Patriots-Rams prediction roundup: Worst-case scenario becoming reality for Gronk’s career
COMMENTARY
Have we seen the last of Rob Gronkowski?
It’s all but a certainty for this season, particularly after the New England Patriots and Gronkowski family released a joint statement Thursday night announcing that he was, indeed, scheduled to have back surgery on Friday. The team announced in the release that they do not expect to see him on the field for the remainder of the 2016 season.
Postseason? No mention.
Don’t hold your breath.
To reluctantly give credit where it could actually prove due, Bart Scott might have been on to something when he predicted earlier this week that Gronkowski’s time with the Patriots might be nearing an end, even if the current situation isn’t the theory that the former New York Jet proposed. Scott suggested that Gronk wouldn’t be a member of the Patriots in 2017 and beyond due to the fact that head coach Bill Belichick has tired of the tight end’s oft-injured history, but he didn’t know that the man would soon have his third back surgery in the last seven years. Third.
He’s 27 years old. A once-in-a-lifetime athlete to appreciate.
But how many back surgeries does it take before the long-term injury fears become a present-day reality?
Gronkowski already might be the best tight end to ever play in the NFL. He has his ring. And, as with any surgery, there’s no guarantee that he’ll have the ability to come back as the same player that has impacted the Patriots so greatly.
He’ll be back in 2017, most likely. Almost certainly with the Patriots.
But at this point, with a laundry list of injuries that have plagued him, watching Gronkowski play at the age of 30 might be a stretch, never mind hoping he can remain an impact player at the same level Tom Brady is at the age of 39.
Appreciate whatever remaining game the guy might have left. Because it’s more definitive today than it was last week that Gronkowski’s career is going to come to an end sooner than anybody ever hoped it would.
We haven’t seen the last of him. But it’s fair to not expect much more than a curtain call next season.
This week’s picks:
ESPN.com:All Pats
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Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: Patriots 28, Rams 13. “The Rams played at New Orleans on Sunday and now must go face the best team in the league at their place. That’s tough duty for a young quarterback like Jared Goff. The Rams defense was shredded by Drew Brees and gets more of that from Tom Brady here. Pats big.”
CBS Sports staff: Five out of eight pick New England (Patriots -13).
FiveThirtyEight: Patriots with an 86 percent chance of winning.
Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk: Patriots 34, Rams 13. “Bill Belichick has outscored Jeff Fisher 104-7 in their last two meetings. It likely won’t be much better this time around.”
Michael David Smith, ProFootballTalk: Patriots 24, Rams 10. “This is the easiest game on the board to pick. The Rams will get their eighth loss of the season, ensuring their 13th consecutive non-winning season.”
MassLive staff: Pats. All of them.
Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: Patriots 33, Rams 10. “Jared Goff vs. Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia’s scheming won’t be pretty. New England won’t have to do much extra to slow down sputtering Todd Gurley, and it can take away Goff’s top outside receiver, Kenny Britt. That’s plenty to make sure Jeff Fisher and Los Angeles don’t sniff a hint of an upset that might help what’s left of his job security. Tom Brady can come up with another fake newspaper pun to enjoy the victory, which we’re guessing is “Silence of the L.A.mbs” with him in full cartoon Hannibal get-up.”
David Steele, Sporting News: Patriots 28, Rams 20. “Jared Goff took a promising step forward in his second start against the Saints last week. He can do it again, albeit in a hostile environment, against a vulnerable Patriots defense. Rob Gronkowski is again the wild card for the Patriots’ offense: if he’s absent again, there’s no guarantee even Tom Brady can move the offense consistently. The Patriots also struggled to protect Brady against the Jets last week.”
Peter Schrager, Foxsports.com: Patriots 30, Rams 16. “You know the season isn’t going well when the top story in the news about your team isn’t an item on the maturation of a rookie quarterback or a profile of the best defensive tackle in the game, but rather TMZ’ish fodder on a running back who hasn’t stepped on a football field in more than two decades. This Eric Dickerson/Jeff Fisher story will have nothing to do with Sunday’s game in New England, but I don’t see that one ending well, either, for LA. The Rams are looking 4-8 right in the eye, and there’s not much positive spin Dickerson — or anyone else — can put on that record.”
Foxsports.com staff: All Patriots.
Bryan Altman, CBS Sports: Patriots. “The Rams’ defense was absolutely abused by the Saints’ offense and I can’t see any way the Patriots don’t grab copy Sean Payton’s playbook from that game to a ‘T’ in order to easily dispatch St. Louis. This should be a laugher.”
Michael Hurley, CBS Boston: Patriots. “The Patriots would have covered two weeks ago if they hadn’t missed a PAT and then taken knees while inside the opponent’s 5-yard line. The Patriots would have covered last week if they didn’t have a missed FG and then again decided to go with some kneeldowns inside the 5-yard line to end the game. The Patriots need to knock it the heck off. They’re making this thing too difficult.”
USA Today staff: Patriots across the board.
Jimmy Kempski, Philly Voice: Patriots. “This feels like one of those yearly games that the Rams inexplicably win when they’re double-digit underdogs. No, wait. No it doesn’t. Deflatey McGee should take care of business at home.”
SB Nation staff: Everybody loves the Pats.
Elliot Harrison, NFL.com: Patriots 34, Rams 17. “The Patriots’ offense was far from lights-out in MetLife Stadium against the Jets, but that doesn’t necessarily mean New England will fall flat at home vs. Los Angeles. OK, this contest will probably go one of two ways: Either the Rams will be so ticked off by their performance in NOLA that they will play with their hair on fire at Gillette OR Tom Brady will be so motivated from last week’s slow start that he will torch the Rams’ secondary. Jeff Fisher’s group has drawn two of the best offenses in the league, on the road, in back-to-back weeks. As far as Jared Goff is concerned … well … he should be. Since 2001, the Patriots are 7-0 against rookie quarterbacks. Those freshmen QBs sported a shiny 4:14 TD-to-INT ratio in those games. In the last two meetings between these two coaches, Belichick’s Patriots have outscored Fisher’s team 104-7. The Greatest Slow on Turf.”
Globe staff: All Pats (-13.5 New England).
It says here: Patriots 27, Rams 23. Bend, don’t break. But for a team seemingly still searching for an identity, now losing their most integral player on offense, don’t expect a blowout to materialize.
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