, I think that a contract restructure could’ve been the cause for skipping OTAs. Gronk is about to make $9 million dollars this upcoming season. He could possibly want an extension or some guaranteed money up front. He is the best TE in the NFL, and arguably of all time, and he’s still playing with the best QB in the world.

Gronk Having Fun Again

Courtesy of Getty Images

Watching training camp, Gronk seems to have a little spring in his step mentally. He’s been acting like the Gronk of old. Rob Gronkowski has seemed to have done a complete 180 from a year ago at this time. He’s been actively helping the new faces, showing them the dedication it takes to play for Bill Belichick. While at the same time he’s been noticeably happier out on the field and after practice. His agent Drew Rosenhaus was spotted at camp recently, which could mean his contract situation is being taken care of. Rosenhaus is the agent of multiple Patriots, so it may have nothing to do with Gronk at all. With the expectation of the contract being done a week ago I believe it is no coincidence as to why was there.

Bill Has Done His Part

Courtesy of USA Today

Finally, Gronk comes in fully healthy, possibly another reason for him seeming so happy. He’s now able to focus on the little things not having to worry about nagging little injuries, just focusing on the grind and loving every minute of it from what I have seen. Bill Belichick has also done his part during camp. At the end of practice he switched the offense and defense for a quick scrimmage. Camp has certainly seemed a lot lighter this year. Everyone’s still working hard, but things have lightened up. With all the outside noise about this team not getting along, I believe it’s just the same old Patriots, with the same old happy Gronkowski. Come September 9th, we will be watching the same product on the field as always with many Gronk spikes.

Brady

Top 5 Tuesday: Best Plays From the Patriots 2017-18 Season (@devansh0429)

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The Patriots fell short of their sixth Super Bowl this past season. However, the season did hold some fun and exciting moments.

Welcome to our first installment of Top 5 Tuesday. Today, I will be ranking the best plays from the Patriots 2017-18 season.

5. Brady to Amendola, vs. Jaguars AFC Championship

Magic. That’s honestly the only way to describe what Brady did in the playoffs. Down 20-10 in the fourth quarter, Brady rallied his team with two touchdown drives. The second touchdown was perhaps one of the greatest catches this year. Earlier in that drive, Brady had an amazing throw to Amendola, placing the ball in the perfect and only place he would be able to get it. The connection happened again with Amendola making a beautiful catch in the back of the end zone. To this day, I have no idea how he was able to get his feet in.

4. Harmon Game Winning INT, vs, Steelers Week 15

The Patriots/Steelers rivalry hasn’t been much of a rivalry at all. For the most part, New England has always come out on top. However, this season the Patriots found themselves down late in the fourth quarter. Thanks to Brady and Gronk, they were back on top again. All New England had to do was hold them out of the endzone. After a JuJu Smith-Shuster 69-yard catch-and-run, even that seemed unlikely. Time was running out. Instead of taking the field goal, the Steelers tried to run a fake spike and score a touchdown. It backfired as the ball ended up being tipped and intercepted at the hands of Duron Harmon.

3. Brady to Gronkowski, vs. Bills Week 16

This was honestly just a pure demonstration of skill and the chemistry between Brady and Gronk. The game was a blowout in itself, and this play is icing on the cake.

2. Gilmore’s Tipped Pass, vs. Jaguars AFC Championship

It wasn’t even the Amendola catch that won us this game and sent our Patriots to the Super Bowl. It was this play right here. It’s a fourth down situation and a stop seals the game. Bortles, under pressure, steps up in the pocket and throws it downfield. Gilmore, in perfect coverage, leaps up and smacks the ball out of the sky. Sixty-five million dollars well spent.

1. Brady to Cooks, vs. Texans Week 3

Could Deshaun Watson dethrone Brady and the Dark Empire? Not if the GOAT himself could do something about it. Perfect throw. Perfect catch. Touchdown.

 

Disagree with our list? Let us know in the comments with what plays you thought should be considered.

Follow me on Twitter @devansh0429

 

Patriots Training Camp Preview: Tight Ends

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There are many different players on this Patriots team compared to last year. New England acquired four guys from trade, fifteen from free agency, and nine from the NFL Draft. They also lost nine players from trade and free agency and had three players retire.

