Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski leaves game with back injury

The New England Patriots are a little over 24 hours removed from a come from behind victory against the New York Jets. The Pats beat their division rival 22-17 thanks to a touchdown each by rookie receiver Malcolm Mitchell and a game victor by Julian Edelman, both were on Revis. I’m not going to make a rash decision today one way or the other. Good football teams need to play on both sides of the ball except these Jets are resembling two fighters in a 12-round affair that make it hard for the judges to score.

Brady won his 200th National Football League game.

The words were uttered by Bill Belichick way back in the first week of September, days before his team flew out to Arizona to play its regular-season opener with the Cardinals. “That’s the quarterback’s job, to win. He has won a lot”. “That’s good, glad he’s our quarterback”.

The four-time Super Bowl champion joined Manning, Hall of Famer Brett Favre, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Miami Dolphins Hall of Famer Dan Marino as the only players with at least 60,000 career passing yards.

So, here is how bad this New York Jets season has gotten: As New England Patriots fans filled MetLife Stadium with chants of “Bra-dy!” Trailing 13-10, Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick found Quincy Enunwa in the corner of the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown pass, giving the Jets a 17-13 lead after a Nick Folk extra point. The two-touchdown performance of Malcolm Mitchell was the result of a dynamic rookie running riot over an aging Darrelle Revis, who looked a shadow of his former self. High pointing the ball perfectly, Enunwa stretched as high as he could go, pulled in the ball with both hands, and tumbled into the end zone.

Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 23-yard field goal with 1:45 left to play, lifting Oakland to victory and dealing what could be the final blow to Carolina’s playoff hopes. I felt miserable after missing the earlier pass. “All the guys kept me encouraged and told me we have more time”.

David Harris (LB, New York Jets): Tied for team lead with 11 tackles (five solo) in loss to Patriots.

The Patriots then ran out the clock to win the closely played game that had been flexed out of a prime-time spot. The second half was slightly better for the Pats pass defense, but not really.

Especially against the Jets. And 10 of the victories were of the comeback variety, including five since 2012. I’m glad the Patriots played it safe with Gronk against NY, but I’m pleading for even more precaution.

New England also has its 31st winning season since the merger to tie Dallas for second, behind only Pittsburgh’s 33 in that span.

Belichick no longer knows what he’s going to get out of his place-kicker. However, Gostkowski missed a field goal right before half time, which is not something new to him this year.

“We lost the game”.

Brady said the team could’ve played better but still did what they had to do to claim the “W”. “We have to find a way to finish at the end of a ballgame”.

Extra Point – In a game that he probably shouldn’t have played in, Rob Gronkowski left with what was called a back injury.

Mike Evans, wide receiver, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Evans, a first-round pick out of Texas A&M in 2014, caught eight passes for 104 yards and two scores in the Buccaneers’ 14-5 win over Seattle. Gronkowski, who missed last week’s game due to a lung injury, had no catches on two targets. They forced two fumbles, one from a nice play by Malcolm Butler and another by Chris Long that sealed the game for the Patriots.