Rob Gronkowski Knee Injury Could Spell Doom for New England Patriots

With so many injuries, do you think the Patriots still have a chance to defend their Super Bowl title?

The Cincinnati Bengals downed the St. Louis Rams 31-7 after Andy Dalton threw three touchdown passes ” two of them to A.J. Green, while Adrian Peterson ran for 158 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Minnesota Vikings’ 20-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Making matters worse for the Patriots, Rob Gronkowski went down with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.

One piece of good news: After being carted off the field, Gronkowski was seen walking out of the training room after the game with a slight limp. There are things we could have done better, could have coached better, but they played hard.

With the loss, Denver remains the only team in the National Football League that Brady has a losing record against in his career. There will be more tests, and perhaps Gronkowski will be back sooner than anyone would have guessed when he was writhing on the ground in pain Sunday night.

After watching the Broncos take the lead late in the fourth quarter on a three-yard touchdown to Andre Caldwell, Tom Brady marched the ball into the range of Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who hit a 47-yard touchdown as time expired to send the game to overtime.

As the game progressed, the Broncos found the results they wanted, with a season-high 179 rushing yards on 32 carries and some of the strongest runs toward the end of the game, punctuated by Anderson’s 48-yard overtime gallop.

New England, already without receiver Julian Edelman (broken foot) and running back Dion Lewis (ACL), lost another, Aaron Dobson, to an ankle injury in the win against Buffalo, prompting the team to place him on the season-ending injured reserve Thursday.

Perhaps it’s just the buzz off of a classic game, but it seems like the AFC is a bit more wide open after Denver knocked off the previously undefeated Patriots. “We’ve got one of the top defenses and he goes against those guys and doesn’t flinch”.

This game was supposed to be Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady for maybe the last time.

That’s impressive stuff, especially when you consider the Patriots had built a 21-7 lead early in the fourth quarter. I hate to see it… We just didn’t make enough plays in the fourth quarter. Although it’s a tiny sample size of one game, Osweiler demonstrated that type of efficient game-management ability in leading Denver to a win in Chicago. I think guys sacrifice their bodies.

The Kalispell Flathead grad finished the night 23-42 for 270 yards, with one TD and one interception.

“Brock has got an opportunity and he’s done a great job for his team and his team has played well around him”, said Kubiak. “He handles himself very well”. Even the turnover tonight didn’t bother him.

That was certainly a positive sign given how upset Brady was after seeing his friend go down, which the veteran quarterback talked about after the game.

But that’s a debate for another day.