In this new series, I will be looking at every player from each position leading up to training camp. For this installment I will talk about the tight ends. The tight end position has been very valuable for the Patriots since Belichick took over. They became the first team to use three tight end packages and move tight ends to wide receiver slot. This past year they gained two tight ends from free agency and added one through the draft.

Rob Gronkowski #87 (2010-Present):

Gronk is considered the best tight end in the NFL, and has been for most of his NFL career. He is entering his ninth season for the Patriots after being drafted in the second round. Rob has proven to be great, but has also had some major injuries along the way. He has not played in 16 regular season games since the sophomore season. There were murmurs of Gronk retiring after New England’s loss in the Super Bowl against Philadelphia. It escalated all the way to the Patriots exploring trades for Rob. However, Gronk will be a Patriot for the upcoming season.

Rob has shown on the field why he is so good. In Gronkowski’s rookie season he had ten touchdowns. He then followed up with an outstanding second year showing with 18 TDs, 90 receptions, and 1,327 yards. He broke the single season touchdown record by a tight end in NFL history en route to becoming a first team All-Pro. 2012 and 2013 was where Gronk missed a lot of time, participating in 18 games over the two-season span. He then came back in 2014 and 2015 with 1000+ yard seasons and 23 combined touchdowns. In 2016 he missed a lot of time again due to injury and only played in eight games. Gronkowski last season had a healthy year with him seeing the field for 14 games. He hauled in 69 receptions, 1084 yards, and eight scores.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/945006630113984512

Gronkowski will need to be a major piece for the Patriots offense if they want to win another Super Bowl next year. Gronk needs to stay healthy for the season, especially with Edelman’s pending PED suspension. Rob will make it to the Patriots roster, no doubt.

Dwayne Allen #83 (2017-Present):

Dwayne Allen is entering his seventh season in the NFL and his second with the Patriots. The Pats acquired Allen via trade in the 2017 offseason to help with the loss of Martellus Bennett. The Pats have a history of bringing in veteran backup tight ends to fit their offense, and that is what Allen was supposed to be.

Allen started his career in Indianapolis as the Colts’ third-round pick in 2012. His rookie year he had 45 receptions, 521 yards, and three TDs. The next year he missed almost entirely due to a knee injury. He came back in 2014 where he had 395 yards and eight scores. In his last season with the Colts he played all 16 games and had 406 yards and six scores. The Patriots traded a fourth-round pick to Indy for Allen and expected him to be the solid backup tight end that Gronk has always had. Allen’s season was ultimately a disappointment with him catching only ten passes for 86 yards and a TD.

https://twitter.com/CaseyBake16/status/929906514898407424

Dwayne is coming off an awful season for the Pats and will need to show something off big in training camp, or else he might not make the roster.

Troy Niklas #86 (2018-Present):

Troy Niklas was signed by the Patriots in the 2018 offseason. He signed a one year deal worth $940 thousand. Niklas has been primarily a blocking tight end in his career, which is why the Pats brought him in. He will be entering his fifth season in the NFL and his first for the Patriots.

Niklas’ first full NFL season came in 2015 where he played in 16 games and had four catches, 33 yards, and two TDs. He missed 13 games in 2016 due to injury. Troy had 11 catches for 132 yards and one score in his last season for Arizona.

Even though Niklas’ stats don’t look appealing, he has been on an NFL roster for his whole career due to the fact he has been a successful blocker. Troy will still have to fight in training camp to make the roster, but he has a good chance to make it.

Jacob Hollister #47 (2017-Present):

Hollister is entering his second season in the NFL and the Patriots. He was an undrafted free agent signing out of Wyoming after the 2017 NFL Draft. He played a larger role than a lot of people expected out of him last year.

Jacob played in 15 games last year for the Patriots. He had four catches and 42 yards last year. He also showed how good he was at catching the ball in preseason where he had 12 catches for 146 yards and a TD. Hollister only played one playoff game and he had one catch for a yard.

https://twitter.com/FilthyHits/status/895853246752804864

Jacob Hollister exceeded expectations last year when he played in 15 games. He definitely has a good chance of making the roster for the upcoming season as long as he does well in training camp.

