The Pats Rob Gronkowski to undergo back surgery Friday

[woodbuck27]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000749361/article/rob-gronkowski-to-undergo-back-surgery-friday

Rob Gronkowski to undergo back surgery Friday

By Around The NFL staff

Published: Dec. 1, 2016 at 01:37 p.m. ... Updated: Dec. 1, 2016 at 01:50 p.m.

woodbuck27:

It will be interesting to see how Hoody Genius responds to this.

[gbgary]

afc is wide open now. ne gave away their best defensive player and lost their best offensive player.

[Bretsky]

As always Hoody Genius and Hoody Genius Jr will respond well. They will mix more of Martelus Bennett in and use James White and Deon Lewis together. Those guys are th masters of creating confusion and mismatches.

Their coaching expertise result in consistent success in the regular season with Brady and ok talent. It would be scary what they'd do with GB's weapons.
Unfortunately. Most years...when they don't win it all it's because of Hoody GM who doesn't tear it up in the draft. His trades often look great; he just picks the wrong players. And despite being the greatest coach in NFL history the talent takes over come playoff time and they get bounced

It's a good thing they didn't keep their GM

[red]

yeah NE seems to be one team that doesn't miss much of a beat when they lose players

they'll probably be just fine

[pbmax]

yeah NE seems to be one team that doesn't miss much of a beat when they lose players

they'll probably be just fine

Their defense has struggled and has no front seven. Its still a solid scheme and backend. It behaves like other compromised units on other teams. They also play in the AFC East which is uniformly bad with an occasional challenger.

Their offense is a unicorn. Nothing seems to stop it.

[red]

so, a lot like our division?

[pbmax]

so, a lot like our division?

I would say no, though the NFCN has not been exactly the AFC North. The Patriots have faced an existential threat once for two years with the Jets and I think in both years they finished ahead of them in the standings. The only true impediments are outside their Division, the Ravens and the Broncos.

Packers have faced a multi-year challenges from the Vikings and the Bears. Those two have taken the Division from the Packers and the Bears made a Super Bowl. Vikes are close analogue to Jets but better for longer, though just one Conf Championship game appearance.

Lions have been better for most years than bottom of AFC Least.

NFC in general has had more strong teams at the top.

[woodbuck27]

http://www.patspulpit.com/2016/12/1/13811006/how-the-loss-of-rob-gronkowski-affects-the-patriots-season-super-bowl-odds-bennett-hogan-mitchell

How the loss of Rob Gronkowski affects the Patriots season and Super Bowl odds

The Patriots have the lost the best skill player in the entire league. Here’s how it affects the team.

by Rich Hill@PP_Rich_Hill Dec 1, 2016, 6:42pm EST

[woodbuck27]

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/12/05/nfl-week-13-new-england-patriots-offense-chances-super-bowl-rob-gronkowski-injury?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=nfl

MON DEC. 5, 2016

No Gronk? No Problem

woodbuck27:

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/09/13/rob-gronkowski-patriots-nfls-brainiest-tight-end

THU SEP. 15, 2016

Rob Gronkowski, Football Mastermind

" Let’s start with a disclaimer. This is a story about Rob Gronkowski: Tight End, not to be confused with the celebrity known as Gronk. Over the following pages you will find no partying. No shirt removals. No dancing, twerking or flexing. There will not be a single scene set inside a club, at a beach or on a pool deck. No Instagram photos whatsoever. In fact, for this story, Rob Gronkowski is sitting in a dinky break room in the bowels of Gillette Stadium. And he’s talking football. Only football.

We’re not here because Gronkowski is the NFL’s best tight end. (He is.) We’re here because he just might be the smartest."