It was Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s Homecoming but it was his Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski who went to town Sunday at Gillette Stadium and doused the Bengals’ bid for an upset with 162 career-high yards on seven catches in a 35-17 victory.
The Bengals fell to 2-4 for the first time in six years even though for the first 45 minutes they delivered a stout effort with a chance to win where no one wins. But Brady lifted his home record to 113-15 with a devastating 15 points in 4:07 late in the third quarter on his way to a 376-yard day, three touchdowns and a 140 passer rating on 29 of 35 dart throwing.
It didn’t start out that way (Brady had just 136 yards at the half and Gronkowski 41), but mistakes wore the Bengals away. They failed to score a TD on fourth-and-one from the 1 down 3-0. A holding penalty wiped out a first down when they were leading 14-10, and cornerbacks Dre Kirkpatrick and Adam Jones were called for penalties on third downs that led to 10 points.
That’s why they say the Patriots never beat themselves.
The Bengals defense followed up wide receiver Brandon LaFell’s own Homecoming of a five-yard touchdown catch on third down that gave them a 14-10 lead on the first drive of the second half with a third sack of Brady that forced a punt.
With the Bengals seemingly confounding Brady with different coverages, the Patriots failed on four of their first five third downs and you could hear a pin drop in the place when Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton got a first down with a great throw while scrambling to his right and a sliding catch from wide receiver A.J. Green at about the Bengals 30.
But then the game changed. Bengals right tackle Cedric Ogbuehi was called for a hold, wiping out the play and earning him a seat on the bench. Then on the next snap Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower came up the middle on a delayed blitz and no one picked him up and his sack of Dalton for a safety cut the Bengals’ lead to 14-12 with 7:05 left in the third quarter.
Up to that point the Bengals had done a good job keeping Gronkowski and fellow tight end Martellus Bennett in check, but no more. Bennett was wide open over the middle for 24 yards for his first catch and when the Bengals picked up a blitz cornerback Josh Shaw didn’t stay with Gronkowski steaming down the middle for 38 yards on his way to a back-to-back 100-yard day. The Pats went ahead with five minutes left in the third quarter, 19-14, when Gronkowski bodied up cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick for a four-yard TD catch.
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