The Patriots don’t need Rob Gronkowski to win.
Hear that muted cheering? It is the rest of the National Football League outside of New England crowing over the news that bulldozing tight end Rob Gronkowski is likely lost for the rest of the season with another injury. This time it is a herniated disk, the same malady that cost Gronk one season at Arizona and six games in 2013 with the Pats. He’s also had a broken forearm and busted knee.
The only good thing about the latest injury is that Bill Belichick has prepared for it, because to date his record-breaking tight end has only had one NFL season in which he did not miss a game. So the Patriots know how to play without Gronk, even though they would prefer to have their freak in their two tight-end alignment.
Does this hurt their chances of making the Super Bowl? Of course. Does it mean they won’t make it? Not so fast on that one. There is no better team than the Patriots in re-inventing themselves because they basically do it every week, opponent to opponent. Belichick’s system is customized to the upcoming foe and the players they have ready to go.
This Sunday against the LA Rams, who have a pretty good defense, the Pats will find way to move the football enough to win the game. And as the weeks progress, they will hone other weapons that will allow Tom Brady and Company to put points on the board, such as a two running-back set rather than two tight ends. It may not be the same as having Gronk out there – nothing is – but this injury doesn’t doom the team. Frankly, how Jimmy Garoppolo played in the first five quarters of the season before he got injured shows the Pats could still get to the Super Bowl even without Tom Brady.
It’s the next-man-up mindset of the team. And with the rest of the league celebrating Gronk’s latest demise, New England will be buoyed by the fact that this has happened before. So, it’s not over till it’s over for the Patriots. Having the experience of not having Gronk will assure that. They’ve won without him before, and they will again.
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