PITTSBURGH – Any football fan who needed confirmation just how much Rob Gronkowski means to this year’s New England Patriots was offered a shining example Sunday at Heinz Field.
A week after failing to convert a single third down in 11 tries in an ugly loss in Miami, the Patriots welcomed their big tight end back with open arms for the most important game of the season against the Steelers. All day long – and especially with the game on the line – Gronkowski was the top star in a game filled with them.
“Gronk was a beast tonight. Full beast mode,” said teammate Danny Amendola.
With supremacy in the AFC on the line, Gronkowski pulled in nine catches for 168 yards. He made tough catches, easy catches and other-wordly catches. He made Pittsburgh safety Sean Davis cry trying to slow him down and even when the entire stadium knew Tom Brady was looking his way, the big man delivered.
“He was doing it himself,” Brady said. “I think they were trying to challenge us and he just makes a lot of good plays. Other guys make a lot of good plays, too, but if he’s open he gets it. It was just a great game by him. He played so, so great.”
No catches were as big as the three Gronkowski made with the Patriots trailing 24-19 and driving in the final two minutes. He consistently shook free off the line, worked his way past Davis and caught passes of 26, 26 and 17 yards to move the Pats into scoring position. Dion Lewis did the honors with an 8-yard rush.
“There were two minutes left and I knew we had to go down, make a drive and just do what we got to do,” Gronkowski said. “The ball comes to you, you have to make some plays. Tom found me and I made a couple catches to keep the drive going.”
Brady’s pin-point passing meshes so well with Gronkowski’s ability to shake free and then rumble through the secondary. Brady said that while some passes “may look like it’s 50-50, but it might be 95-5.”
“He just kept getting free,” Brady said. “I thought he did a great job of separating and making catches. I gave him some chances on one-on-one throws and he’s a tough matchup with his size and speed.”
Gronkowski said that he “missed the boys,” after sitting out last Monday night’s game with a suspension for an illegal hit in a win at Buffalo on Dec. 3. That’s why he was so happy to help his teammate survive a wild end of the game where an apparent TD catch by Pittsburgh’s Jesse James was wiped off after it was ruled he didn’t maintain control of the ball all the way to the ground.
“The emotions were up and down on that last defensive drive, I can tell you that,” he said. “It was like a rollercoaster, you’re down, you’re up, you’re down and then, boom, the ball pops up in the air and we get an interception. The ride ended very well.”