Will Tye #82 (2017-Present):

Will Tye will be entering his first full season for the Pats and his fourth in the NFL. He was acquired by the Patriots in October of 2017 after being cut by the New York Jets. He did not play for the Patriots in 2017 and was placed on the practice squad for the remainder of the year.

Tye had his most success for the New York Giants. In his two-year stint with the Giants he had 90 receptions, 859 yards, and four TDs. He then was claimed by the Jets, where he only played three games and had four catches for 38 yards.

https://twitter.com/NFLonLive/status/676595952933838848

Will has been an extremely good blocker and has played a lot of fullback because of it. If Tye can return to his form from his Giants days, he will have a shot at making the roster.

Ryan Izzo (Rookie):

Izzo was the Patriots 250th overall draft pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He was a four-year player at Florida State University.

Ryan was more of a blocker than a pass catcher in his college career, with him not having more than 320 yards once in a season. His senior season consisted of 20 receptions, 317 yards, and three TDs. In total, he left college with 54 receptions, 761 yards, six scores, and 29 games under his belt.

Izzo will have a very unlikely chance to make it to the active roster next year. His only hope will be making the practice squad.

Shane Wimann (Rookie):

Shane Wimann was picked up by the Patriots as an undrafted rookie out of Northern Illinois. He had a solid career for NIU where he played 31 games.

Wimann is also a dominant blocker like many of the tight ends the Patriots have. He hasn’t been to special in the pass game with only 65 receptions, 635 yards, and 17 TDs. Shane is a big man though coming in at 6’4″ and 260 pounds.

Shane will have to show something in training camp if he wants to make the practice squad over guys like Izzo.

The Patriots have a lot of new faces at tight end this year which will make it hard to narrow it down for the 53 man roster.

The Patriots Storm Has Arrived

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Whew! What a 48 hours for the Patriots since Sunday night. Since the Super Bowl, Malcolm Butler has released a statement. Matt Patricia is now head coach of the Detroit Lions. Josh McDaniels is now back to the Patriots as offensive coordinator. McDaniels’s return can only mean one thing: when Belichick retires, which looks probable after the 2018 season, McDaniels will take over.  For McDaniels to completely change his mind he must know that he will be the next in line once Belichick leaves. Robert Kraft probably made that clear to him yesterday and -oh yes, you know- Tom Brady had something to do with it.

Via SI

Tom Brady Has a Say

Via Boston Herald

Tom Brady is the only player bigger than the team. He has earned that right through his tenure, and look what he has done. This is pure speculation, but Tom Brady may have told Kraft “I’m not playing here unless McDaniels stays and becomes head coach.” McDaniels will stay and become head coach when Belichick is gone after the 2018 season. Brady is the LeBron of the Patriots. Only difference is he can do what he wants because he has the championships to back it up.  LeBron, however, can’t back up his talk with winning.

The Decision to Bench Butler Was a Football Decision

Via Barstool Sports

Kraft and Belichick went out to dinner last night in the public eye. They picked a good time to go to Davio’s at Patriot Place avoiding the 5-7 dinner rush. Now I haven’t even touched on the Malcolm Butler situation. Hmmm…  Releasing a statement saying the reports of him missing curfew are ridiculous. Tom Brady endorsing the comment on Instagram and saying to Butler he has his back. That was strictly a football decision. Do you really think Brady would endorse something if Butler was going to concerts and missing curfew? I don’t think so.

Gronk Moving to Hollywood?

Via Sporting News

So what does this mean going forward, well it means this off season they’re will be lots to talk about. Will Gronk retire and become a actor? I’m sure Brady will have something to say about that and try and keep him in New England.

Uncovering Patriots Weaknesses

Uncovering New England’s Offensive Weaknesses- Part 1

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Introduction

Every football team has at least one weakness. Honestly, it may be fair to say two weaknesses. Usually one on the offensive side of the ball, and one on defense. This article I will be dissecting any potential weaknesses on the offensive side of the ball.

Hopefully you can relate to this: when the Patriots have been eliminated from the playoffs, it damn near always catches me off guard. I can’t remember a playoff game that the Patriots have lost and I wholeheartedly expected them to lose. That just doesn’t happen. Us Patriots fans have built this expectation to win the Super Bowl every single season, and anything short of that is a failure. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have instilled this into us.

