In honor of Gronk’s breakout season and the Patriots making it to the Super Bowl, we’re going to count down the top five moments of the year for Rob Gronkowski. To start us of at #5, we’re going with one of many mashup Gronk songs that pretty much sums up the season of the Gronk.
This is from a few days ago, but I wanted to make sure we got this out there. As I’m sure most know, the Pats had a send off “pep rally” at Gillette the other day before the team left for Indy. At the rally, Tom Brady stated this:
“We have the greatest fans in America. You guys have proved that year in and year out with your support. I wish I could take all you guys to Indy with us. We’re going down there, and we’re going down there for one reason. We’re going to give it our best and hopefully we have a lot more people at our party next weekend.”
Yup, certainly a low blow by one of the best quarterbacks, arguable of all-time. Is anyone surprised that the NY Media tried to spin this on Brady and blow it out of proportion? Not only that, but Gary Myers, writer for New York Daily News tried putting Brady on blast even more so, saying he provided the Giants with bulletin material and comparing his statement to Jerry Jones well planned act of giving his players NFC Championship tickets before the Divisional game a few years back. I think it’s safe to say the Giants are scared. No, petrified. They just have no motivation to win this game, and the New York media knows it. In a pathetic attempt to stir up spirits in New York, the media just gave the Patriots all more of a reason to stomp all over the Giants. Brady’s been there before, he knows the routine. He’s never been one to stir up controversy in the media prior to a big game. Never. New York on the other hand? Jeeze, where do I begin?
Happy Monday everyone, today we will take a look at one of the most important parts of both teams: Head Coaches
The Giants Tom Coughlin often finds himself on the hot seat during the regular season, but somehow manages to turn it all around late in the season and heads into the playoffs on a solid note. Coughlin is a good coach with a lot of experience but he is often questioned about being able to have control of an NFL team at his age. He has as much experience as almost any coach in the NFL as far as years in the league, but when it comes to winning it all, his stats are just average. Coughlin is a solid coach but seeing as who he is going up against, I’m sure you know where this is going.
Overall grade: B
Bill Belichick can go down as one of, if not the greatest coach in NFL history with a win this upcoming Sunday. As a head coach this will be Belichick’s fifth super bowl appearance since taking over as the Patriots head coach just over a decade ago. Bill is 3-1 career in the Super Bowl. Belichick is one of the best in history when it comes to making something out of nothing. The defense had terrible numbers as far as yards against this season, and that’s what everyone’s focus has been on. I could be wrong , but I’m pretty sure yards against isn’t what wins or loses a game, points do. The Patriots ranked 15th in points against; allowing 21.4 ppg. With a secondary as inexperienced as what they have, Belichick has done a great job with it. The Patriots bend but don’t break style has allowed them to be where they are today.
Overall grade: A+
Edge: Patriots
With the hype of the Super Bowl surrounding us, Sports Illustrated has just issued their Super Bowl magazine this week featuring Tom Brady on the cover. This is Brady’s 15th time on the cover so most Pats fans are just going to use that as another arguing point as to how much better Brady is than Eli, which obviously is a closed discussion. On the other hand, those who pay attention to detail, or even the superstitious readers already know what I’m getting at.
I’ll put it simple. Brady was on the same cover in 2008 for the Super Bowl preview against the Giants. A few months later, Brady was on the cover of another SI issue, just a week before he tore his ACL and MCL in September 2008 against the Chiefs. In regards to the superstitious, I apologize for even posting this, but it had to be said. On the bright side, there were 12 other times he was on the cover and everything was fine. If there’s one guy that doesn’t get fazed by this kind of superstition and hype, it’s Brady. I still have faith. No magazine cover jinx is going to stop Tom from joining the prestigious four ring club. Not on his watch.
Welcome to Gronk Nation! (as if you needed an introduction) You can talk about Tim Tebow all you want, and don’t get me wrong I’ve hopped on the Tebow bandwagon, but we’ve got our own Messiah right here in New England. Rob Gronkowski. Fourteen weeks into his breakout season, Gronk set the NFL tight end receiving touchdown record with 15 thus far, passing both Vernon Davis and Antonio Gates, both with 13. Now, there’s no need to complain but what gets me here is the whole “receiving touchdown” record. The all-time single season record for touchdowns, in general, by a tight end was also 13, by the same two guys. Gronkowski had 14 total coming into this week’s game, so as far as the record is concerned, he broke it last week against the Colts. This week merely improved his record to a total of 16 TDs. But the NFL is the NFL and they have their guidelines and what not on how to determine records so I guess he did it this week. In a sense, he actually broke two records. Receiving touchdowns and total touchdowns. Gronk now sits pretty in the record books two “receiving touchdowns” (three if your want to be realistic) ahead of the the next guy with a bit more football to play.
And on a side note, Gronk went absolute beast mode (per usual) on those two Redskins defenders. I mean having the skill to make a diving catch, the intelligence to get up and run immediately, the power to drag them 5 yards down the field on his back, the command to stay in bounds, again the intelligence to keep running with the play, and finally the absolute beast mode mentality that it takes to turn a short pass play for a first down into a 49 yard explosion that set up his record breaking touchdown reception. Boom! Get Gronk’d!
Boston Sports Blog 