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FOXBORO – Coming off the two-minute caution, the Patriots took a seven-point lead and had the ball at their own 27s against a second and eighth.
The Texans, with their three timeouts, needed a stop and the Patriots' offense – having only managed two field goals in the second period – needed to get things moving.
Tom Brady took the picture and looked for Rob Gronkowski. Covered. Brady kept wandering around, trailing a little, running left, waiting for Gronk to discover. He could not. Finally, Brady looked at the right touchline and snatched a dart from the back of James Develin in the flat. Develin won – his fourth win of the day – and the Patriots won 10. The Texans had to burn all their timeouts before recovering the ball within one minute of the starting line. concluded with a minimum of drama after that.
There is a lot to be learned from this game. First, Brady, 41, showed mobility that he did not really possess earlier in the decade. Secondly, all the strength and precision of the arm that is supposed to diminish when approaching the "cliff" that has been talked about a lot is still there. Thirdly, there is nobody other than Brady who would like to take on Gronk, and that 's because he' s not been a better player with whom he worked for 19 years in the league. Fourth, James Develin with the match on the line? Not Jordan Matthews or Kenny Britt or Eric Decker or Malcolm Mitchell, who all cleared the list last month. Brady throws himself in the back when he can not find Gronk. And he made it work.
The Patriots are 1-0, as they played very well on defense and protected Brady to a great extent. But more than anything else, they are 1-0 because their two renegades at work – which one tried to negotiate in April, the other they hoped to replace by Jimmy Garoppolo – are still there.
And wherever this team goes this season, she'll do it thanks to Brady and Gronkowski. It's the truth that disturbs all of this. Do not worry about the return match. Do not worry about linebackers. Worry about the back, the wide receivers and the depth of the extremities. But do not worry about the most powerful offensive combination of the game.
They will introduce themselves and take care of their business when it counts. And Brady will ensure that, no matter who he is given, he will go to the whip if he has to.
Brady, moderately depressed, said after the match that he did not have the luxury of filing on a curve and giving smiley stickers to get things right around him. The waiting level can not be "very good for a new guy …"
"I think it's the point of playing football," Brady said. "It's not" Oh, this guy, it's his level of expectation. That's what we need to put the team's expectation on. "
"It's" If you play in the slot machine, you have to play as well as any slot receiver we've ever had. If you play on the perimeter, you have to play as well as any receiver "We've already had – tight end game, quarterback, backtrack …" And guys can play with that. I think you can not stay there to coach or to communicate and to go, "again." I mean, I think you have to be a good coach and you have to correct the guys and you have to correct and have great expectations for yourself.
Brady pitched Gronkowski eight times on Sunday, completing seven goals for 123 yards and one touchdown. Gronk also caught a 14-yard interference in the first period.
Even though everyone on the planet knew that Gronk was the key to slowing down the Patriots' attack, Brady was determined to go to the player he trusted the most.
Even when he was covered while Gronk was late in the first period, Brady found him for a big win.
"I was going up the track," said Gronk. "I had two guys on me and when I saw the ball in the air, I literally thought of the first thing:" What is Tom? thought? When this ball was in the air, a guy took me and I was just like me. "I just have to go, I can not let them play a game, so I caught them, I caught them, I managed to catch, I do not know how, when I went to the ground, I had it steady in my hand, so it was really a trap, but Tom went very quickly to the line just to be safe. "
A message was sent by Brady Sunday with these launches to Gronkowski, intentional or not. This message was: "Do not forget what we are capable of, do not underestimate us, do not worry about us taking care of our things, do not want us to leave you."
Was it received? Well, it was interesting to hear Bill Belichick talk about it in a more laudable language than he has used for a long time.
"These are two great players," Belichick said. "Both have a lot of skill, both very good in what they do.They do not need a lot to finish the passes.We see him every day at the camp. training and practice, they're both really good, Rob is hard to cover and Tom can put the ball where only Rob can get it and Rob can get a lot of it, and I'm glad we got them. are two great players. "
Without a doubt.
NBC SPORTS BOSTON PROGRAM
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