Year after year winning Super Bowls or being in contention has plateaued our standards at ‘Super Bowl or bust’. So, when the Patriots are in fact eliminated from contention, I am initially in a stage of anger and shock. Naturally, because of how great the Patriots always are, when they are eliminated, it seems like a blown opportunity. A few days after the loss, ‘hindsight 20-20’ becomes reality to me. I begin to understand why they lost, and that their weaknesses couldn’t be masked by Brady and Bill.

As a Patriots fan, even with the weaknesses that the team has, it becomes easy to overlook them or minimize them because “we have Brady and Belichick”. By the end of this article, I intend for you to fully understand the Patriots offensive weakness.

My Attempt at an Non-Bias Uncovering of the Patriots’ Offensive Weakness

Whether you want to use statistics or the eye test, the Patriots’ offense this season has been elite. Arguably they are the best in the NFL. They finished top-2 in total yards, points for, turnovers lost, and total first downs. This New England offense seems like one without a weakness.

One may in fact have a point in believing that, had the Patriots never traveled to Miami this season. In by far the worst offensive performance of the season, the Patriots were 0-11 on third down conversions. A usual staple of success for the Patriots became what derailed the team that week.

Brady Isn’t Connecting with His WRs

Taking a deeper look at what went wrong that game, it became clear that the Patriots could not throw the football down field. To be fair, they didn’t have Rob Gronkowski, who was serving a one-game suspension. Without Gronk up the middle demanding two sets of eyes, there was nothing the Patriots could do to free up their wide-receivers vs Miami’s press-man-coverage. Xavien Howard led the Miami CB group through to a no-hitter vs Tom Brady and company. Playing straight up man-coverage, with a plethora of different blitzing schemes, the Patriots were helpless.

Heading into the next week vs Pittsburgh for the biggest game of the season, New England clearly had to clean up its act. A team that usually plays zone-coverage, played tight man-coverage vs New England, following the blueprint that Miami put together the week before. The difference this time, was Rob Gronkowski, who ate up the Pittsburgh defense. While it was nice to see Gronk back, the Patriots still only completed nine passes to wide-receivers that game.

The next two games against the Bills and Jets, with the season all but locked up, the game plan seemed to revolve around running the rock. Opportunities to throw were still there, and so were the issues. Brady missed Cooks wide open deep down the field vs Buffalo that should have been a touchdown.

Cooks(36yd line) has the safety beat over the top.

An under-throw by Brady towards the middle of the field forced Cooks back inward, helping the safety catch up. Incomplete.

Against the Jets, Cooks stopped running too early, resulting in an incompletion that should have been a deep touchdown.

The Numbers

According to NFL Research, over the first 11 games this season, Tom Brady completed 42.3% of his passes of 20+ yards and had a TD/INT of 5/1. Over the last 5 games, Tom Brady has completed only 27.3% of his throws of 20+ yards and has a TD/INT of 0/3.

Through those first 11 games as well, Brandin Cooks averaged 79 yards per game. Over the last 5 games, however, Brandin Cooks has averaged 42.6 yards per game and has spit out his only two ‘under 20 yard’ games.

The Reason(?)

I want to tread lightly here, but maybe this bye-week is exactly what Tom Brady needs. I am not saying that Tom Brady is done, or seriously regressing, the G.O.A.T will probably win the MVP for crying out loud! What I am saying, however, is that Tom Brady only had to play a twelve game season last year. He had five weeks off. As fit as Tom Brady is, at age 40 the human body needs more time to recover. Tom Brady, to my estimations, has at least two years of great football left.

With that being said, he is going to have to rest more, and continue to nurture his body as he gets older, like anyone would. Tom Brady from weeks 12-16 threw at least one interception in each game. It was the first time he had thrown an INT in five straight weeks since 2002. This bye-week could indeed be what Brady’s body needs to help get him back on track.

It is also completely fair to credit this issue to injuries that transpired throughout the season. Losing Edelman in the preseason changed the entire dynamic of the offense. Before Hogan was knocked out with his shoulder injury, he was on pace for his best season. At the same time, Brandin Cooks was tearing up the field with his deep crossing and go routes. On top of that, Malcolm Mitchell, a Brady favorite, has been out for the entire season.

