Crazy finish obscured Rob Gronkowski's productive day in passing game

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- For nearly 60 full minutes on Sunday, Rob Gronkowski was the story of the afternoon — in a good way.

The big tight end had arguably his best game of the year against the Dolphins with a season-high eight catches on eight targets, while his 107 yards receiving was his second-highest output of the year. He added his third touchdown of the year for good measure — his first red-zone TD of the season.

For someone who has been battling back and ankle injuries for the better half of the season, it was as close to vintage Gronkowski as we’ve seen all year.


“I’m making plays, blocking, getting some chemistry built back up,” Gronkowski said after the game. “I wish we could have put up more points when we (had the ball) in the red zone. But as a unit, we were playing well (and) moving the ball. We’ve just got to continue that positive streak going of moving the ball on the offensive side.”

Here’s a look at six of his catches, most of which came against Miami’s zone coverage. The touchdown featured a showcase of that chemistry — Tom Brady finding his biggest target in the red zone, putting the ball where only his tight end could get it, and Gronkowski boxing out Bobby McCain and using his sizable catch radius to come away with the ball.



Of course, those totals were lost in the wake of the wild finish where Gronkowski wasn’t able to catch Kenyan Drake for what might have been a game-saving tackle as time ran out. But while you can question Gronkowski’s defensive bonafides, his production on Sunday is a good sign for the New England offense moving forward.

Gronkowski downplayed his output, pointing to the final result.

“I mean, that's good enough; but it just shows what happens when you lose,” he said. “You can have a great game, whatever, but if you don't get the W, it really doesn't matter. We’ve just got to always find ways to do more and just be ready to play 60 minutes of football every single time you step on the field.”

The truth of the matter is that the combination of Gronkowski and Julian Edelman (who had a game-high nine catches on 12 targets for 86 yards and a touchdown) gave this one an old-school feel for Brady and the rest of the Patriots’ passing game. The duo combined for 17 catches on 20 targets for 193 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Between the two of them, 13 of their catches either went for a first down or a touchdown.

Ultimately, the running game was one of the things that let the Patriots down on Sunday — just 77 yards on 30 carries — but the fact Brady got a boost from his two most trusted targets bodes well for the stretch drive.

“We had some productivity. I thought we did a good job in certain areas, (but) we left some out there,” said Brady when asked about the overall state of the offense. “With the run game, we've got to make more yards in the run game and control the line of scrimmage that way too.”