Gronk wasn’t smiling after his suspension
Gronk might be dumb as a stump, but he’s a star TE
As the Dolphins prepare for their last meeting with the New England Patriots this Monday night, one thing they won’t have to worry about is TE Rob Gronkowski.
The reward for Gronk’s All Pro cheap shot against Buffalo this past weekend is a 1 game suspension… and now that his appeal was denied, his absences is 100%.
Despite his village idiot, cheese-eating grin and laundry list of injuries, Gronk is arguably the best Tight End to ever play. Anytime he’s absent from the Patriots lineup, their offense loses a key element. It was only two weeks ago that the Dolphins felt the wraith of Gronk, where he pushed the Dolphins around for 5 receptions for 82 yards and a pair of touchdown.
When the various pay per head services opened the line for this game the Patriots were a -12.5 point favorite. However, after the news broke that Gronk will be out, the line has quickly dropped to -11 for the Patriots.
One of Miami’s weaknesses is guarding the TE
Sure this is still a double digit spread, but it does at least highlight the importance that Gronk has for the Patriots.
Unfortunately for the Dolphins, Tom Brady is still going to be under center, and he’s the engine that makes the Patriots offense go.
Even at the age of 40 Brady is in the midst of one of his best seasons of his career, leading the league in passing yards with 3,632, and a league leading 109.7 QB rating and tied for second most touchdowns in the league with 26.
But, Brady is coming off a game where he failed to throw a touchdown against the Bills Defense and was picked off once. And while it’s hard to imagine Brady struggling in a second game in a row, anything is possible… and missing Gronk makes it all the more possible. So can the Dolphins actually capitalize when they need to the most?
Even queasy Joe Philbin managed to get in some upsets against the Pats. Last year, Adam Gase had the perfect chance with Brady out due to suspension, but he and the Fins couldn’t capitalize. If the Fins loses this week, Gase will be 0-4… and that’s not good.
Whether Gronk was in or not, Miami had to have 60 minuets of football to win. If Miami can limit their penalties to 5 or under and have 1 or less turnovers, then the Gronkless Pats are beatable on the Fins home turf. But the question is will they? Go Fins!!!