Hope

The good news is that both Hogan and Mitchell are likely to be back in the playoffs at some point. This would be crucial for the Patriots offense. To have weapons like Gronkowski and Lewis grouped with a dangerous wide-receiver group *that Brady trusts* could make this offense unstoppable. Right now, however, throwing outside is still a big weakness for this team.

Game of the Year Lived up to the Hype

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Patriots-Steelers: Game of the Year

That game yesterday was just what the doctor ordered. It was the highest rated game on CBS for three years. The Patriots get the number one seed and clinch the easy AFC East once again. The Patriots never really have two bad games in a row but yesterday they really didn’t play all that great. Injuries showed for the defense, which attributed to Ben Roethlisberger’s success.

The Final Drive…

To the drive and play everyone is talking about. Tight end Jesse James caught a pass from Ben Roethlisberger and as he crossed the plane the ball came loose and hit the ground. Was it a touchdown? No. Was it an incomplete pass? That’s a no too. You can clearly see his knee touch the ground before the ball crossed the plane and he lost control of it. It should’ve been first and goal at the one yard line for Pittsburgh. Secondly though what is Pittsburgh doing throwing on that final play? All they had to do was spike it and kick a field goal.

Brady Is Always Clutch

At the end of the day Brady is going to be Brady. Those Brady to Gronk completions were great during the final drive of that game. The defense gave up that big catch and run and then with a little help from the refs the Steelers lost the game after not electing to go for a field goal. The defense once they get the players back the Patriots should be better. That wasn’t there best performance and you don’t win that game without Tom Brady.

Now the Patriots have two easy cupcake games before heading into the playoffs with home field throughout. Get ready for a shootout in the AFC Championship game when the Steelers come to Foxborough at a chance to go to the Super Bowl.

On to Pittsburgh

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Wow, that game was awful. Another loss down in Miami and an ugly showing by the Patriots to fall one game behind the Steelers heading into next week’s match-up. Despite what the scoreboard said, this might have been the ugliest game the Patriots have played all season. Kenyan Drake ran wild and Jay Cutler was routinely hitting open receivers. Then you have the 0-11 on 3rd downs. 0-11! This was the Patriots’ first game since a 24-10 loss to the Phoenix Cardinals in Week 5 of 1991 where they failed to convert on third down. That team was quarterbacked by the legendary Hugh Millen. Based on how the offense looked last night, I think Millen may have been on the field again.

Why This Might Not Be a Bad Thing

Hear me out; yes the Patriots looked terrible and fell behind Pittsburgh in the standings. If the Patriots win this coming week, they jump back ahead due to head-to-head tiebreaker, so they control their own destiny. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to drop a game late in the year. The Patriots were just humbled, shown they are not invincible by a very mediocre team. Moving forward, maybe they approach each game with more meaning. I’ve always thought since 2007 the Patriots would have been better off dropping that regular season game to the Giants. As it stands, the Patriots eight game winning streak came to an end; they know they are not indestructible. But again, they just won eight straight, this is a good team, don’t look into this loss too much.

Moving Forward

The Steelers better watch out. Coming off an embarrassing loss, the Patriots will likely be firing on all cylinders next week with home field on the line. The Patriots have typically played well coming off a loss during the Belichick-Brady era. I expect this coming week to be no different. The Patriots have won four straight matchups with the Steelers and eight of the last ten. During that four game streak the Patriots have averaged 34 points per game. Over those previous ten games, including the losses, they have averaged 30 points per game. They have historically had the Steelers number. One of the losses came with Matt Cassel at quarterback in 2008.

In addition to those factors, Rob Gronkowski will be back. At least part of the reason the Patriots offense was all out of sorts was the absence of Gronk. Gronk is so hard to cover that defenders have to hold him constantly to stay with him, and oftentimes are allowed to do so by the refs. With 849 yards and 7 touchdowns on the season, Gronkowski is a huge part of what the Patriots do on offense. Gronk has also played five games against the Steelers and averaged 99 yards per game while scoring eight times.

Another positive on the offensive side of the ball is Chris Hogan. Yes, he only had 1 catch for 1 yard this week, but the whole offense was out of sync. Hogan himself was just coming back after missing over a month. He was also limited in practice all week leading up to the game. With a full game back under his belt, I think Hogan will be up to speed and ready to contribute more.

Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots celebrates after scoring his third touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers September 10, 2015 (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

 The Steelers

The thing working in the Steelers favor is they have a home game. The Steelers have been a much better home team over the last couple years. Their offense is lethal at home, but only mediocre on the road. Roethlisberger has thrown 64 more yards per game at home than on the road so far this year, while tossing four more touchdowns in one less game. Last year he averaged 81 more yards per game at home while throwing 20 touchdowns there as opposed to only nine on the road. Taking this back to the beginning of the 2015 season, Ben Roethlisberger has played 18 home games and 21 road games. During that time he has averaged 64.5 more passing yards while playing at home. He has also thrown 50 touchdowns versus 19 interceptions at home, 24 touchdowns against 23 interceptions on the road. It is clear this offense is dangerous at home.

What to Expect

I think the Patriots offense will come out clicking. Brady will be firing on all cylinders while they effectively mix in runs with Dion Lewis and Rex Burkhead. I predict the Patriots will score on their first drive of the game and not look back. The Steelers will do some scoring of their own to stay within striking distance, with a late field goal bringing them within one possession.

Patriots 34  Steelers  27

Patriots life

How the Patriots Look After Week Three

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We’ve learned a great deal about this Patriots team from week three where they matched up against a potential playoff team with one of the best defenses in the league. This team is starting to come together, but beneath the surface lies holes in several areas of the Patriots offensive line and defense. The good news? Tom Brady still has the reins to this team.

TB12

Let’s start with Twelve. Tom Brady continues his MVP run at age 40. Yes, it’s only been three weeks, but is it ever too early when we’re talking about Brady? He continued to make history this past Sunday. Earlier this season, he became the all-time leader for most games with three touchdowns and zero interceptions in a game. This Sunday? He set the record for most games with FOUR touchdowns and zero interceptions in a game, now with 22 such games. He seems to be getting better and better as he ages, rather than declining. Checking out this beautiful pass, 40-year-old Brady puts the ball in the only spot where the WR can catch it.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/912002903665123328

To top it all off, he currently leads all quarterbacks in: total yards, yards per game, touchdowns, touchdown to interception ratio, and 40+ yard completions. The last one is the craziest to me. A 40-year-old QB leading the league in 40+ yard completions? This is unheard of. And he leads the league in all these stats despite a 267 yard, 0 touchdown week one performance. Not to mention Brady recording his 50th career fourth quarter/OT comeback.

The Archer

Speaking of comebacks, Brandin Cooks had himself a feast.  Cooks showed why he could be the biggest off-season move in the entire league. Brady and Cooks are still developing chemistry. Despite that fact, he recorded a game with 131 yards, 26.2 yards per catch, two touchdowns (one of which was the game winner), and a two-point conversion. Cooks looked unstoppable, and he was at exactly the right places at exactly the right time.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/912050350932103168

Gronk Spike

Gronk is Gronk. He played even better than his solid numbers show. Making crucial conversions, pushing through multiple tackles in the game-winning drive, becoming the fastest TE (and third fastest player only behind Jerry Rice and Randy Moss) to get 70 career touchdowns, and his solid performance from week two proves that Gronk is back to his solid self.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/912003339738419200

Gronk spikes are not a welcoming sight for the rest of the league, and it seems as though Gronk will be spiking all over teams on a weekly basis, once again.

The Bad News

However with all the great things that are happening for this Patriots team, there are some serious hiccups that will hopefully be addressed by players returning from injury. First of all, the offensive line needs some serious improvements. Brady needs to be protected, and this O-Line can’t do a great job vs serious teams. Houston’s Watt-Clowney-Mercilus combination is extremely deadly. The Patriots simply could not run the ball, Brady got hit far too many times, and they gave up a strip-sack for a touchdown. The Chiefs with Justin Houston and Chris Jones both in the top six in sacks, and the Raiders with Khalil Mack could pose serious threats as well.

The defense is also in dire need of improvement. Butler played every snap vs Houston and had a decent day, so he could be improving. That would provide some serious, necessary help in the Patriots secondary. Also, the return of both Hightower and McClellin is crucial. With their return and Butler’s improvement, this Patriots defense could pose a serious threat. Until then, Brady will just have to work his magic.