Coming off a Super Bowl loss, two players dominated the offseason headlines in New England: Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. When the rumors and speculation faded away and the season finally began, the duo left little doubt about its commitment to the 2018 New England Patriots. Brady and Gronkowski carved up the team’s week one opponent, the Houston Texans, to the tune of seven pass connections for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Since that day in early September, however, the prolific duo has been comparatively quiet. Gronkowski, who missed three games along the way due to ankle and back injuries, still caught 22 passes for 325 yards but he did not find the end zone even once — until last Sunday’s game against the New York Jets that is: late in the first quarter, Gronkowski caught his first touchdown since opening day and it was a classic Brady-to-Gronk score.