Rob Gronkowski’s greatest hits, catches, and plays
No. 87 comes up clutch in the AFC Championship Game
As much as Super Bowl 53 was all about Bill Belichick, Brian Flores, and the Patriots’ defense clamping down on the high-octane Los Angeles Rams offense in a record-setting performance, the game before that was all about Josh McDaniels, Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, and Rob Gronkowski coming up clutch repeatedly against the Kansas City Chiefs – and on the road in a hostile environment, no less.
Indeed, the AFC Championship Game this past season was a thrilling affair that pitted the two best teams in the conference against each other for the second time. And while New England ran circles around Kansas City in the first half, the second half was all Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
That is, until the fourth quarter and then overtime – which as we all know by now, is Tom Brady time at its finest.
It’s no surprise to see Brady and Edelman connecting when the team needs them to most, and three or four years ago, it wouldn’t raise any eyebrows to see Brady and Gronkowski doing the same. But with Gronkowski having his worst season in terms of touchdowns and overall statistical production in years, many fans and analysts wondered if the big man might have finally ran out of gas in 2018.
And then came the AFC Championship Game against K.C. With the Patriots down four points and with less than a minute to go in the game, Brady needed to convert a 3rd-and-5 from the Chiefs’ 30-yard line. He threw a perfectly-placed arcing ball to Gronkowski a little over 20 yards down the left sideline, and the veteran tight end hauled it in over safety Eric Berry’s head, bringing the ball all the way down to the four-yard line.
New England scored a touchdown a play later on a Rex Burkhead dive to take the lead, the Chiefs answered with a field goal, and the game headed to overtime.
The Patriots won the toss and got to handle the ball first, and it was all they needed to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. But first, they had to convert back-to-back 3rd-and-10 plays. The first conversion was a 15-yard pass to Julian Edelman, and the second conversion was another 15-yard pass, this one to Gronkowski – who once again caught the ball in traffic over Berry and another Chiefs defensive back.
Without Gronk’s two clutch catches, last February’s Super Bowl very well could have been played between the Rams and the Chiefs, and the Patriots would have one less Lombardi Trophy to their name.